AVB
Jesus of Cool, I'm bad, I'm nationwide
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 smile.gif 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 second review.
2. Black Maple Hill 23 yo Rye. Another unknown sourced rye, most likely Heaven Hill product. 95 proof, no additional packaging, limited availability. $100-120.
Color
AVB: Dark Honey
Tone-ny: Medium Amber
rob300c: Yellow orange
Cigardawg: Dark gold
Body
AVB: Serious legs
Tone-ny: Medium bodied
rob300c: Viscous
Cigardawg: Good legs, nice and viscous
Nose
AVB: Floral, sweet apple
Tone-ny: Citrus
rob300c: Flintstone multivitamin, slight orange peel
Cigardawg: Spicier (compared to first selection), not too much alcohol, smells like rye
Tasting
AVB: Flowery matching the nose, rye in good balance. Vanilla in background, slight cocca
Tone-ny: Strong warmth, hints of anise and dry fruit
rob300c: Honey, pepper on tongue from alcohol, caramel
Cigardawg: Hot going down, quick fade. Not very sweet with little oak character. Some spice and fruit, almost a hay or grassiness over the spice.
Finish
AVB: Medium long, vanilla and oak under pepper spices, slight menthol
Tone-ny: Smooth finish, slight oak taste
rob300c: Clean, short, rock sugar & oak
Cigardawg: Not overly astringent, longer and fruitier then first sample. Still quite dry as the hay comes back
Overall
AVB: Good balance of flavors, tannins indicate very aged. Very good compared to #1
Tone-ny: Overall warmth with hints of fruit and a rye finish
rob300c: Enjoyable but simple
Cigardawg: A lighter fruitier offering, easy to drink
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 second review.
2. Black Maple Hill 23 yo Rye. Another unknown sourced rye, most likely Heaven Hill product. 95 proof, no additional packaging, limited availability. $100-120.
Color
AVB: Dark Honey
Tone-ny: Medium Amber
rob300c: Yellow orange
Cigardawg: Dark gold
Body
AVB: Serious legs
Tone-ny: Medium bodied
rob300c: Viscous
Cigardawg: Good legs, nice and viscous
Nose
AVB: Floral, sweet apple
Tone-ny: Citrus
rob300c: Flintstone multivitamin, slight orange peel
Cigardawg: Spicier (compared to first selection), not too much alcohol, smells like rye
Tasting
AVB: Flowery matching the nose, rye in good balance. Vanilla in background, slight cocca
Tone-ny: Strong warmth, hints of anise and dry fruit
rob300c: Honey, pepper on tongue from alcohol, caramel
Cigardawg: Hot going down, quick fade. Not very sweet with little oak character. Some spice and fruit, almost a hay or grassiness over the spice.
Finish
AVB: Medium long, vanilla and oak under pepper spices, slight menthol
Tone-ny: Smooth finish, slight oak taste
rob300c: Clean, short, rock sugar & oak
Cigardawg: Not overly astringent, longer and fruitier then first sample. Still quite dry as the hay comes back
Overall
AVB: Good balance of flavors, tannins indicate very aged. Very good compared to #1
Tone-ny: Overall warmth with hints of fruit and a rye finish
rob300c: Enjoyable but simple
Cigardawg: A lighter fruitier offering, easy to drink
