NULU Toasted Single Barrel Rye

Seems like everyone wants in on the toasted barrels these days. Nulu took a slightly different approach by toasting a Rye. I am not sure where I stand on this concept, but it is something a little unusual and I am always game for that. This one is an A&B store pick. Nose is typical Rye on this pour. I guess I was expecting a little something more, but unfortunately it is pretty standard. First sip brings a soft Rye backbone, but there are hints of sweetness maybe even cheeries on the edges. Just as these notes start to get interesting you are with a strong pepper burn that washes over everything and leaves you with a pronounced heavy burn finish that isn't all that great. By the time the burn fades you are left without anything special on the tail. Overall I am disappointed in this bottle. I also grabbed a Nulu straight bourbon that I will review later that was significantly better. This could have been something to sip on and enjoy the complexity, but the harsh burn just does it in. I would just skip the Ryes from Nulu entirely and stick with the Bourbons. At the price point this is a wall on by bottle.

Vegetal, eucalyptus or mint with resounding a toasted butterscotch then subtle cacao nose. Strong chocolate mint throughout the taste with a very round vanilla note. There's a bit of roasted butternut squash and what I assume is toasted coconut. I compared this to a butternut soup with coconut milk and yes it parallels well. A very little bit of spice pokes through at the end but less than expected for a high proof rye. As for the finish, White pepper starts then toasted cereal, mint, and chocolate then long vanilla. The vanilla, and mint persist on the very long finish with an undertone of burnt orange zest. Of the 350+ bourbons that I have this is by far the most complex. I need to get more

I mentioned to my wife I was running low on ryes so she picked up a couple of store picks for me from her last trip out of state. She's a keeper, and this bottle she grabbed is a keeper as well. It's a Nulu toasted rye single barrel pick from the Bottle Shop in Columbus, GA that's 117.2 proof, 6 year mgp distillate, finished in toasted oak casks. The nose is maple syrup. It's sweet and spicy. There's a maple, toasted marshmallow sweetness, with a of bit lemongrass twang. It's rich and viscous with a peppery finish you expect from a good rye. Reminds me a little of Angel's Envy rum cask rye, but not as sweet and with much more thump. I think this will be a fun bottle.

Aroma - grapes and cherries, Black pepper, leather, finished wood, corn, vanilla cream, orange peel. Quite interesting, above average complexity. Really dont know what to expect. But not picking up a ton of rye. Taste - Dang. That’s quite good. Molasses and brown sugar for days. Very dessert-like. The sweet sugar notes do give way to chocolate covered oranges with hints of cinnamon to cut the sweet notes. Again, the rye is very subtle. This has to be a low rye mashbill. Not picking up a ton here on the palate either. Decent mouth feel. More of a bourbon lovers rye in my opinion.

Our second tasting at the super bowl party. This one is very dark brown in color. Takes a few minutes to open up with lots of caramel and nutmeg, more like high rye bourbon than a rye. Guessing that's due to the toasted barrel. The palate is confusing. It's sweet caramel and cinnamon red hots, corn sweetener and black pepper. It's got a nice mouth feel but the flavors move all over the place and lack balance. Glad I didn't buy this one

I love a great rye that has that dark dru bourbon taste and get a little burn in the throat in a good way. But toasting it i dont know. You taste like a buttery, fruitty(grapy) taste going in but as soon as it hits the thoat the peppery toasted touch burns that taste away and goes down as burnt ash. Just not that smooth.