As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve got a huge backlog of samples that I need to work through and a lot of time off so I’m making a push to bang out as many reviews as possible through the end of the year.
Up tonight is one of the more unicorn-ish samples in my backlog: Willett Family Estate Rye 24/110. Distilled on 4/10/1984, this rye was bottled by KBD in 2008 along with its cousin the 24/94 for the Japanese liquor distributor Bonili. Both the 24/94 and 24/110 are highly regarded as some of the best rye whiskeys of all time, only to be bested by the barrel proof selections from the same Bernheim source such as Doug’s Green Ink, Rathskeller Rye, and LeNell’s Red Hook Rye amoung others. I’m not sure how so many of the Japanse Bonili bottles made their way back into the US but I bet there is a thread somewhere deep in the bowels of straightbourbon.com where you can find the answer if you really want to know.
Aged 24 Years; 55% ABV; Barrel No. 637; thanks to /u/thomasemanski for the sample
Nose: Smells old but in a soft, sweet, delectable way. There’s a little bit of menthol rye spice in there but mostly it’s funky sweet wood.
Taste: Tastes like it smells which is pretty stellar. Again there is not a lot of rye spice on the front or mid palate, it’s mostly just layers of oak flavors from sweet vanilla to funky wood to dark cocoa. The finish is a little dry and then finally the rye spice comes in. That spice combined with the 110 proof makes it rather warm on the finish but it’s a far cry from being overly hot. The incredible depth of wood flavors without being an over-oaked mess is the real star of the show here for me and when combined with the respectable proof and spicy rye it makes for a wonderfully balanced, delicious whiskey.
Thoughts: These hyped aged Bernheim ryes are really something else. To date my favorite rye of all time is the legendary Rathskeller Rye which has less years on this but a lot more proof. While this isn’t quite on the level of that one, it is probably the second best rye whiskey I’ve ever tried besting Rittenhouse 25 and 21 which previously held the second and third slots.
Rating: A
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