Frey Ranch Straight Bourbon

This is the heaviest bottle, with the heaviest cork, that I've ever come across. It feels like I'm lifting weights when I pick the bottle up, and I always nearly drop the cork when I pull it because I automatically expect the standard weight. But it's a right pretty bottle, and I love the fact that the Frey family puts the exact mash bill on the bottle. I just wish they put an age statement too - it's a straight bourbon, without an age statement, so it has to be at least four years old, but I'd like to know exactly. This bottle was $48.99 at Total Wine, and in the glass it's a dark copper color, like an old penny. The mash bill is 66.6% corn, 10% wheat, 11.4% rye, and 12% barley, so it's a four grain bourbon - and all the grain comes from the Frey family farm. 𝗡𝗼𝘀𝗲: On the nose the first and dominant note I get is yellow apples. It reminds me of the first sip I ever took of Clyde May's bourbon, but this note is still clear on the third glass, while May's apple note weakens as the whisky interacts with the air. I then got an undifferentiated grain note, honey, something earthy but pleasant, and finally a corn note separated itself out. 𝗠𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹: Smooth. 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲: I think that perhaps I didn't get the fullness of the palate - though the fan was on the side of me from the glass, it still cooled the whisky down noticeably. I got honey, cinnamon, yellow apples, and brown sugar. Without the fan's cooling I might have gotten more, though I always get less on the palate than I do on the nose. 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵: The finish began with a little oak, which turned into cinnamon briefly before more oak came in. That last note remained for a long time. 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: Even taking into account the cooling effect of the fan, which muted the flavors, I'm not sure that this whisky is worth $49. But it is good stuff. The palate didn't live up to the promise of the glorious nose, and again taking the fan into consideration, and knowing that my palate always picks up less than my nose, I think the taste isn't up to the nose. I think, though, that with more proof it would have more intense and discernible flavor; tempering proof also waters down congeners. But don't think I dislike this whisky - I in fact do like it. I just might buy another bottle, even at that price, after I finish this one. 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: I dithered over the rating. On the one hand I'm not sure that the whisky is worth the price. But on the one hand, taking other factors into consideration, I think it's better than I was able to detect. I finally wound up giving it a 6 on my hick scale, which I call Fine (the highest level is 8). This translates to 3.75 stars, 7.5/10, or 75/100.

When I first tried this at a bar nearly two years ago (March 26, 2022), I didn't think I liked it much. Since then, I have found that I really need to hunker down with at least two glasses, void of any distractions, in order to really focus on what I am getting. Now that I've finally had that opportunity, I say this is a solid pour. Color: Medium Copper-Amber Nose: Familiar bourbon nose of oak and what I am going to say is "grain". There are four grains going on in this stuff, after all. Leather, as well. Palate: (Drank with a large ice ball) Tart cherry, mint, oak tannins, an even balance of sweet and spicy. Getting a nice dose of "grain" from the final, slightly diluted, sips of the first pour. Second pour... there's the caramel! Nice. Finish: I guess you'd call it a "medium" finish. Spiciness seems to be the predominant element in the finish of most bourbon I have had. This is no exception. Originally, I gave this 3 stars. I'm bumping it up to 3.25 stars.

[1.30.24] Facebook ad services were CERTAIN that I needed this bottle (sweet bottle, heavy glass!) ever since Thanksgiving. After a disappointing season of lotteries and a cold Weller release line loss, this was my consolation bottle when it hit the shelf that same night. And its good. Good, but not great. For an organic bottle with home-raised grains and a 4-cereal blend sporting a good story, I gave this 4 stars. But the bourbon itself isn't excellence. It is obviously high corn, very sweet, almost like a vanilla scented Yankee candle. Especially easy to drink and if it werent for the price, could replace my Jameson for bad decisions sipper. Won't probably keep this stocked on the shelf unless the price drops about $10.

A complex, Farm-to-Glass, Straight Bourbon Whiskey by Frey Ranch Farmers + Distillers in Nevada crafted with non-GMO 66.6% corn, 11.4% winter rye, 10% winter wheat, and 12% two-row barley in a 3-Tower Vendome still. It is aged for five years in new American white oak barrels before being bottled at 90 proof. It has an aromatic birth with notes of grains, wood, fruits, nuts, herbs & spices; while a dry & velvety life adds notes of cherry, cranberry, sourdough bread & turbinado sugar; that led to a long & hot death adds notes of oak, vanilla, baked granola & a touch of cinnamon.

Solid. This is not quite as good or unique as the Frey Ranch Rye, but their bourbon is a great example of craft whiskey done right. Not sure the age on this — other than at least 4 years given no age statement on the bottle — but I wonder if more time spent aging would help bring a bit more to the table. Regardless, this stuff is definitely worth checking out; even if there are some better bourbons out there that are cheaper, these guys are doing things the right way and they are definitely on to something.

Flaviar advent calendar day #17 Nose: vanilla, oak, sourdough. Mildewy grain? Cranberry, corn, some minerality. Buttery graham cracker Palate: spiced and toasty oak. Cinnamon, Brown sugar, significantly spicy. Oily. Pretty fruity but not in a sickly sweet way. More like baked fruit. Some sweet oak too. A hint of petrichor, very strong wood oil notes as it transitions to the finish Finish: oily yet dry, toasted oak and a hint of mint.