Old Overholt 10 Year Cask Strength Rye (2023 Release)

OLD OVERHOLT 10YR CASK STRENGTH (121) APPEARANCE: Great looking throwback of a bottle with classic labeling and a chunky, engraved wooden topped cork. Pours into the glencairn a lovely shade somewhere between 1.7/1.8 (Burnt Umber/Old Oak). NOSE: Bold & Upfront is Dusty Old Barn (Weathered Oak, Hay Bales, Old Oil and Tires). Lurking in the background is Tart Fruit, Pipe Tobacco, and Cinnamon. The whole thing is then liberally dusted with a coating of finely ground Black Pepper. As it sits a while, a faint note of soft Pink Bubblegum develops. NEAT: Thick &b Clingy, this is one you'll taste for a while. Cooked apples, Cinnamon, Fall Baking Spice, and Heavy (almost too heavy) Oak Tannins. There is a Long Tart Apple/Cherry Finish with Oak, Black Pepper, and Tart Fruit coating and lingering on the Palate. There is a BIG KYHug to remind you of its 121 proof. SPLASH: On the Nose, it brings that Pink Bubblegum out a bit more along with a light Floral Note. On the Palate, the Oak loses some of its Tannic character and becomes more Musty. It also brings some of the Herbal character out that is a Rye Hallmark. VERDICT: I normally treat myself to a special bottle with some of my Holiday Bonus, and this year it was this one. I really liked this, but I did ding it a little for the $99 price tag. Had this not been Holiday Bonus time, I most definitely would've passed. I really see this as being more of a $60-$70 bottle. I'm going to enjoy it, but will probably pass on future years releases, especially if something else shiny catches my eye during the holidays.

A quite enjoyable nose featuring caramel flan, toasted oak, white pepper, rye crisp cracker, cherry, hazelnut, earthy cellar, and Tupelo honey. Ethanol very low given the proof. Complex palate offers creme brûlée, brown sugar, allspice, a just-shy-of-bitter oak, black pepper, white grape, hay, and vanilla. Flavors are rich and bold. Spice slightly overshadows the other notes. Finish brings citrus rind, white pepper, tobacco, clove, chili pepper, cola and nutmeg. Some spearmint after everything else fades. Finish is on the shorter side of medium, but just a minor flaw. Mouthfeel is slick and oily without any graininess which really serves this well by keeping the sharper notes in check. As a rye it’s good, but as a whiskey it borders on excellent. More like a high rye bourbon than a traditional rye but that in no way detracts from the quality. At the $109 I paid, I have zero regrets and this verges on rebuy status.

NEAT NOSE - Brown Sugar, Caramel, Honey, Vanilla, Oak, Herbal Tea and Citrus. The citrus leads more to a orange note as opposed to a lemon note. PALATE - Thick, viscous, and chewy. Amazing mouthtfeel. The palate is full of brown sugar, honey and caramel but the notes are dark and dense. There is nothing ‘bright’ about this pour. Its dark and rich. Incredibly complex. FINISH - Oak and vanilla are clear on the finish. The finish is long, but the vanilla fades away before the oak leaving the finish more ‘tannicy’ but not in an unpleasant way. BUY? - 100%. This is a great pour at a great price, given it’s age. BUY AGAIN? - I’d buy this again. I should probably grab anlther bottle before they’re gone. Alot of people are sleeping on these; don’t be one of them. I really look forward to the 11 YR coming out later this year.

Has the classic beam nuts, spices, toffee apples, butterscotch, cinnamon, and even a few dusty brown wax bookers tasting notes. Rating weighed down by other drams I had before/after. Nose: Green Toffee Apples, Peanuts, Butterscotch, Cinnamon, Brown Butter, Tobacco Palate: Peanuts, Caramel, Butterscotch, Apricots, Toasted Vanilla, Walnuts, Cinnamon, Morello Cherries, Brown Sugar, Brown Butter, Hazlenuts Finish: Cinnamon, Sparemint, Green Apples, Root Beer, Butterscotch, Baked Red Apples

Nose: cherry syrup, almond jello, vanilla, rye spice. Wish it were a tad stronger Palate: oak, jim beam peanut, rye spice in the finish. Three flavors that work incredible together. Layers of pepper and cinnamond Finish: more oak, cherry cola, rye spice. Medium intensity Wish that nose and finish had a touch more intensity but the palate is perfect. 8 on the t8ke scale

Nose shows its proof , but the palate seems to be more agreeable and delivers with notes of toasted oak vanillin and some brown sugar behind a definite rye spice backbone . Its my third pour in a flight , so some notes are hard to recover as they seem to just assume normal rye properties, but it is my favorite of the three rye flight