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Michter's Straight Rye Whiskey

AVB

Jesus of Cool, I'm bad, I'm nationwide
Joined
Nov 14, 2003
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Michter's Single Barrel Straight Rye Whiskey, listed as 10 yo *, 92.8 proof, decanter style bottle, info tag, $50-75, available nationwide.


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Michter's Single Barrel Straight Rye Whiskey is listed as being 10 years old, however there is a fair amount of circumstantial evidence that makes it more like 18 to 20 year old rye actually in the bottle. It is known that a decade ago there was more 10 yo rye stock then what was being sold or has been sold by Michter's. That coupled with some other info that is floating around the bourbon boards and how it tastes is enough to convince me.

Michter's may be the oldest whiskey brand in the US having been founded in 1753 and is thought to have supplied rye to the Continental Army during the revolution. While not always called Michter's the distillery in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania produced until Prohibition closed it down not opening again until 1950. It finally stopped production in 1988 and now Michter's buys product from other distilleries to put out it's bourbon and young rye bottlings.

This whiskey is one of the few I've come across that really needs to sit in the glass for awhile before being drunk. 10 minutes just does wonders to the nose and tastings and as such, that is how I reviewed it.

Michter's has a good menthol nose that I've found is common to older ryes although not always this strong. If you concentrate you can just barely discern some oak and pralines. The taste is hot and spicy, vanilla on the tip, pepper on the top and sweetness on the sides of the tongue. The pepperiness hides the alcohol enough so that it really isn't noticed that much and remains for quite some time before vanilla finally ends the finish.

Going under the assumption that this is 18 yo it is obvious that it isn't the exact same stock as the 2004 Sazerac 18 and the Van Winkle 13 with an "F" code (18 years old in reality) while similar seems to be different enough to be sourced from somewhere else even though there is some evidence that says it should be the same. I doubt anyone will ever know for sure.

In any case, this would be the third choice behind the Van Winkle or the Sazerac which doesn't mean it is bad but that the first two are so outstanding.
 
I can't be the only one to have tried this, it just ain't that rare. Dan, Floyd and all you other American whiskey fans.....any other input ???
 
I noticed the similarity to Saz 18 at first taste -- and later got wink-and-a-nod confirmation from Drew Kulsveen (Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, the bottler). It's the same whiskey. Pretty good whiskey, too.
 
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