Rossville Union 5 Year Straight Rye

Almost impossible to find in my area, scoring the only bottle of this at a random little mom and pop liquor store was quite the coup. Let’s dive in: Nose of fresh cut grass, ginger, herbs, eucalyptus, dill, honey Graham cracker, pepper, and buttered biscuit. Palate features honey, mint, white pepper, and what I would call “cooking spices”, meaning thyme, basil, sage, and rosemary. Make no mistake this sucker is no 51% “Kentucky Rye”; herbaceous to the core without straying into medicine territory (no small feat) Flavors pop to the point that this one punches above its weight class. Finish is a surprisingly long blast of hot rye spice and cinnamon, morphing into cooling menthol. Mouthfeel is grainy. Being a fan of herbal ryes this one hit the right notes for me. Nothing that moves the earth here, just really good MGP 95/5 rye. You can tell that MGP saved some of the best stuff for themselves, as this is easily distinguishable from the ubiquitous expressions that flood the market under different labels. At $42, it’s a win and a rebuy.

MGP, now Rossville Distilling and Ross & Squibb. They've been at this a long time, selling their juice to others to age/bottle, and now selling it under their own label. That's a good thing. We know their stuff is good, so what are they keeping to market? Nose is familiar, floral grain, vanilla, and a hint of pepper spice and wet leather. Sweet cereal, spicy grass and pepper and earthy spices. Average viscosity and light golden color in the glass. Good ethanol burst, with vanilla oak and tannins, and mint tingle in the long finish. Smooths and opens with an ice cube. Priced right this is a really good rye, but hard to find around here or I'd make it a daily regular. Look forward to finding the barrel proof.

A bold, Straight Rye Whiskey by Ross & Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana crafted with a blend of 2 mash bills. The first is 95% rye and 5% malted barley while the second is 51% rye, 45% corn & 4% malted barley; aged for 5 to 7 years in new American white oak barrels before being blended & bottled at 94 proof. It has an aromatic birth of grains, wood, dried fruits, nuts, herbs & spices; while a rich & spicy life adds notes of caramel apples, butterscotch, toffee, dill, mint, malted barley & sweet corn; that led to a long & warm death with notes of toasted oak, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, rye bread, chocolate, burnt sugar & smoke.

Rye and cinnamon are the stars of the bottle. Sweet and fruity scents mixed with Rye, banana, buttery toast, light smoke and powdered cinnamon. The taste hits you with spicy cinnamon but not in the way Fireball attemps. The heat is strong but what you expect in a Rye. The medium finish is good but if it was longer the rating would be higher. Steal at its price point and good sipper to enjoy with friends and family that appreciate whiskey especially a good Rye.

Flaviar advent calendar day #8 Nose: rye spice, cinnamon, bread, oak. A hint of fruity gummy bear. Nutmeg. Palate: nice and spicy, mild caramel, a hint of herbal notes, cocoa, fruit leather. Mild herbal minty note. Oak, cherry, cinnamon. There's a fruity Sweetness in here to balance out the spicy notes and bitter oak tannins Finish: cherry, oak, cocoa powder, back of the throat heat

Barrel select: spice-28999, 50% abv Nose: it actually smells pretty sweet for a rye. I’ve had the barrel strength of this rye and thought that was pretty smooth. This goes down easy as well. There’s a great lingering chest warmth as well. Lots of sweet caramel and late licorice. The rye is robust but the heat is well managed. Very happy with this purchase.