The Blind Rye
At the start of the pandemic the goal of this site was to have a creative outline for reviewing different whiskeys and have some fun. Trouble was that during the pandemic drinking by yourself ended up being a bit more boring that anticipated.
Fast forward to 2022, where COVID is everywhere, and we're getting back in the groove. This Average Guy decides his creative juices are flowing again and so should the whiskey. Giving rise to the Endless Whiskey Blind Drinkers Crew (BDC). On our maiden voyage out to the choppy waters that is the Internet blogosphere we mount up with a double blind rye whiskey panel.
The rules are simple to be double blind the tasters must submit more whiskeys than will be in the tasting flight. Each bottle will be assigned a random number 1-8, the team will leave the room and the "whiskey monkey" (the individual responsible for pouring exactly .75 oz of the selected spirit in to the drams) will request a number 1-8 and fill the crews drams.
Tasting is straight forward using the Modern Thirst Bourbon Flavor Wheel and Tasting Sheet the BDC examines the appearance, aroma, taste, and finish of each spirit in the flight. After each round the crew shares their observations, with the score supplied by each then averaged to create a final score, which is then used to rank each spirit at the end of the journey.
Getting down to business the crew had eight bottles for the tasting flight of what should have been five but turned to six (because the whiskey monkey didn't know how to count).
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| The Rye Voyage |
As we set sail this motley crew arrived at the island of High West, where we were able to sample A Midwinter Nights Dram Act #8. While Act #8 has been previously reviewed on this site, it was interesting to see how this spirit would rank overall when compared to other ryes and tasted in a blind manner.
As we cast our vision on the island the crew found the appearance to have a golden amber color. Similar to the color of the Jurassic Park Dino DNA mosquito. The general consensus on the aroma was spice, sweet butter cream (think morning breakfast griddle) with a very light hint of alcohol. The flavor profile was clove, butter, leather, and dark fruit.
As we retreated from our destination we all agreed that the finish was leather and fruit but just simply didn't last long enough before we wanted another sip.
Overall the rating was a 66 of 100 points as some members of the BDC simply didn't care for the overall flavor profile.
Alas it was time to set sail for our next stop and the whiskey monkey was off to the next pour.
As the BDC landed at the shores of Angel's Envy, we took in the appearance of Rum Cask Finished Rye. Finding it to be honey colored gold, almost like an apple juice in the glass. The aroma consisted of sweet caramel/candy and maple syrup; this was a very notable mention because the entire crew had similar findings.
The taste was sweet spice, butterscotch, cinnamon spice baked goods. Not the knock off gas station items but something from a high end European bakery.
As the Angel's decided to leave the finish was long and satisfying with no-booze and a great mouth feeling coating your mouth similar in style to the maple syrup that this reminded us of.
The crew found this to be a 77.8 out of 100 with many of the BDC ready to stay ashore with the sounds of the Angel's singing away. But we all pushed forward on our mission to the next destination port.
The port of Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond Rye was a sharp detour especially for this Average Guy as a big fan of Heaven Hill products this destination simply didn't hit the mark for the BDC. In the dram we all seemed to find the appearance to be light in color and the viscosity was clearly thin. While no one was aware (besides the whiskey monkey) on where we had landed, the aroma of alcohol and oak overpowered anything else that we might have experienced.
Tasing was uniform for the crew finding oak, spice, and nuts. While the BDC quickly jumped back into the life raft to head for our next destination we all agreed that the finish fell off quickly, but that was ok because no one was enjoying themselves. The overall rating of 49.6 out of 100 didn't surprise anyone as orders from the crew directed the whiskey monkey to move on.
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| (Restoration Rye & Possible Murder Weapon) |
Our next stop was at Castle & Key distillery, the famed historic and quite attractive site of Old Taylor once producing the E.H. Taylor family of bourbons before being abandoned for scrap and rot in 1972. Restored in 2012, it started a semi-annual release of their Restoration Rye, our sample was the 2021 release 1.
At first glance the BDC found the appearance to be light in color with several of the crew relating the spirit to look like "Hangover Pee" and "Not Quite as Light as PBR". Clearly the crew was jovial at this point and found the aroma to consist of baking spices such as cloves and pepper with a sweet wood.
Around the table we found the taste to be earthy, with hints of tobacco and coffee. The mouthfeel and finish was oily and long with flavors of pepper, nuts, and black tea to a clean finish. As the crew wrapped up their visit we arrived at an average score of 62.2 out of 100.
With two stops left on our multi-hour booze cruise, the whiskey monkey snapped into action and poured the next dram. As the hoots and hollers echoed through the hall of our ship, the deck hand called for everyone to examine the Barrell Seagrass sample. The crew felt we were looking at a very light blonde colored pour with notes of amber and an agreement of "it looks like whiskey".
The aroma was sweet and spicy with aromatic flowers and earth. The BDC found the flavor profile to be fruity with several crew members highlighting "Blueberries" and "Black Pepper". The crew again was tempted to stay at this destination as the finish was "VERY LONG" inky in nature and enjoyable. The majority of the crew also felt that our score of 75.8 out of 100 might have been higher had we been at a different time and place. Several members of the crew were able to actually guess this spirit as well, with the spirit monkey thinking that perhaps some had been peaking under their blind folds.
Before setting sail to the last destination the crew was reminded of proper shore leave decorum and reminded of the price of mutiny with threats of walking the plank. As the seas calmed we arrived at our last island for the evening.
As we prepared to go hog wild, the crew had found the "lightest" pour with the entire crew commenting "light in color", "looks like Pee", and "Is this MGD?". The aroma was quite unique of pepper, leather, and several crew members thinking earthy Colorado skunk.
The last taste was found to have notes of wood / oak, baking spice and citrus. Again after several island tours, we ensured to clear our pallets and still found notes of citrus, oak, pepper, and leather.
The crew found the finish to have a great mouth feel that lingered but didn't change from start to finish. This hog was consistent all the way through. This resulted in an average score of 62.66 of 100 simply because it wasn't as complex, pallets were tired, and perhaps because many of the crew were frustrated at the whiskey monkey for his poor counting abilities.
The End Results (from left to right / top to bottom):
- Angel's Envy Rum Cask Finished Rye - 100 Proof - average MSRP $95 - 77.8/100
- Barrel Seagrass - 119.12 Proof - average MSRP $85 - 75.8/100
- High West A Midwinter Nights Dram - 98.6 Proof - average MSRP $100 - 66/100 (biggest shock)
- Whistle Pig Rye Whiskey 10 Year - 100 Proof - average MSRP $85 - 66.66/100
- Castle & Key Restoration Rye 2021 Release 1 - 101 Proof - average MSRP $54 - 62.2/100
- Heaven Hill Rittenhouse Rye - 100 Proof - average MSRP $24 - 49.6/100
The end results were both interesting and fun to acquire. The voyage highlighted that blind tasting prevented bias based on price and proof. While also showing that in the world of whiskey that spirits of similar price points will hang very closely together.
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