This independently bottled rye hails from Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks, Michigan, just two miles from the Indiana border. It's bottled at 5 years old, and at 57.6% ABV.
Here are the official notes:About Cask No. RW7.1: Rye used for this bottling was harvested from master distiller Bill Welter's family farm in Putnam County, Indiana. The farm has been in the family since the 1940's and its certified organic rye were used for this cask. 100% estate grown rye.
Tasting Note: We fell head over heals for figs and sultanas in banana bread, topped with a thick layer of rich chocolate and shrouded in the fragrant smoke of pipe tobacco. As the relationship progressed we discovered thick-cut marmalade and manuka honey oozing over almonds and fennel seeds. Then with a few drops of water we found ourselves captivated by coriander seeds and lemon peel, complemented by brown sugar on pink grapefruit and the evocative aromas of linseed oil. Now fully smitten, the icing on the madeira cake came with tart fruits, citrus peel and lemon candy sweets rolled in white pepper.
Pretty good, pretty good! From what I have picked up around the web, the mashbill is 60% rye, 40% wheat - which explains the chocolate and honey notes in the notes. Let's note waste any time - I'm super curious:
Nose: The neck pour on this was not encouraging - very bracing, too much alcohol, and a cascade of flavors all fighting with each other rather than harmonizing.
The second and third pours, down past the shoulder, were far more encouraging - this is definitely a whisky that prefers some time in the air. Neat, I get bananas, honey, fennel, licorice, bitter lemon, and pipe tobacco.
Out of curiosity, I added a splash of water: instead of opening this up, or organizing it a bit better, it muted it significantly (!), and made it much more shy. The only remaining aromas are the sweeter ones: caramel, honey, banana, citrus. It's really uncommon to have a little dilution totally shut down a nose like this.
Mouthfeel: Thin, but soft.
Palate: Much better than the nose: fennel, baking spices, spearmint, tutti frutti, honey, tobacco, espresso.
With water: Ah, much, much better. As shy as the nose becomes with water, the palate really explodes: big perfumed oak, honey, grapefruit soda, tobacco, cake icing, and lemon candy - the official notes are pretty much spot on.
Finish: Honey, coffee, caramel carry on in a rather lengthy finish.
Verdict: A strange, but rather personable oddball rye. It reminds me of a local rye I once had from Mt Airy, Maryland from now-defunct MISC Distillers - the flavors are bright and bold, but they don't make a lot of sense with each other (here: grapefruit, coffee, oak...??) and they don't fit together all that well.
It's sort of a fun oddity, and certainly has a lot to recommend it, but for rye fans used to the mainstream fare, this is going to raise eyebrows. For the scotch fan dabbling in the rye world (me), it's intriguing.
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