Blind Tasting No. 9 Recap
Ryed-or-Die
This tasting was lots of fun and very challenging. I was so impressed by the whiskey club members who participated! We tried three different rye whiskeys that were all different. The members didn’t know which whiskeys they were trying, so based entirely on their senses they had to determine which whiskey was 100% rye mash, Monongahela style (no corn in the mash bill) and Kentucky style (51% rye in the mash bill). They also had to pick out which of the three was a Canadian rye and which included malted rye in the mash. To reiterate, this was challenging! The ryes we tasted were:
WhistlePig 10 year old Rye Whiskey is 100% rye mash whiskey distilled by Alberta Distillers and imported to Vermont where it’s aged in new charred American oak barrels and finished in ex-bourbon barrels for a total of 10 years. The members picked up notes of red grapes, cherry, coca cola and molasses that was balanced wirth medicinal, floral and grassy notes.
Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whisky Bottled-in-Bond is produced by Heaven Hill Distillery using 51% rye, 37% corn and 12% malted barley mash. This rye was distilled by one distiller during one distillation season, then was aged for four years in new charred oak barrels in a Federally Bonded Warehouse and bottled at 100 proof (50% ABV). It has much more of a high-rye bourbon flavor profile with notes of apple pie, Big Red cinnamon, creme brulee, caramel apple lollipop, raw biscuit dough and thyme.
High West Double Rye! is a blend of their rye distilled from 80% rye and 20% malted rye with MGP’s 2 year old 95% rye and 5% malted barley whiskey recipe. This whiskey had notes of cinnamon, brine, apricot, marmalade, citrus, pepper, jam, Bubble Tape bubble gum and herbs.
Everyone did so well at tasting the whiskeys, but no one was able to correctly identify the three different styles. It was really a tricky tasting. First of all, Rittenhouse claims to be a Monogahela style rye, but it’s only 51% rye in the mash with a lot of corn, which technically qualifies it as Kentucky Style. Secondly, some might claim that Double Rye! is actually “Indiana style” because it’s blended with MGP’s 95% rye/5% malt recipe, however I referred to it as Monongahela due to its lack of corn in the mash (and the fact that “Indiana style” is a very recent term). And lastly, WhistlePig has a delicate flavor profile compared to the other two, which is not necessarily what one would expect from a 100% rye mash. Interestingly, a whiskey with 100% rye in the mash is not twice as spicy as a Kentucky style with 51% rye. So because the members were given essentially trick questions, they all receive an A for effort!
