Hirsch Selection 21 Rye

On July 19th I invited some BOTLs over for a Rye tasting. We tasted 5 different rye whiskies before getting down to the serious drinking In the order of tasting with notes from the participants. The tasters were myself, Tone-ny, rob300c and Cigardawg. All samples were reduced to 90 proof and the other three didn't know what they were sampling until I reveled it at the end.

The Tasting notes form was broken down to:

Color
Body
Nose
Tasting
Finish
Overall

I will be following that format here too so without any more delay here is the first review.


1: Hirsch Selection 21 yo Straight Rye. Sourced from an unknown distiller this rye uses the A.H. Hirsch name as a selling tool. 93 proof, 21 yo, no additional packaging, about $110-120 replaced by the Hirsch 22 yo which is the same thing just slightly older.



Color
AVB: Dark Amber
Tone-ny: Dark Amber
rob300c: Amber Maple Syrup
Cigardawg: Dark gold to light caramel


Body
AVB: Thin but good legs
Tone-ny: Medium to strong
rob300c: Fairly light with some legs
Cigardawg: Decent legs, sightly viscous


Nose
AVB: Maple, vanilla
Tone-ny: Slightly sherry
rob300c: Honey, caramel
Cigardawg: Sweet brown sugar, over-ripe fruit


Tasting
AVB: Astringent with a decent alcohol bite, rye spiciness noticeable with some oak
Tone-ny: Medicinal with hints of berry
rob300c: Floral entry, burnt sugar/caramel with a touch of leather
Cigardawg: Hot at first, not as sweet as the nose would suggest. Definite oak on the middle palate. slightly fruity? Can finally taste the rye on third sip.


Finish
AVB: Fairly short with the alcohol burn lasting for some time overpowering the flavors.
Tone-ny: Oaken, cherry
rob300c: mint, menthol, touch of acetone - long!
Cigardawg: Dry, not overly long, clean with some wood, not sweet


Overall
AVB: May have spent too long in the cask, Oak overtakes the vanilla too much for my taste
Tone-ny: A slightly medicinal taste with a sherry type finish, initial warmth with a menthol coolness after taste....almost Listerine
rob300c: Enjoyable but strong!
Cigardawg: Did not get as much rye spice as expected, a little hot but the alcohol faded Oaky but not overly so, very good stuff.

I'm finding these in reverse order, but damn man! This is good stuff!

Very nice, thorough review! I've been very curious about rye whiskeys as of late...never had any (yet).

Thanks!

Nice. I am at the restaurant at 1:50 AM waiting on the ventilation hood cleaners to finish. Sooo...I grabbed a finger of the 22 year for comparison as I had yet to try it. Oaky, hot and medicinal with a finish a few minutes long. Might be better with a splash, but I'll move on before comming back to the 22 year rye. What's next?

I was wandering around a liquor store yesterday and noticed they had the Hirsch Selection Rye 22 for $59.99. At that price I couldn't pass it up. Eventually I'll open it up and give it a taste and add my thoughts.

At half price I wouldn't pass it up either. Great find!

Can you explain
'all samples were reduced to 90 proof'

Did you add a bit of water?

Thanks

Yes, distilled water was added to reduce the proof.

khari said:

I was wandering around a liquor store yesterday and noticed they had the Hirsch Selection Rye 22 for $59.99. At that price I couldn't pass it up. Eventually I'll open it up and give it a taste and add my thoughts.

Click to expand...

This goes for $149.99 at the Total Wine in Tucson. I hate you! :laugh:

Had two Manhattans with this rye last night. 9 bucks a pop. Drained over a third of the bottle. Gotta love Midwestern bartenders. Very light on the vermouth.