Distillery: Contract distilled by Undisclosed Distillery
Proof: 113.4
Age: NAS
Mashbill: Undisclosed
BACKGROUND: Michter's Distillery is a well known and highly sought after whiskey distillery. They are based out of Louisiville, KY. They currently contract distill where they have strong oversight and control over how another distillery produces their whiskey including the mashbill, age, and aging process. They also are distilling their own whiskey and aging it with the plans to bottle their own whiskey and distribute that instead of their contract distilled whiskey. Their flagship products are this small batch bourbon, a straight rye, an American whiskey, and a sour mash whiskey. They have multiple limited release series which include a barrel strength bourbon, this barrel strength rye, their toasted line: toasted bourbon, toasted barrel strength rye, and toasted sour mash; their 10 year single barrel line which includes a 10 year bourbon and 10 year rye; a 20 year bourbon, 20 year rye, 25 year bourbon and an occasion celebration sour mash whiskey.
NOSE: The nose was much softer than anticipated with scents of fresh mint, smooth rye spice, sweet vanilla, orange rind, and charred oak. As I kept sniffing I started to pull some scents of butterscotch and cinnamon with less bite. Overall this was an interesting and sharp nose with an enjoyable balance of scents making up a sweet and spicy nose. (23/25)
PALATE: A burst of fresh rye spice, char, and vanilla make themselves known as soon as the whiskey touches your tongue. It flirts with being overwhelming but never crosses the line. As the whiskey sat on my tongue I started to pull some delicious notes of freshly baked cinnamon bread, salted caramel, toffee, minty goodness, and seasoned oak. Each sip grew in character and flavor. This whiskey reminds of a hot wilderness night camping beneath the summery stars amongst the trees. (36/40)
FINISH: The finish is very long and flavorful continuing to develop as time went on. Delicious notes of caramel, rye spice, pine, and oak dance into the night. (24/25)
VALUE: The lack of information about the age and mashbill make $100 slightly intimidating but after tasting this one it is a very unique and delicious rye whiskey. (7/10)
Overall: 90/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: Michter's 2021 Barrel Strength Rye was a smash hit! It is packed with delicious and unique rye whiskey flavors. It is incredible smooth and approachable which are things you often don't hear with cask strength rye whiskey. We thoroughly enjoyed this and will savor every last drop. We cannot recommend this enough if you are lucky enough to find it near SRP.
Similar & Slightly Better Whiskey: Whistle Pig 15 Year Cask Strength Picks
Similar & Equal Whiskey: Michter's 10 Year Single Barrel Rye
Similar & Slightly Worse Whiskey: Wild Turkey Rare Breed Rye
Tell us what you think and give us some feedback!
Scoring Legend:
96-100: The perfect dram, juice of the gods
90-95: Near perfect, truly incredible whiskey
85-89: Amazing whiskey, will always try to keep a backup bottle of this
80-84: Very good, some minor flaws here or there
75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink, Will try and keep a bottle on the shelf
70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get this
60-69: Decent, would offer this up to non whiskey drinkers
50-59: Not my cup of tea
Below 50: Give away
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