Redemption! We all love a comeback story! Well, that’s what this blind tasting is all about. Below, I’ve pulled every last place rye whiskey from all six rye whiskey blind taste tests that I’ve done this year to give them each one more shot.
Look, blind tasting whiskey (or any spirit) tends to bring out the biggest notes in that whiskey to help your brain find some level of differentiation. That’s not always ideal — some of the subtler nuances can get lost. I do go back and forth and re-nose and re-taste but even then, big and bold whiskeys tend to win the day because they have the most going on. Meanwhile, bottles that are perhaps perfectly good but maybe a little subtler fall behind.
It’s a shame and those bottles definitely deserve another look, even in a blind where boldness rules. That makes our lineup today:
- Hudson Whiskey NY Back Room Deal Rye
- Elvis “The King” Rye
- Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond Rye Rye
- Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Kentucky Straight Rye BTAC 2021
- Old Potrero 6 Years Old
- High West Rendezvous A Blend of Straight Rye Whiskeys
For this blind tasting, I’m going solely on taste to rank these. This is all about what works. Hopefully, we can find some serious redemption in this lineup and find you a great rye whiskey to stock on your bar cart.
Also Read: The Top Five Rye Whiskey from the Last Six Months on UPROXX
Part 1: The Tasting
Taste 1
Tasting Notes:
Hints of orchard fruits — pear, peach, maybe some tangerine — lead the way on the nose with a dash of an almond shell. The palate takes on a lightly smoked peach vibe as mint and vanilla kick around with a hint of winter spice and a thin line of tobacco. The end has an apple peel and core feels with a small note of tannic wood.
This is one of those whiskeys you really have to dig in to find the flavors. They’re all there, it’s just a little thin at first.
Taste 2
Tasting Notes:
This is very grassy and green on the nose with a hint of apple and wet and cold oatmeal. The taste is part green grass with a woody edge and part vanilla cream soda with a thin layer of caramel and tannic oak. The end sweetens nicely toward the vanilla and oatmeal but ends fairly watery.
This is very basic — and that’s okay. But that also means this feels like a $10 to $15 bottle of whiskey.
Taste 3
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this one is bold with layers of cherry, vanilla, winter spices, and old oak staves. The palate is classic rye with a sprinkling of black pepper next to cinnamon sticks and cloves with a lush underbelly of vanilla cream that’s nearly eggnog. There’s a hint of orange that leads back to the cherry with a touch of old wicker and woody spice rounding things out.
This gets a little woody at the end but is otherwise very much classic rye with a Kentucky bourbon vibe thanks to that cherry and vanilla.
Taste 4
Tasting Notes:
This is complex on the nose with a foundation of varnished pine that builds toward salted black licorice, old leather boots, cloves, and dry tobacco leaves just touched with ancho chili, sour cherry, and maybe an echo of celery salt. The palate is very warm and coats the inside of your mouth with buzzing dried red chilis next to orange dark chocolate, a hint of marzipan, and dried roses by way of old potpourri. The end pops with sour cherry and a hint of menthol tobacco next to bold spicy warmth.
This is clearly the Handy and is so goddamn complex compared to the last three pours. This is the bottle to beat even though I’m not the biggest fan of the dried flowers on the palate. Also, it’s very hot.
Taste 5
Tasting Notes:
Molasses heavy bran muffins mingle with dry cinnamon sticks and Red Hots next to rum-raisin and a twinge of an old oak stave. The palate leans into ginger snaps with plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg next to vanilla pudding right out of the cup and a dry sense of cedar kindling. The end holds onto the dry woodiness with a layer of salted caramel and vanilla candy on the very end.
This is nice and crafty (that bran muffin graininess is a dead giveaway). This is one of the nicer pours for sure.
Taste 6
Tasting Notes:
Nice winter spices — clove, anise, cinnamon, nutmeg — draw you in on the nose as hints of old pears, burnt orange peels, and new leather mingle. The palate has a hint of fig and red chili pepper with a whisper of Cream of Wheat on the mid-palate. The finish fades through apricot jam and walnut bread with a hint of brown sugar icing and plenty of dry apple cores.
This is, again, pretty damn nice.
Part 2: The Ranking
6. Elvis “The King” Rye — Taste 2
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $50
The Whiskey:
This drop from fall 2021 is all about Elvis in the branding. The actual juice in the bottle is a 95 percent rye (with five percent malted barley) from an “undisclosed” distillery. Those barrels are sent down to Grain & Barrel Spirits in Tennessee where they’re blended, proofed, and bottled.
What I Said Last Time:
“This had a lot of promise on the nose but then just petered out. It felt like a $15… maybe. I’ll put it this way, there was no hesitation in putting this last.”
Bottom Line:
Well, there it is. I had no hesitation putting this last today either. This really feels like a bottle you’d find on the bottom shelf. It’s not bad or undrinkable, it’s just very base and really feels like something you mix with Coke.
5. Hudson Whiskey NY Back Room Deal Rye — Taste 1
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $62
The Whiskey:
This whiskey dropped late last year and has been getting a lot of attention this year on the award circuit. The juice in the bottle is Hudson’s three-year rye. That whiskey is then finished in their former bourbon barrels that Hudson sent to Scotland to age peated malt in. Those barrels were later sent back to New York so that this whiskey could finish aging in them.
What I Said Last Time:
“That hint of barrel char was interesting. But this was just a little too thin compared to the other ryes on this list. Still, this is a really interesting sip of whiskey. Alas… sometimes interesting isn’t enough to break through.”
Bottom Line:
I liked this overall, but it didn’t quite land the finish for me. It’s very drinkable but I think I’d be more prone to use it to build cocktails to add that hint of smoked fruit into the mix.
4. High West Rendezvous A Blend of Straight Rye Whiskeys — Taste 6
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $69
The Whiskey:
High West Rendezvous Rye just got a make-over on the label. The juice in the bottle is still a blend of High West’s own 80 percent rye and 20 percent malted rye mixed with MGP’s classic 95 percent rye and five percent malted barley rye. Once blended, the whiskey is proofed down and bottled.
What I Said Last Time:
“It blew my mind that this ended up last. This is only last in the sense that I blind tasted eight great whiskeys and I had to rank something eighth. This had the lightest end but was otherwise a really solid rye pour.”
Bottom Line:
Okay, this is where things get really good. This is a solid pour all around. That said, I’d lean more toward using this to make my Manhattans and Sazeracs more than a sipper. Though this on a few rocks is an easy win.
3. Old Potrero 6 Years Old — Taste 5
ABV: 48.5%
Average Price: $72
The Whiskey:
This whiskey is a bit of a throwback with a West Coast vibe. The juice is 100 percent rye whiskey made at Anchor Brewing in Portero Hill, one of San Francisco’s most iconic spots for booze. As of this year, the spirit is being distilled on the waterfront in San Francisco but still carries that Anchor Brewing heritage. With that move, the bottle also got a brand new design that leans into San Francisco’s sea-faring history.
What I Said Last Time:
“I damn near didn’t rank this one. The nose was so off-putting that it was almost impossible to get past.”
Bottom Line:
I got a new bottle of this and broke the seal for this tasting. Based on a brand new bottle, this whiskey soared much higher than it did last round. I think there might have been a problem with the stopper on the last bottle and little oxygenation happened.
Anyway, this is a very solid rye that works wonders in a cocktail.
2. Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond Rye Rye — Taste 3
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $29
The Whiskey:
This rye is very much a bourbon drinker’s rye. The mash bill is only 51 percent rye with 37 percent corn, and 12 percent malted barley. The juice then matures under the federal regulations allowing it to be “bottled-in-bond” and is barely proofed down to 100 proof with that soft Kentucky limestone water before bottling.
What I Said Last Time:
“This was so thin and plasticky. I guess I’d put it in a rye and Coke, but that’s about it.”
Bottom Line:
I didn’t get “plasticky” at all this time around. It does feel like a cocktail rye more than a sipper, but it’s still very bold and complex for what it is. It’s also very bourbon-forward, making it a great candidate for anyone looking to crossover from bourbon to rye.
1. Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Kentucky Straight Rye BTAC 2021 — Taste 4
ABV: 64.75%
MSRP: $1,026 ($99 MSRP)
The Whiskey:
This is the youngest bottle in 2021’s BTAC. The whiskey was distilled in the spring of 2015 and bottled in the fall of 2021. The mash is mainly Minnesota rye with Kentucky corn and North Dakota barley. The juice matured in warehouses I, K, L, and O on the fifth through seventh floors. Over that time, 31 percent of the juice was lost to the angels.
What I Said Last Time:
“This was so obviously last for me today. I didn’t hesitate to write ’10’ next to my tasting notes for this. I just can’t dig that old perfume note in the middle. It throws the whole thing off for me. This begs the question if this was actually its MSRP on the shelf, would it be as revered?”
Bottom Line:
This is a tough rye but very rewarding once you get past all that heat on the palate. The mid-palate is very hot and very potpourri heavy. Those notes can be off-putting. Still, there’s so much more going on and so much depth to this pour that it easily slipped into the first spot.
But … pour this over an ice cube to calm it down. The heat will temper and a nice and creamy jammy buttered biscuit note will arrive next to dry chili spices and deep vanilla cream.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
This wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. The better-bordering-on-great ryes rose to the top and were clearly more detailed and rewarding. The last two were fine but fine isn’t enough to rise to the top, especially when you have to beat out serious pours.
Overall, that Handy rye is going to be hard to get (forget it at MSRP). So, I’d say give the Old Potrero a shot if you’re looking for something a little different. Otherwise, go to any liquor store in the land and grab a Rittenhouse Rye. Then go home and mix up a killer Manhattan or old fashioned. No losers in that scenario, for sure.
