Kentucky Owl 11 Year Rye (Batch #2)

Kentuck Owl Straight Rye - Batch #2 11 years old - 101.9 Proof Have had this open for nearly a year and wanted to finally give this a proper review. Nose: One of the few American whiskies I have been able to smell prominently away from the glass. There is a sweet cherry yeasty-ness wafting while I pour and then stand just a few feet away. Smells like if you take a cherry sour candy and crush it between your fingers after hauling hay in an old barn. Tangy-sweet, dry vegetation, and worn oak. Deep sweet caramel bordering on cream soda. Butterbeer! Thats it! Cherry Sours, Butterbeer, honey, and old barn hay (in a great way). Taste: So composed. No one thing immediately jumps out but rather the mouthfeel is what is appreciated first. Typical “rye spice” and punchiness is much more subdued than other ryes. Cream soda effervescence. The cherry turns darker almost burnt, oak is more prominent, and the tingly herbal qualities are much more prominent. Oak tannins finish out alongside warming baking spices. Finish: After I swallow the experience of this whiskey settles under my tongue and I feel a little Kentucky Hug. This is a friendly and warming rye. A “log cabin up in Aspen” rye. There is kind of a “grass in the pool water” note I get when I chew. I read a review that mentioned honey drizzled over a slightly green haybale and that is accurate. Cherry Sours come back only in the retro-nasal. TLDR; Tangy syrupy sweet, butterbeer, honeyed hay, and oaky. All bound together with rounded cohesion. I was generously gifted this bottle by someone I have come to know through work. A very kind and generous man. Thank you, RS. Fun fact: I had a blind rye night with the boyz a while back and this ranked number one overall that night. First place was this Kentucky Owl, second was JDSBBP Rye, and third was WT Rare Breed Rye. We wished we had included one of our bottles of Alberta Premium CS in the line up, but still felt decently confident this still would have finished first. [Caveat: that many ryes in succession and doing the tasting blind broke us on enjoying rye for a bit. Not that we got shlammered, but that we realized how great bourbon really is.] All in all as far as ryes go I dont think there is much better except for THHandy and *maybe* some other aged stuff. JDSBBP Rye, Rare Breed rye, and Alberta Premium are the only other ryes I think I’ll ever reach for when this goes. 89/100 4.25 is not enough but 4.5 is too much.

I wanted to wait until my second bottle to write this review. I love Willett 4 year, but this was a flavor explosion, with a lot less raw heat. This, in my opinion is better than batch #3, but I may not be in the majority there. I was late getting into KO for better or worse, everyone has their own taste, but I went home and cracked my bottle of this, and the next day, I went and scored a second bottle because I loved it so much. The nose is classic. It is honey, grass, green herbs (specifically dill and mint). The dill stands out to me because I don't pick that up often, and I do not like pickles, but for some reason, I key in on in it here, and I really enjoy it. The palate is totally bonkers. I love how smooth it is for the proof, it glides along and stays with you for some time. It lingers longer than most rye I've had. I must admit, and it was the reason I waited to write this review until I cracked my second bottle, I didn't get the KO rye at first. It took me a few glasses before I really started to crave it. Now its hard for me to not reach for this. Those grassy and honey notes show up on the palate they hit right up front than that dill shows up with the age of this 11 year rye. The finish is really what separates this from other delicious ryes I've had. I admit, I do not look at this as a rye for everyone, I look at this as a rye that is 100% for me. A lot of people may never try this because of the price tag, but if this bottle cost $80 you would never be able to find it. I'm not going to tell you the taste commands the $180 price tag, but I am on my second bottle. I also went scooped a rye batch #3 and that led me to the bourbon Batch #9, my unicorn. I think the best part of this rye is drinking it as it opens up. It is a lovely journey, pour a nice big glass and let it do its thing over 40 minutes or so.

So store offered me this for 180, was with some rye fans so figured I'd share it. Nose - vanilla, oak and crazy rye spice forward. Taste - This is just crazy over the top rye spice and sweetness. I guess I should get into some notes but it's kinda just all over with mint and honey mustard and cereal, and then just all kinds of baking spices and what not like crazy. I mean it's ok nice spices and flavor but it's lacking any signs of high end whisky for this crazy price. So here's where I'm at and confused. It's flavorful and I'm enjoying the flavors but the 11 years doesn't come off here at all. It's not really more complex than a willet 4 year. I continue to come away feeling the blender for Kentucky Owl, Dixon isn't any good at blending. He's just throwing together intense flavors and sometimes they don't fail. If you're a rye fan this might be a 3.0, but for me this is a 1.75. It's flavorful but unhinged.

Nose: Cherry, baking spices, butter and toffee/caramel. One of the best rye’s I’ve smelled. Makes me excited to dive in. Taste: This one hits with the baking spices up front. With hints of vanilla and a slight fruity notes coming next. Then the sweet heat hits a little and mellows out to cherry/banana finish. It has a nice long finish and does not leave you disappointed. This is a great drink. Definitely one of the best rue’s I’ve ever had. Once you get over $100/retail it’s hard to judge the drink in my opinion. Is it worth paying the high amount? I’ll leave that up to you. As this is definitely a bottle I don’t regret purchasing. I’m a huge fan of all Kentucky Owl drinks that I’ve had so far.

Very robust rye whiskey. Spicy rye on the palate with maraschino cherries and vanilla. I get a bit of caramel as I sit and drink the glass over time. I feel like it needs 20-30 minutes to breathe before all the flavors truly arrive. Great smokey notes and barrel char that persist in the very long finish. The finish in this whiskey is superlatively long - it persists and lingers for hours in my mouth if I don't drink anything else or eat something strongly flavored - excellent spice, smoke, and barrel char. My only complaint about this whiskey is the price. It runs about $200 in my market. I feel like it should be more in the $120-130 range, but it's fantastic if not a bit too expensive.

The color is a rich amber with a nose that smells like a bakery pretty much. Burst of nutmeg is balanced by vanilla, custard, caramel and a touch of buttercream frosting. The bakery continues on the palate with vanilla, caramel and toffee as the focus, balanced by a touch of fruit sweetness, nutmeg and rye spice, with salted peanut. The finish is medium long with cinnamon, vanilla and peanut balanced by caramel and oak, countering the sweet palate.