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McKenzie Rye
McKenzie

McKenzie Rye

Whiskey Rye New York No age statement 45.5% ABV
$$ $30 to $50 Everyday Average whiskey
60 reviews raw average 3.24
75 critic score out of 100

About this bottle

McKenzie Rye is named for Finger Lakes Distilling master distiller Thomas Earl McKenzie and distillery owner Brian McKenzie, who are oddly of no relation. They keep more of the "tails" of the distillate in the cut, their aesthetic choice for preserving the whiskey's natural flavor. The whiskey is aged up to 1.5 years in 10 gallon barrels, then aged in 53 gallon casks from local sherry producers in the Seneca Wine Trail of upstate NY. All grain is locally sourced.

How it tastes

Measured across 14 flavor axes. Tap a note to find other bottles that lead with it.

Sweet 80
Rich 50
Full Bodied 50
Spicy 40
Fruity 20
Herbal 15
Vanilla 15
Floral 10

Reviews

Showing the most detailed of 12 parsed reviews.

McKenziePenworks 3.8

Holy caramel bomb. Nose is like brown sugar and apple or maybe peach. Gotta be the sherry coming through. You can pick this one out of a flight of 4 every single time. Taste pretty much matches the nose. Caramel apples for days and the low proof makes it easy to sip. Definitely nothing like what I'd consider a traditional rye profile at all. I don't hate it as a dessert drink but don't go in expecting the usual rye flavor.

pthomps 2.0

Received as a gift in 2012, still have some of the bottle. This batch was so hot it was barely drinkable even with ice. A shame because it has a promising nose that was raisiny and almost reminiscent of fruitcake, but those flavors are overpowered by the burn. It's great to cook with though.

snellulater 3.3

The aroma is the best part. Straight butterscotch. Missing the spice on the finish. It’s good but could use another year or two

KyleCBreese 3.0

A good floral rye with lots of dark chocolate on the finish. Not bad, not great.

tony m 3.3

So much fruit. Less bite than expected for a young Rye, short finish.

Matt likes milk 3.3

Fairly sweet for a rye, small spice in the chest on the back end.

6 more reviews were collected for this bottle. The longest ones are shown first.

Tastes like this

Closest flavor profiles across the whole catalog.

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