N: Clean nose with plenty of floral rye up front - a little pepper when you dig in and some slightly piney notes. Very faint cherry note with a little butterscotch far off in the distance. A little grainy, bready presence and some cinammon - definitely has a cinnamon toast body. The nose settles down and reveals a little more wood and peppery presence after a while, with some leathery tones to it as well.

P: Light body. Slightly bitter initially and a thin palate but it opens up quite fast - a little more sweetness present with some light maple syrup, some honey, some nutty toffee notes. Cherries hang out at the far edges of the palate and there's a definite hint of orange zest; heat is there and fairly notable - cinnamon, maybe a bit of cayenne, and some regular black pepper. Slight bitterness to the wood, a bit of black tea tannins. With water it softens the bitterness a bit and gets sweeter, but loses what makes it interesting.

F: Warm but not overbearing. The tannins from the body hang around in a big way, there's wood from the cask and a slightly dry celery root note. It again has a bit of that bready body but not as intensely tied with the cinnamon as before. Rye is quite present on the finish as well.

For a mass-market rye, this is not a bad one at all - and available at a pretty reasonable price (for now). It leans just a bit more bitter than I like but that said it's still a solid whiskey.  

n: fresh baked rye bread with generous butter & soft pickle brine. Deeper is some caramel, fresh cut pine, and a dusting of dry cinnamon.

t: initial is buttery and spicy; full-on rye without being dilly. Slight mineral note and bitter in the middle with strong black tea. Turns sweet and spicy for a satisfying finish. Nice value rye if you can find it.   [B/B-]

NOSE
It’s big, bold and comes out swinging with a caramel that is almost on par with their bourbon. There are hints of some slightly burned toffee, pecan pie, vanilla, and a slight sugary cinnamon pop that reminds me of a sticky bun, but that’s not all. There is a bit of a strange briny dill in there that surfaces every so often and of course the obligatory rye spice.

TASTE
Big spicy rye, caramel, leather, pepper, and burnt toffee. That big spicy rye is accentuated by malt and some dark earthy citrus undertones of sweet tobacco and overripe oranges. Sitting shotgun to these darker tones is a bit of honeysuckle, cherries, licorice, and a mild ripe fruit. Not as sugary sweet as the nose.

FINISH
The caramel hits first on the aftertaste and it fades to a malt-like sweetness and toasted grains with a touch of a earthy citrus.