Rye whiskey is often the most surprising whiskey on the shelf these days. Part of that is the stellar juice coming in from Canada and mingling with locally-grown sauce. Another part of it is simply the ingenuity behind the scenes at distilleries and blending houses across the country. The old days of “rye=spicy” are long gone and, now, rye ranges from funky to fresh to fruity to herb-driven — sometimes just on the nose. With that in mind, I thought it was high time for another rye whiskey blind taste test of some new fall drops.
For this blind taste test, I grabbed some brand new rye whiskeys that have landed on my desk. I’m going to dispense with the usual “this is all about taste for this ranking” and just get to this: These whiskeys were all pretty damn good. While there was a good distance between eighth and first place in my ranking, it wasn’t a Pacific Ocean-sized gap. The ranking on this one is more like a gentle slope from good to great.
In short, you’ll be fine if you pick up any of these bottles. I get it, that’s not much help, so onward we go. Our lineup today is:
- Uncle Nearest Rye
- Smooth Ambler Founders’ Cask Strength Series Rye Aged 5 Years Batch Two
- Frey Ranch Single Barrel Rye Barrel Strength Barrel # 260
- Lost Lantern 2022 Single Cask #14 Cedar Ridge Iowa Straight Malted Rye Whiskey
- Redemption Sur Lee
- A Midwinter Night’s Dram Limited Engagement Act 10 Scene 4
- Still Austin “The Artist” Straight Rye Whiskey
- Ragtime Rye Single Barrel
Let’s get into it and rank some rye whiskeys!
Also Read: The Top Five Rye Whiskey from the Last Six Months on UPROXX
- All 19 Brands From The Buffalo Trace Distillery, Ranked
- The Single Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States
- The 50 Best Rye Whiskeys Of 2021, Ranked
- We Tasted Rye Whiskeys Blind To See If Any Of Them Could Beat Willett
- The 100 Best Whiskeys Our Head Drinks Writer Tasted In 2021
Part 1: The Tasting
Taste 1
Tasting Notes:
There’s a hint of fresh sourdough rye bread (the good real stuff you still get in Central Europe) next to a hint of fennel and almost woody black currants with a touch of soft cardamon. The palate leans toward dry wicker and fresh green herbs with a snap of spiciness (almost chive) next to woody cinnamon and allspice berries with a hint of spicy orange chocolate. There’s a hint of salt on the backend with a wonderfully layered dry cedar bark, herbal tobacco note, and a touch of dried nasturtium that ultimately leads to a silky vanilla/cinnamon finish.
Well, this is a winner. It’s delicious, complex, and very deeply layered while staying easy to drink.
Taste 2
Tasting Notes:
There’s a hint of leather and pine tar on the nose with a hint of tart red berry and burnt toffee. The palate opens towards a bourbon vibe with dark cherry, soft vanilla cream, and light old oak staves with a hint of bitter dark cacao. The end leans into cinnamon bark and clove layered into a vanilla tobacco leaf that’s braided with wet cedar, dry leather, and old bouquet garni with a light sense of an old cheese cellar lurking on the very backend.
This is another stellar pour.
Taste 3
Tasting Notes:
There’s a light sense of old orchard wood and dead leaves (that might just be my open window) with a twinge of potpourris, dried Italian seasoning, and a hint of strawberry soda. The palate leans into the sweet red berry vibe with a nice mix of spiced holiday cake, old leather, moist marzipan, and even some dried fig. The end gets warm a little woody with almond shells, singed apple wood (and maybe hickory?), a touch of root beer, and more of that old leather.
This is pretty nice but warm. It definitely needed a drop or two of water or a rock to calm it down.
Taste 4
Tasting Notes:
A rush of chocolate malts greets your nose with a hint of lemon meringue pie, vanilla pudding cups, and a hint of oatmeal raisin cookie dough. The palate has a buttermilk biscuit dipped in dark chocolate sauce vibe next to cinnamon toast, old raisin boxes, and a light sense of orchard wood. The end leans into the fruit orchard with a hint of honey sweetness next to a mild dose of winter spices.
This was pretty damn nice too.
Taste 5
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this is pretty broad with hints of bitter orange next to pecan, dried apricot, and a lot of spearmint gum with a sweet edge to it. The taste has notes of pecan waffle, eggnog, and marshmallow but ultimately ends up back at the spearmint. The end hints at lush vanilla and fresh fennel with a touch of dill next to old dried-up figs, soft cedar, and a hint of orange tobacco.
This was pretty nice but didn’t quite hit the heights of the last four pours.
Taste 6
Tasting Notes:
This feels like classic rye on the nose with brandied cherries dipped in woody winter spices next to burnt orange, cinnamon, and clove-spiked plum jam, and a hint of sour red wine by way of a mulled wine barrel. The palate has a nutty base with smooth vanilla next to spiced Christmas cakes full of candied and dried fruits and citrus rinds, plenty of nuts, dark spices, plenty of brown butter, and rummy molasses. The end hints at that mulled wine oak barrel next to rich toffee sweetness and a whisper of old leather, spiced tobacco, and lush vanilla cake.
This is realllllllly f*cking nice.
Taste 7
Tasting Notes:
This opens with Wether’s Original candies still in the wrappers next to dark cherry, fig jam, a whisper of espresso bean bitterness, and a touch of orange rind studded with cloves. The taste has a fruity saltwater taffy vibe next to vanilla, dried apricot, a touch of ginger candy, and some dark caramel. The end leans into woody spices — cinnamon, cloves, and some soft nutmeg — next to burnt orange and sweet caramel tobacco.
This was pretty solid but didn’t quite pop as much as the last pour.
Taste 8
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a cherry-forward nose next to vanilla beans, burnt orange, a hint of old leather, and a whisper of … lavender I think. The palate is woody with a soft oak and old wicker vibe next to sweet orchard woods and a hint of white moss next to a blackberry milkshake with a hint of vanilla. The end leans into the blackberry and ties it to cinnamon and menthol tobacco on the finish.
Again, this is ~good~ but it didn’t quite pop as much as the others.
Part 2: The Ranking
8. Ragtime Rye Single Barrel — Taste 8
ABV: 56%
Average Price: $60
The Whiskey:
This Brooklyn whiskey is made from grains grown in New York state. The juice is aged for at least three years before single barrels are hand-selected for their excellence and bottled with a touch of water.
Bottom Line:
As I mentioned in my tasting notes, this was perfectly fine. I like the blackberry milkshake vibe on the palate. It just didn’t quite have the same depth as the next pours.
7. Redemption Sur Lee — Taste 5
ABV: 47%
Average Price: $55
The Whisky:
This brand new whiskey from Redemption is going deep on drawing out flavors from the spirit and wood by utilizing the “wine less” method. Very basically, when MGP is contract distilling Redemption’s 95 percent rye, they take the backset or “whiskey lees” that usually would be redistilled and instead put that into the barrel to activate the wood before the heart cut of rye distillate goes into the barrel for its aging period. The barrels are then rolled and rotated throughout that aging spell before vatting, non-chill filtering, proofing, and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This was better than “fine” but was a little light on the palate. I think I’d use this for making a cracking cocktail.
6. Still Austin “The Artist” Straight Rye Whiskey — Taste 7
ABV: 49.8%
Average Price: $50 (Distillery Only)
The Whiskey:
This Austin whiskey is made with 100 percent Texas rye. The juice is loaded into the barrel at a lower proof and the “slow watered” throughout the aging process so that the whiskey comes out of the barrel already proofed and ready for bottling.
Bottom Line:
I like this. It had a nice sweetness and fruitiness. I’d still likely use it for a good cocktail before I’d reach for it as a sipper.
5. Frey Ranch Single Barrel Rye Barrel Strength Barrel # 260 — Taste 3
ABV: 68.73%
Average Price: $99
The Whiskey:
This version of Frey Ranch is the farm and distillery in a single bottle. The juice is made with 100 percent Winter Cereal Rye grown on the ranch by Colby Frey, who also oversees harvesting and processing the grain for mashing. After several years of aging, single barrels of rye are chosen for these releases and they’re bottled without any fussing whatsoever.
Bottom Line:
This was a complex and interesting whiskey but it definitely needed a rock or some water. That said, there’s so much good going on in the nose and palate that I can forgive it that and just spend time diving deep into what’s in there. But yeah, you’ll need to add a rock…
4. Lost Lantern 2022 Single Cask #14 Cedar Ridge Iowa Straight Malted Rye Whiskey — Taste 4
ABV: 60.15%
Average Price: $90
The Whiskey:
This rare single barrel release from Lost Lantern only yielded 211 bottles. The juice in those bottles was hewn from a rye mash of 51 percent malted rye, 34 percent cereal rye, 12 percent corn, and a mere three percent malted barley. After distillation, the juice was loaded into classic 53-gallon barrels and left to mellow for six long years in Iowa.
Finally, this specific barrel was picked for non-chill filtration and bottling without any proofing.
Bottom Line:
This is where we basically get into the splitting-hairs portion of the ranking. This was delicious but just a tad less so than the next three.
3. Smooth Ambler Founders’ Cask Strength Series Rye Aged 5 Years Batch Two — Taste 2
ABV: 61.6%
Average Price: $54
The Whiskey:
This 100 percent West Virginia whiskey is made from a mash of 88 percent rye and 12 percent malted barley — no corn needed here, folks. The barrels are left to age in the Appalachia hills for five long years before coming together in tiny batches and bottled as-is at cask strength.
Bottom Line:
This is going to be a little harder to find (especially at MSRP). But it is worth the hunt. This is good whiskey, rye or not.
2. A Midwinter Night’s Dram Limited Engagement Act 10 Scene 4 — Taste 6
ABV: 49.3%
Average Price: $150
The Whiskey:
This whiskey starts off as High West’s famed Rendezvous Rye, which is a blend of MGP’s 95 percent rye (with five percent malted barley) batched with High West’s own 80/20 rye/malted rye juice. The difference here is that once that juice is vatted it is then re-barreled in both tawny and ruby port barrels for a final maturation stretch. Those barrels are then small batch blended and proofed down every so slightly before bottling.
Bottom Line:
Yup, this is a winner. It’s delicious and, frankly, could have been number one today. The only reason it’s not is that the next one had this little something extra that just couldn’t be beaten today.
1. Uncle Nearest Rye — Taste 1
ABV: 59.8%
Average Price: $149 (Distillery Only)
The Whiskey:
This brand new juice from the multi-award-winning Master Blender, Victoria Eady-Butler, is a true traveling whiskey. The juice is made up in Canada with 100 percent locally grown rye, according to American straight rye whiskey specifications. That juice is then sent to New York where it is barreled and aged for at least four years. Finally, Eady-Butler steps in and selects the honey barrels and ships them to Tennessee where she blends this whiskey and bottles it as-is.
Bottom Line:
This is that funky and fresh whiskey that just shines from top to bottom. It’s so easy drinking while still offering a full journey across your palate and through your mind as it transports you. A true winner.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Overall, I stick by my statement up top. These are all pretty damn fine whiskeys. I would say the top five are all stellar with the top whiskey really standing out as a beautiful pour of rye.
If you’re looking for a new whiskey, in general, that Uncle Nearest Rye is the one to get. If you’re looking for a great whiskey to show off on your bar cart and maybe hold onto for special occasions — the holidays are coming up — then I’d go with the Midwinter Night’s Dram from High West. It’s also a genuinely great pour of whiskey.