Michter’s Barrel Strength Rye Review

Michter’s Barrel Strength Rye is a new product that started popping up about a month ago. Currently Michter’s is still a Non-Distiller-Producer (NDP) which means their products are sourced from other distilleries. According toChuck Cowdery, for Michter’s younger products like this one they are likely using sources under contract which gives them some control over production. Unlike many of the other cask strength ryes you will find on the shelves these days, the interesting thing to note about this product are the words “Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey” on the label. That means it is not from MGP in Indiana which is the first place that comes up in a discussion of sourced rye whiskey. Having been produced in Kentucky narrows down the source for this to a handful of options - Wild Turkey, Barton, Buffalo Trace, Jim Beam, Heaven Hill, or Brown Forman are the main ones that come to mind. I like to jest it is probably a cask strength version of Brown-Forman’s Woodford Rye so a better name would have been “Old Woodford Antique Rye”. That’s nothing more than a joke though because according to Michter’s website the barrel entry proof for this product is 103 proof which would put it at the bottom of entry proofs in the industry making it unlike any other rye of which I am aware. Another thing that makes this product somewhat unique is that as far as I recall the only other cask strength Kentucky Rye you can currently buy is Thomas H. Handy. That product is such a limited release and so hard to get it’s almost not even worth mentioning as “available”. In that regard, Michter’s is filling a nice void in the market with this release.

Michter’s Barrel Strength Rye

54.6% ABV; Batch 15C220; $70

Notes: The nose is very sweet with only a hint of spice. There is molasses, brown sugar, and only a light amount of heat. The taste is surprisingly even more sweet than the nose with more molasses, brown sugar, and a nice gingerbread cookie flavor. Towards the end of the palate a cinnamon rye spice finally starts to come in. The finish is mostly all the same sweets and spice from the taste along with some woody dark cherries. With the molasses and gingerbread flavors it really reminds me quite a bit of Angel’s Envy Rye only without the heavy rum taste. If I had to guess I would say it’s about 5-6 years old and a barely legal rye somewhere in the 51-53% category.

Thoughts: It’s pretty sweet, doesn’t have a lot of age complexity, and while you can tell it is a rye the spice is pretty tame. A few times visiting this I thought the sweetness was a bit over the top but my overall impression is that the neither the sweetness, oak, spice, nor proof completely dominates which leaves behind a balanced albeit slightly boring profile. The worst thing I can say about this is that the price is on the high side for a no age statement NDP whiskey. That almost goes without saying these days though as very few limited release whiskeys are reasonably priced anymore. I like sweet flavors and I don’t particularly care for older aged whiskeys so I like this quite a bit. If you are looking for wood complexity, more rye spice bite, or something not on the sweet side you probably won’t like it as much as me.

Rating: B