New Riff Straight Malted Rye Whiskey

So last week my wife left me…Shit that sounds bad. Let’s try this again.

Last week my wife took a trip to visit a long-time friend and help her out with a fan convention that her friend was putting on. I was left alone to pretend to be a bachelor. I had big plans of eating lots of junk food, watching a lot of movies, just really learning into the whole I don’t have to be a responsible adult thing.

And it turns out that I wasn’t. Responsible that is. Because I ended up mistaking just how long a container of leftovers had been in the fridge, giving myself what seems to be a mild case of food poisoning. It’s been fun. I felt like I was prepping for a colonoscopy at one point. Now I’m just hanging around feeling nauseated and trying hard not to do anything that will upset that. The upside is that I did get to watch a lot of movies once the pups I was watching went home. I just had to do it while laying down and with frequent pausing.

All of that is to say, this is to explain why there wasn’t a post on Tuesday and why this post will be mostly quoting from the website of tonight’s whiskey.

New Riff Distilling is pleased to introduce a new, regular extension to their award winning lineup: New Riff Straight Malted Rye Whiskey Bottled in Bond Without Chill Filtration. This style of whiskey is made of 100% malted rye grain, which is quite rare, even in today’s craft distilling scene. Malted rye is rye grain that has undergone the process of malting. When you malt a grain you alter and, arguably, improve and refine its flavor. That’s exactly what’s happened here, as the typically spicy flavor of rye becomes polished, refined, and subtle.

New Riff Malted Rye is elegant. Graceful. It presents plenty of spice but in a much more sophisticated fashion than our standard 95% rye. It actually makes more sense to us to think of it as a malted whiskey first, and a rye whiskey second. At a generous six years old, our New Riff Malted Rye Bottled in Bond Without Chill Filtration is the oldest New Riff whiskey yet released, and will remain at six years as something of an exclamation point atop our standard portfolio.

Now, if you’ve been around a while, you will know that I don’t usually like whiskey with malted rye in it. Much less one that is 100% malted rye. But I also have yet to find a New Riff whiskey that I didn’t like so I figured that if anyone was going to make a malted rye whiskey that I liked, it would be them. So I bought it. Let’s see how it tastes.

New Riff Kentucky Straight Malted Rye Whiskey

Purchase info: $60.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.07

Details: Bottled in Bond. 50% ABV. Six years old. Mash bill consists of 100% malted rye. Non-Chill Filtered.

Nose: Wintergreen, plum, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Mouth: Thick and sweet with spicy cinnamon, wintergreen, and baked fruit.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Notes of cedar, plum, and cinnamon.

Thoughts: Well, shit! This is damn good! If you'd handed it to me blind, I wouldn't have guessed that this was a rye until the finish when the cedar notes arrive. The mouth is thick, sweet, and rich, which isn't something I usually find in rye whiskey. Especially at less than barrel-proof. I guess my initial thought was correct when I speculated that New Riff would be the most likely to be able to put out a malted rye whiskey that I'd enjoy. And on top of that it makes a damn fine Old Fashioned. This one is certainly worth a look.

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Bluebird Days Whiskey

I’d like to thank Bluebird Distilling, Jordan Davis and their PR teams for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Most of the samples I get come from one of two sources. The vast majority of the samples come from a large producer. But there are also a sizable number of samples from a small producer who has done a deal with a musician. Tonight’s whiskey is from the latter. And since I have never heard of either the musician or the distillery associated with tonight’s whiskey, let’s let them introduce themselves via the press release.

ABOUT BLUEBIRD DISTILLING: Bluebird Distilling is a craft distillery that produces small batch whiskies (that includes a limited release Wheat Whiskey, Four Grain Bourbon, Rye Whiskey, and White Rye Whiskey) and other amazing craft spirits such as Juniperus Gin, Vodka, Sugarcane Rum, and Dark Rum, using a state-of-the-art hybrid copper still. The distillery and tasting room are located in Phoenixville, PA. For more information, please visit http://bluebirddistilling.com/.  

ABOUT JORDAN DAVIS: A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, Jordan Davis is set to release his highly anticipated second full-length album, Bluebird Days, on February 17. Produced by Paul DiGiovanni, the album features 17 songs including his fifth career No. 1 hit, “What My World Spins Around,” and his double-platinum multi-week No. 1, “Buy Dirt” (feat. Luke Bryan), which won numerous accolades including CMA and NSAI Song of the Year and earned ACM, AMA, Billboard and iHeart Award nominations. Davis previously notched three consecutive No. 1 hits: Platinum-certified “Slow Dance In AParking Lot,” Double Platinum-certified “Singles You Up” and Platinum-certified “Take It From Me,” each featured on his Gold-certified debut album, Home State. Awarded Best New Country Artist at the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards, he is a two-time nominee for ACM New Male Artist of the Year and was named Billboard’s Top New Country Artist of 2018. Davis has over 4 billion streams worldwide and appeared on Ellen, Good Morning America, TODAY, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and more. He has previously toured with artists including Dierks Bentley, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett, Rascal Flatts, Old Dominion, and more.

So now that we know who we are dealing with, let’s find out what the whiskey is (and yes, this sample has been hanging around for a while now, as evidenced by that album's release date). BlueBird Days Whiskey is probably best classified as a blend of straight whiskies as it is made from a blend of 90% 6-year-old Bluebird Bourbon (mashbill: 75% corn, 15% Heirloom Rye, and 10% Barley) and 10% 7-year-old Bluebird Red Winter Wheat Whiskey (mashbill: 100% Whole Grain Pennsylvania Red Winter Wheat).

Let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Bluebird Days Whiskey

Purchase Info: This sample was provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $50 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Nose: Mint, a toasted nuttiness, and dried grains.

Mouth: Cinnamon, caramel, chocolate, nougat.

Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Notes of malted grains, chocolate, mint, and some oak.

Thoughts: This one is not for me. It's not bad or anything. In fact, there will probably be people who think I'm crazy for giving this a neutral rating. But I'm not finding that the bourbon and wheat whiskies in the blend complement one another. They are both there, but to me, they fight instead of combining into a well-integrated whole. Plus, it just sort of feels overly grain-forward for my palate. It doesn't hurt that I get a note reminiscent of malted grain on the finish. And I really don't care for that flavor note. If you are a fan of celebrity craft whiskies, give this a try. Otherwise, it is probably safe to give this one a pass.

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Smooth Ambler Founders’ Cask Strength Series Bourbon, 2022, Batch 4

I’d like to thank Smooth Ambler and their PR team for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Oh my goodness, it is great to be back. As much as I enjoy the brackets each year, they all get written ahead of time. So I usually get a few weeks away from writing to relax and get other things done. And, boy, did I get things done this year. Namely, I started a business. Kinda. I’ve been dog-sitting as a side hustle for six years but decided to formalize that business into an LLC. I had to research, buy, and implement booking software, get insurance, and move my clients from the platform I’d been using to the new one. Hell, even small things like business cards and a website needed to be created.

It was an excellent time to have posts pre-written ahead, let me tell you.

What that meant though was that I had a ton of samples stacked up that I wasn’t tasting. And so, let’s just jump into the first one and work our way through the backlog. Tonight’s bourbon is from Smooth Ambler. Smooth Ambler is a small distillery in West Virginia owned by Pernod Ricard. They are best known for their Old Scout line of sourced whiskeys, but they also distill their own as well. Founders’ Cask Strength is made from one of those bourbons that they distilled in-house. Specifically their “Bourbon Mashbill #2” which consists of 71% corn, 21% rye, and 8% malted barley. Founders’ will be released in select markets (California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas) for $54.99 per 750 mL bottle and 900 cases are going to be produced per year across six batches. The press release was kind enough to share a quote from the Smooth Ambler founder (fitting) so let’s hear what he has to say about the product:

As John Little states, “What’s great about the Founders’ Cask Strength Series is we finally get to let y’all taste delicious whiskey we’ve been excitedly working on for years in our part of the whiskey world – West Virginia. With this Bourbon recipe, we add a modest amount of Rye to play well with high corn content and let it age in Char #4 casks in the Appalachian climate.  It’s a surprising meddling of flavors and geographical superpowers that just work effortlessly.  So please enjoy this newly minted convergence of flavors, from our home to yours.” 

Ok. That’s enough with the background. Let’s move on to the important stuff, how does it taste?

Smooth Ambler Founder's Cask Strength Series, Batch 4, 2022

Purchase Info: This was provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $54.99 for a 750 mL bottle and is available in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.67

Details: 61.4% ABV. Six years old. Mash bill: 71% corn, 21% rye, and 8% malted barley.

Nose: Honey, cinnamon, oak, and mint.

Mouth: Chocolate, oak, leather, berries, and cinnamon.

Finish: Sweet and medium length. Leather, chocolate, mint, anise, and cinnamon.

Thoughts: This is quite tasty—lots of oak-derived notes, such as leather and chocolate. The finish is the best and most complex part, precisely how I'd plan it if I were in charge. Delicious.

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10th Annual BourbonGuy.com Brackets: The Championship Rounds

Welcome back, folks! Can you believe we’ve done this for 10 years now? Crazy. We are now at the end of the 2023 contest. Eight whiskeys entered the arena. Four have fallen by the wayside. There have been some delicious treats, and contrary to years past, no stinkers. Let’s see how it all ends and see if we’ve learned anything along the way. First, we have the Round Two matchups.

Division 2: Whiskey A (New Riff Bourbon) vs. Whiskey B (Old Forester 1897)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: "A" has a nicer nose. Sweet and fruity. "B" has a longer and warmer finish. They are both delicious, but in this case, "A" matches my preferred flavor profile a little better. I tend to like a sweet and lightly fruity bourbon, and "A" is exactly that.

Winner: New Riff Bourbon moves on to the Championship Round

Division 1: Whiskey A (George Dickel Bottled-in-Bond No. 4) vs. Whiskey B (Jack Daniel’s Bonded)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: "B" has a nicer nose. "A" has a nicer finish with dark chocolate notes. In the mouth, "A" is a little fruitier, whereas "B" is got more "candy bar" notes. This one is tough. So tough that my wife and I are split. I prefer "A.” She prefers "B." But at the end of the day, it's my vote that gets published.

Winner: George Dickel Bottled-in-Bond (No. 4) moves on to the Championship Round

Championship Round: Whiskey A (New Riff Bourbon) vs. Whiskey B (George Dickel Bottled-in-Bond No. 4)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: The nose is very nice on both of these. In the mouth and on the finish, “A” is a little fruitier and gets my vote for the nicer experience. Both are delicious, but "A" is the winner. That fruitiness is intoxicating (and not just because of the alcohol).

Winner: New Riff Bourbon

Congrats to New Riff Bourbon, the 2023 BourbonGuy.com Bracket Champion!

Lessons Learned:

This was an interesting contest for me. When I was reminded that I only had a few days to find a theme, buy, seed, and taste the entire competition full of whiskeys. I had a moment of panic. I actually considered not doing it this year. But I’m not going to lie. This is my favorite post series each year. And once I decided to drop the price requirement as an overreaction to last year’s stinkers, it got even easier. Thankfully my local store had over eight bonded whiskeys, so I had my choice without running all over the metro the night before a big snowstorm.

So what did I learn about each of these?

With George Dickel Bottled-in-Bond (No. 4) competing for the Championship in what is, ostensibly, a bourbon contest, there may be cries of foul play since they don’t call themselves “bourbon.” But, as I told a reader in a comment on the first post in this year’s contest: if you show me a bonded whiskey (in the bourbon style) that is 13 years old for right around $50? I’m going buy that every time. It was no surprise to me that 13 years in a barrel allowed Dickel to stand up tall with the best of the best this year.

Moving on to the other Tennessee Whiskey in the competition, you get the only first-round upset. Jack Daniel’s Bonded knocked out a bourbon from Barton 1792 in the first round and almost made it to the Championship in a split decision in Round 2. That was a surprise to me. Though having had it before, I shouldn’t have been surprised. 100° proof is probably the sweet spot for Jack Daniel’s, as far as I’m concerned. It is delicious at higher proofs but gets really hot real quick. Below that, it is really mellow. Bonded just hits right for me. I was actually shocked that it went blow to blow with a 13-year-old and didn’t embarrass itself, honestly. That’s a lot of age to overcome.

Evan Williams Bottled in Bond handled itself admirably. It didn’t quite have the gusto to knock off a competitor with lots of age on it, but it should hold its head up high. It won last year and lost to the eventual number 2 this year. That’s nothing to sneeze at. It’s good whiskey and an even better value. It should be on everyone’s back bar, even if you just use it for cocktails.

Wolcott Bottled-in-Bond was interesting to me. But probably not for the reasons that Total Wine would have liked. It was the only contestant that I would describe as “meh.” It just goes to show that even a producer of great whiskey like Sazerac isn’t going to put their best stuff into somebody else’s bottle.

Moving to the other division. Our Champion New Riff was so delicious that my wife wrote, “I can’t wait to find out what this is” on the sheet she was using to keep track of the contest. It won a squeaker in the first round but easily handled two whiskeys that were either a limited edition or part of a “high-end” brand extension. I was shocked because as I was tasting it, I kept thinking, “we don’t have a Four Roses product in the line-up, but if I didn’t know better, I’d think this was one.” It had been a long time since I’d purchased the standard New Riff Bourbon. I need to change that.

I didn’t learn much from Old Grand-Dad Bonded that I didn’t already know. I knew it was a great bourbon that didn’t cost much. It is the second former champion in the mix. Nothing about that has changed.

Old Tub reminded me that Jim Beam makes good whiskey. It just needs some proof on it. Go down below 100° proof, and it gets way too nutty for a lot of folks, including me when the mood isn’t right.

Finally, Old Forester 1897 is much better than I remember it being. I love the 1920 expression. But when 1897 first came out, I thought it was a little muddy and flat. No more. This is a really good bourbon for a pretty good price. It’s going on the list of things I need to buy much more often.

This was such a fun contest this year. Not once did I have to brace myself before taking an initial sip. I knew there were no stinkers in the mix. And the champ was one that I would have never guessed. Honestly, if I was going to guess the outcome beforehand, I would have put my money on Old Forester 1897 to win it all. I also didn’t think that Dickel would make it all the way to the Championship match. I’ve liked all of the releases of Dickel Bottled-in-Bond that I’ve had. But I liked this one the least of the four. That said, it’s still good whiskey when not compared to its earlier brothers. Next week we take a look at the samples that have been stacking up while the contest was going on. As much fun as this was, it’s fun to try new bourbons too.

Once again, congrats to New Riff Bourbon on their 2023 Championship!

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10th Annual BourbonGuy.com Brackets: Round 1: New Riff Bourbon vs. Old Grand-Dad Bonded

Those of you that have been following along know that this is the third competition of Round 1. These were tasted in an order only known to my wife as another bit of obfuscation to hide what was being tasted. So Round 1 of the 2023 BourbonGuy.com Brackets continues with Division 2’s Number 2 seed New Riff Bourbon taking on Number 3 seed Old Grand-Dad Bonded. 

New Riff Bourbon is the flagship product of Northern Kentucky’s New Riff Distillery. As with most, if not all, of their products, this is a bottled-in-bond product that has not been chill-filtered. It was distilled in the Cincinnati suburb of Newport, KY at New Riff’s distillery DSP-KY-20016. It was purchased at Viking Liquor Barrel in Prior Lake, MN. It cost $41.99 for a 750 mL bottle or $2.80 per pour.

Their opponent is probably my personal favorite expression of Jim Beam’s “High-Rye” bourbon line-up. I even like it a little more than Old Grand-Dad 114 proof these days. Old Grand-Dad Bonded was distilled in Clermont, KY at Jim Beam’s distillery DSP-KY-230. This was purchased at Viking Liquor Barrel in Prior Lake, MN. It cost $21.99 for a 750 mL bottle or $1.47 per pour.

All of the competitions this year were tasted blind and we knew the winner of the competition prior to any reveal. Notes, thoughts, and conclusions were all from before we knew what was what. Needless to say, some of my conclusions were surprising to me. Tasting notes may be a little unusual since they were being tasted at the same time and could have influenced the perceptions of one another.

Whiskey A (New Riff Bourbon)

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $2.80

Details: 50% ABV. Non-Chill Filtered

Nose: Sweet and fruity with notes of spearmint, toffee, and oak.

Mouth: Spicy with notes of cinnamon, red fruits, vanilla, and caramel.

Finish: Long and warm with notes of cinnamon, fruit, and vanilla.

Whiskey B (Old Grand-Dad Bonded)

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: 50% ABV.

Nose: Vanilla, toasted grains, and mint.

Mouth: Toasted grains, oak, vanilla, caramel, and mint.

Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Notes of caramel, toasted grains, and oak.

Thoughts:

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: This is a close one, but the depth of flavor in "A" pushes it ahead of the competition. The toasted grain notes are nice, but I'm really digging the sweet, fruity notes of "A". “A’s” finish is nicer too.

Post-Reveal Thoughts: I’m always surprised when Old Grand-Dad does well in these things. And then I get surprised by my surprise. I mean, I like Old Grand-Dad. I buy it three or four times a year in one of its various expressions. I don’t know why I get surprised when it puts up a good fight against more expensive competition. That said, I am in love with this bottle of New Riff. Which reminds me, I need to make a note to buy more New Riff.

Winner: New Riff Bourbon is advancing to round 2.

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10th Annual BourbonGuy.com Brackets: The Bottled-in-Bond Edition

Well, well, well…lookie who we have here. Is it bracket time again already?

No, I mean that seriously. I’ve been so caught up with getting all the paperwork for my new dog-sitting business in order that I completely forgot that it was March (and hence bracket season) until last Wednesday when my wife reminded me. In the time since, we chose the theme, bought all the whiskey, seeded the brackets, and, yes, did all the tastings. Oh, and also worked on the previously mentioned paperwork.

Now you might be thinking, “didn’t this used to be called the bottom-shelf brackets? I see some pretty expensive whiskeys up there.” Well, you’d be right about that. After dumping out approximately seven liters of bourbon last year, I felt like I needed to overcorrect in the other direction and instead decided to throw out the price restrictions entirely. Instead, I decided to follow a different theme: Bottled-in-Bond. Now, my local store has a pretty good bourbon section. And unlike Total Wine (where honestly, I spend most of my liquor money), it has a very good selection of Bonded Bourbons (or, in the case of Jack and Dickel, close enough for this little blog). So I bought them all there. And I didn’t even buy all they had, just the least expensive ones. I could have spent $90 for a sourced bourbon or $65 for a 10-year-old Henry McKenna, but I didn’t.

In yet another “burn it all down” moment, I tossed out my usual seeding rules too. This year I went strictly by price. The most expensive price per milliliter was seeded number 1, and the least expensive was seeded number 4 for each division. Here’s how it worked out this year:

1. George Dickel Bottled in Bond (7.07 cents per mL)

2. Old Forester 1897 (6.67 cents per mL)

3. Wolcott Bottled-in-Bond (6.26 cents per mL)

4. New Riff (5.60 cents per mL)

5. Jack Daniel's Bonded (5.00 cents per mL)

6. Old Grand-Dad Bonded (2.93 cents per mL)

7. Old Tub (2.80 cents per mL)

8. Evan Williams Bottled in Bond (2.20 cents per mL)

Which gives us the breakdown above. As you can see, there are a lot of new faces this time. Based on the removal of the pricing restrictions, only two entrants have been here before. Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond and Old Grand-Dad Bonded have both competed previously. And they both won.

This one was a lot of fun. Who you got? Any upsets that you see on the horizon? Let us know down in the comments. I’m very excited to share the results with you.

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New Riff Balboa Rye Bottled-in-Bond

We are flying by the seat of our pants on this one tonight folks. I’ve not only lost the receipt from when I bought tonight’s whiskey, but it was long enough ago that I honestly don’t even remember where I bought it, much less how much it cost. It was long enough ago that all of the snow that is in the photo above (about a foot and a half or so) has melted and is currently in the process of being replaced by upwards of two feet of new snow.

I don’t usually wait so long between purchase and review, but it got stuck behind something and overlooked for, I’m guessing three months or so. It seems one of the many things that I’ve forgotten about this whiskey is exactly when I bought it. Let’s move forward with what I do know though.

I first became aware of New Riff’s Balboa Rye Bottled in Bond Whiskey when it was re-released as part of their Fall 2020 slate of Whiskey Club Releases. I know this because I bought the other two of the three that were released that October and because I never delete an email if I can help it. It was part of a, probably ill-advised, harrowing two day road trip to Cincinnati and back during the height of the Pandemic. I doubt I will ever again drive that far in one day only to turn around and drive back home the next.

So first things first, what is Balboa Rye? Why is it the name of this whiskey? Is this some sort of Rocky reference? In reverse order:

• No.

• It is the name of the rye variety in used in the mash bill

• Balboa Rye is an heirloom rye grain grown by New Riff’s Corn farmer Charles Fogg. The variety dates back to the 1940s and, according to the New Riff website was popular in Indiana at the time.

So what is an heirloom rye grain? I’m going to let New Riff’s website tell you this one since their explanation will probably also answer many of your followup questions.

Heirloom rye presents a great challenge to those that grow heirloom crops. Winter rye is a promiscuous grain that can easily cross-pollinate. Winter rye seeds must be grown in isolation to accurately produce seed varieties. If they are allowed to cross with other varieties, the identity of the original will be lost. Farmers and distillers that use heirloom rye have to start with seeds from one particularly known provenance. Depending on the person, ‘heirloom’ can have many different meetings. Typically, the term refers to older varieties of rye (or other plants, or livestock) that date from the early 20th century or even back into the 1800s. Older varieties are often discarded by farmers due to their lower yield. For distillers, however, a low yield can be beneficial because there are more flavorful grains wherever there are lower yields. This is the same for wine, where lower-yielding vines are highly prized for depth of flavor in their grapes. Heirloom grains, including rye, have disadvantages that can make them tough to work with. They’re less disease-resistant and more susceptible to insects. The older varieties are more susceptible to disease, and don’t yield as well. For those who produce rye whiskey, like New Riff, the choice to grow single-strain or heirloom rye is impactful. A way to showcase the provenance of rye grains is through the wonderful rye whiskey from New Riff Distilling.

So now that that is out of the way, let’s see how this tastes and see if I was unlucky back in 2020, when it was sold out before I could buy it on my overnight adventure.

New Riff Balboa Rye Bottled-in-Bond

Purchase Info: Honestly…no idea. It looks like the MSRP was $49.99 back in 2020 so I’ll go with that.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: 4 years old, 50% ABV, Bottled-in- Bond. Mash bill: 95% Balboa Rye, 5% malted rye. Non-Chill Filtered.

Nose: Cedar, cinnamon, brown sugar, menthol, a deep earthy note.

Mouth: Spicy cinnamon, caramel, mint, and almonds.

Finish: Medium-long and warm with notes of cinnamon and almond.

Thoughts: This is one of the more interesting whiskies that have come across my desk in recent months. Please don't confuse "most interesting" with "best" though. It’s quite good, don’t get me wrong, it's just different enough that I will probably need to be in the mood for some thing interesting and different before I reach for this one. Which is fine, since it looks like none of the stores near me are currently carrying it.

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Painted Stave Bottled in Bond Rye Whiskey

Late last year, I was in Total Wine, planning ahead for things to review. There is an employee there who I chat with about bourbon when he’s working. It never hurts to get the ear of a liquor store employee. Even if a Total Wine employee is unlikely to help you score sought after releases, if they know that you know your bourbon, they are less likely to try to push Spirits Direct items your way.

Well, most of the time. This guy knows that I know my stuff. In fact, he’s an occasional reader now. And knowing that, he only suggests the Spirits Direct stuff when he honestly likes it. So when he told me that he honestly liked this one while also saying something to the effect of “I know, I know, Spirits Direct,” well, I decided to take a shot on it.

Painted Stave Distilling is a craft distillery and cocktail bar in Smyrna, Deleware. Located in the Old Smyrna Theater building, they are currently 9 years old. Just a couple of years younger than this site you’re reading now. They make gin, vodka, some liqueurs, an Irish-Style whiskey, a Bonded Corn whiskey, Bonded Bourbon, and of course this Bonded Rye whiskey. Here is what the producers have to say about their rye whiskey:

Painted Stave Rye is a shining example of our approach to branding at Painted Stave Distilling: celebrate and retell local history. Just to our south, Diamond State Rye (editor’s note: this seems to be an earlier brand name for their rye before it was a Bottled-in-Bond release) was originally made by the Levy & Glosking Distillery, which was shut down by the strong teetotaling movement in our county before prohibition. While the mash bills are likely different, many of the branding elements were inspired from the original design, and presently serves as the template for all of whiskies. DSRye, is a Maryland rye-styled whiskey, where corn is added to contrast the spicy nature of rye and produce a whiskey with more subdued spice and rounder subtler flavors. The sweetness of the corn helps balance the dry spiciness of the rye to yield a spirit that is right at home in a classic Manhattan or sipped on fresh ice. At least four years in heavily charred white oak barrels, no chill filtering, and ready to rock.

Alright, let’s see how it tastes.

Painted Stave Bottled in Bond Rye Whiskey

Purchase Info: $41.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.80

Details: 4 years old. 50% ABV. DSP-DE-21002. Batch/Bottle Number: 5-297

Nose: Spearmint, caramel, anise, clove, and red fruits.

Mouth: Spearmint, bubblegum, cardboard, plums, and cinnamon.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium. Notes of spearmint, cinnamon, bubble gum, and cardboard.

Thoughts: This is a weird one. On the nose, it reminded me of Peychaud's Bitters with some spearmint and caramel. On the mouth, it reminded me of the gum that came with Topps Baseball Cards in the 1980s, along with spearmint and spice. Same with the finish. Honestly, this isn't for me. At least not on its own. In a Sazerac, it works wonderfully, probably due to its resemblance to Peychaud's. So, I'm pretty neutral on this one. I'll probably keep it in the cocktail cart and use it in cocktails.

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