Laws San Luis Valley Straight Rye

The nose starts with pain and slightly watered-down lemon pledge concentrate followed by sour orange juice then dill, pickle juice and burnt caraway seeds with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with light caramel and pears before the sour lemon pledge takes over along with a high spice that transitions to extremely bitter notes of clay, pickling spices and cigarette ashtray water with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with cigarette ash, ground caraway seeds, pickling spices, sour orange juice, and clay. No surprise at all that LAWS was disappointing with a nose that starts with a light jab to your nose followed by a combination of floor cleaner, citrus, pickle juice and burnt spices that surprisingly is pleasant at first on the taste before that floor cleaner with a high drying spice takes over and fades to a mixture of dirt, clay, spices and cigarette ash that finishes with light fruit, some rye spice and mainly earthy/ashy bitterness. Well it appears that I have saved the worst LAWS, hopefully soon to be rebranded CRIMES, for last. I did a side by side comparison with their four grain and this is worse but not quite my least favorite whiskey of Penderyn 12-year ruby cask. A big thanks to @ctbeck11 for the samples of LAWS to review.

Nose - mint, brown sugar, floral notes, orange zest, caramel, vanilla, clove, allspice, marshmallow, baked apple, cinnamon, mild oak, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - mint, orange and lemon zest, over-steeped tea, clove, spiced vanilla, dill, caramel, spicy oak, floral notes, cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short with mint, baking spice, and woody tea flavors. Hey, this isn’t bad! Maybe it’s just my affinity for ‘high rye’ ryes, but this breaks slightly from the mediocrity of the Laws four grain bourbon and wheat whiskey samples I reviewed. It’s not great, but absolutely a step up. It’s still young and bright like its counterparts, but this reads to me as slightly older and more well integrated. The nose is sweet, spicy, and floral, with some nice baked fruit hiding in the background. The palate dials up the spice and adds an over-steeped tea note, which I know some reviewers dislike. Not me though. I’m a sucker for those tea notes. Overall, this is well on its way to being a solid rye. It’s just too youthful to warrant a higher score. I bet the bonded version of this is pretty good though. However, the value for money is still terrible. This is the same price as Pikesville, and it’s not even playing in the same league.

Another in my series of minibottle tastings. This one 100ml (3.5 oz) for $9. Labeling says it's aged a minimum of 2 years, bottled at 47.5 ABV. Tasting neat. Brown copper color and average coating legs in the glass. Nose is understated, light musty grain and fruity--cherry, Juicy Fruit--with a little spicy grass and burnt sugar. In the mouth, peppermint is overwhelming, with burnt sugar, stone fruit, and an ethanol burst. Thin mouthfeel. Finish turns sour--cherry, dill weed--and the mint note continues. Very little oak tannins, vanilla, or peppery rye notes. Ice just further thins the rye notes and accentuates the thin and sour/cherry/dill aspects. I opted to taste this as a 100ml mini given the cost of a 750ml bottle ($85) and my experience last year wth the Laws Four Grain Bourbon, which I did not care for. Glad I did. While the story of distillery production is admirable, the flavors leave me cold. This might be a better rye with more time in oak, but the thin sour mint is distracting.

These are blind tasting notes (Flaviar Advent Calendar) The smell reminds me mostly of vodka. Like, an oaky vodka, with some off-putting sour wax element. With water, the smell actually gets worse The taste - this is very hot when sampled neat. As the alcohol burn fades, there is a really nice and unexpected caramel flavor that is punching above the sour wax.  With water, the promising caramel note is muted. There is some dusty corn/grain husk and some cinnamon spice, but the wax element is still noticeable. Oddly, the finish on this one is where the flavors come out.  The finish is long and once the sour wax fades there are some nice corn, caramel, cinnamon, and dill spice flavors.  This reminds me of one of those four grain mash up whiskies.  This has its enjoyable moments but I find myself fighting the rest of the sour waxiness to get to those enjoyable moments. This is a pass for me.  Overall Grade: C-  (Below Average)

An elegant, grain-to-glass Straight Rye Whiskey by Laws Whiskey House in Denver, Colorado. It is crafted with 100% semi-wild, sweet winter heirloom rye from the Cody Family Farm in the San Luis Valley (50% raw & 50% malted); aged for 4 years in new 53 gallon charred oak barrels before being bottled at 47.5% ABV. It has an aromatic birth with notes of citrus, grain, flowers, wood, herbs & spices; while a bold life adds notes of black tea, sweet mint, anise, salted toffee, orange oil & stewed fig; that led to a balanced death of medium length with notes of Serrano green peppercorn, oak & orange zest. April 2023

Salted toffee, baking spices, and a strong floral perfume dominate the nose on this one. There's also a strong ethanol scent to this one. Taste is a bit aggressive for what I'd prefer when having a rye straight. Black tea and salted toffee. Rye spice & a bit oily as well. Finishes harsh and warms my chest. A splash of water kills that but really dampens the flavor too. Would probably do great for a nice cocktail.