Peerless Kentucky Straight Rye (24 Months)

The nose is rich with a hefty dose of wood and some surprising umami. It doesn't smell like fruit or anything else sweet. The umami holds a bit of boiled beef and wet (though not moldy) cardboard. It smells big and bold, though not entirely appealing. The palate tastes lighter and younger than expected. There are some nice rich, bitter flavors here, but they can't hide the youth. There's some bittersweet cocoa that's really nice and pervasive, but there's also some cardboard that borders on being that Garrison Brothers sawdust due to the included brown sugar. I like the greater complexity in here than in Garrison Brothers, but it's still fairly harsh and discordant. It's much sweeter than the nose suggests, but with a youth and corn flavor. It's an especially good youthful whiskey, but it's still youthful. It's not as good as Sazerac, though it is complex without having any awful flavors. I'd certainly take this over Minor Case Sherry Cask. Brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, licorice, some herbal notes. It's also numbing with a fair amount of soft tannins. There's a fair bit of smoke, but no leather. The more I drink it, the more I enjoy it. There might be a hint of some fruit, but there isn't much. The sweet caramel flavor is more like slightly burnt caramel than butterscotch or toffee. Or maybe it's dark toffee. It's good. I'd be pretty happy drinking this. It's interesting and I'd put it fairly close to Booker's due to its higher complexity. Garrison Brothers should have been at least this. Still, it's young and harsh. I feel like the variance is high here, but I'll give it a 17 for now. I feel like it's at least a 14 or 15, bit it's hard to see it being higher than a 19 or 20.

Rating: 13/23 N: Alcohol, immediately. I get faint citrus and grain, but alcohol is by far the strongest initial impression. Some wood and light peanut (surprisingly) start coming in. OK, the balance is starting to come together. I'm still not happy about that alcohol character, but this is OK and shows promise for older offerings from this distillery. P: I get peanut with some wood, grain, spice, and harshness. I guess some mint too. And definitely just a big alcohol flavor. That part is a lot. There isn't a ton of complexity here and while there are some good flavors, the heart is harsh alcohol. This is certainly not as pleasant as the Peerless bourbon I tried. F: The alcohol harshness with some lemon, spice, and woody peanut linger. It's not a great finish. - Conclusion - This shows some good potential, but it's trying to drink. Frankly, I'd rather not drink it. I previously had a pour from a different bottle of Peerless and I really liked it (17/23). I don't know why this one is such a disappointment in comparison. I'm looking at somewhere around a 12 for this. Maybe my tastes have evolved or maybe there is some HUGE batch variation going on here. Side-by-side, I don't see a characteristic other than proof in which this beats Russell's Reserve Rye 6. I like a good dose of high proof to enhance my dram (see Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Barrel Proof), but the proof here just isn't having the transformative effect that it needs to. All of the other ryes I have on hand just strike me as better than this, unfortunately. There is just no way that this is higher than a 14. I'm thinking of an 11 to 14 most likely. I'm going with 13.

Uncorking- Nose- rich, rye pops hard then green grass and mint. Burnt sugar like creme brulee, earthy undertone almost umami like scent. Almost like a hint of beef or mushroom. I went to the bottle to see if it was the glass and it's definitely there. Taste- so much spice, rye, cinnamon, pie, hot for a 108, makes the tongue pop like a 120+ proof. It's followed by a perfume sweetness that is accented with air on the tongue. Decent mouthfeel with a tiny bit of oil and doesn't feel like only 2 years aged. Finish- rich and peppery, with some vanilla and creme brulee layers taking turns peeking out. Really great rye. I see the following. If you don't like Rye you will probably hate this. It's rye cranked up but I really liked it.

I was pretty excited about this one. So I got the bottle home and popped the top. The nose has a nice oak, spice and some vanilla notes. Great start as it doesn’t have that strong alcohol smell to it either. Upon my first sip I get a good helping of spices followed by oak. Then you get some nice sweet flavors come in with a hint of vanilla. It has a nice smooth viscosity as well as taste. Well balanced and it is just all around smooth. The only issue I have is the price of the bottle compared to some other rye’s that I believe are in the same ballpark as this one. It’s well over double the price of a few of them. So I like having a bottle around but I’m not sure I would buy a second bottle.

I absolutely love this Rye. It is a fantastic treat. Nice dancing on the tounge with hard hitting proof. Hints of spicy vanilla and saddle leather. But, I really want to reccomend it. I really do. However at $90, its not that substantially better than its peers in the Rye category to be worth the extra $30-45. As a treat or celebratory bottle? Do it. Savor it. Enjoy it. As a stock Rye entry? Needs work. As my wife said, "cute bottle!". As as I said, "better damm be".

Arguably one of the best ryes I’ve ever had. Extremely complex nose of cedar shavings, caramelized sugar, dried spearmint, fennel root, and hints of cinnamon and baking spice. On the palate the sweetness shines a little more with the caramel becoming more prominent. Clove spice and oak are well integrated and there’s hints of brioche that come through on the very long finish. I cannot possibly think of anything I would change about this whisky!