Hard Truth Indiana Straight Rye

This will be the second time reviewing this, the first being on "episode 0" of my Drinking Buddies podcast, set to release soon. Hard Truth has been an ignored distillery (by me) for the last few years, as all they have released is "party" liquors and liqueurs with flavoring to attract the masses. I went on a good research high during the podcast, although was still unable to confirm or deny if this is the distillery belonging to the once-local a cappella men's group, Straight No Chaser. I seem to remember the guys of that group promoting Hard Truth's products, and I know the vodka had merch and posters with SNC that at least represented a collaboration. Either way, this distillery appears to be coming around since their inception in 2015, to grab the whiskey market with some new, fairly impressive products. Knowing the 4 year age statement and 100 proof status helps here, along with the known rules of the new "Indiana rye" law. However, as I wondered why this wasn't bottled in bond, I found that this particular whiskey is blended, and not distilled by Hard Truth. Although blended American whiskey (a la Johnnie Walker) should never exist, this did make me think that it is fairly likely that the whiskeys in question came from MGP, given the close proximity. On top of an unreleased mash bill (a sin for rye whiskey, with the blending being no excuse), we go into this with a fair shining of hope, albeit still pretty confused. My buddy commented on the lovely, dark color during the podcast, but on this night, I am seeing both the bottle and the amount in my glass as an expected 4 year hue, if not a 2 or 3 year lightness. Thankfully, the nose imparts a very high rye content, at least 85% or higher, as my guess. I get plenty of the bright rye notes, like citrus, grass clippings, and simple, raw grain of both rye and barley. I also get some cinnamon, not artifical, surprisingly very little oak, and just a touch of dark fruit. It doesn't have a lot of layers, but it is exactly what I'm looking for in a classic rye whiskey with no gimmicks. The initial flavor provides some of the bright citrus, and then moves into a bit of a floral body. It takes a few sips for the rye to get into the gums, and since the proof isn't that low, this can support that there may be a lower rye mash bill. The cinnamon flavor exists only around the gums, where the tongue tastes rye grain, somewhere between raw and mellowed down by the barrel, even though the oak flavor is almost entirely missing. The finish is light, but provides continued rye flavor, with the spice persisting only if you've had quite a few sips. Considering this distillery just decided to release more serious products, even though some of them are not their own, this is a pretty damn impressive shot into a good rye whiskey. Of course, I will always want a single batch of any American whiskey, because rye especially deserves to shine alone, so I hope they find this approach sooner rather than later. Although their other new releases don't sound interesting enough on their own to seek out bottles, the promise of ATV distillery tours on the website, all within a beautiful small town, does mean I may find myself there in the near future... (ATVs are far more fun in a snowy winter than a muddy summer, if only by a little bit).

Nose is a dill bomb. Think willet 4 year rye. There’s salt too. Brine. Honeydew melons. Body is pickles, orange, powdered sugar. Finish is dark chocolate, cinnamon. It’s hard to draft a list of ryes that are this good and this inexpensive. I’m coming up with: Bulleit, WT101, Sazerac, New Riff… and that might be it. That’s the company that this is in, and I think it belongs there. Solid rye. Very impressive!

Solid rye. Should be a good mixer, but I enjoyed it over a whiskey rock. Has the basic rye notes of pepper, grass and clove. Aged 4 years, but not overly oaky. Pleasant finish, although brief. First to be stamped with Indiana Rye Seal.

Really nice Rye! I get spearmint, cinnamon, clove, and sugared candied lemon on the nose! Licorice is huge in the taste along with the layer of the flavors described above. It also has a touch of outdoorsy characteristics.

Not bad at all not sure it if it the best at this price point but pretty darn good. Will have to do a blind. Would say slightly better than sacerac and as always had it neat

Apple, caramel and baking spice on the tongue and it carries to the nose but there is a note of cereal on the nose as well. It's good but I think it should be like $35 max