What rye are you enjoying Spring 2012?

Just had my first THH and loved it. I need a couple more pours to confirm how much I enjoy it. This could be one to bunker up on.

Just knocked off my bottle of Old Potrero (90 proof) and baby Saz is on deck for tonight. Been a while since I had the latter, so I'm looking forward to it.

Made a big dent in Saz Jr last night.

We had a get together at Jake's place last night and got to enjoy some good rye I had not consumed before.

I compared the Bowman barrel-strength rye directly against the Handy. No contest, the 4 extra years on the Bowman make a tremendous difference. The nose on the Bowman was powerful, rich and complex. In comparison, the youth of the Handy became very apparent as the whiskey smelled much younger and alcoholic. The palate of the Bowman was bold like you would expect a cask strength to be and the Handy is always a punch in the mouth. While there are similarities in the whiskeys, the Bowman just has so much more happening - it has sweetness and hotness like the Handy, but then the Bowman keeps coming. I think it is interesting that the older rye had more of those notes I associate with a youthful rye - menthol and black pepper. The finish on both was nice, but I the Bowman edges out the Handy here too. Verdict? I waited too long to buy the Bowman and now I realize what I missed out on.

I also had the opportunity to try the Hirsch 25. The first thought when you see the bottle is, who poured coffeee in this thing? This stuff is dark, and not merely Stagg dark. This is "I can hold it up and suck the light out of a 30 foot radius" kind of dark! The whiskey itself keeps this same dark theme. There is dark maple syrup, dark wet wood, and dark fruit. The finish starts rye and then turns to long and woody with something else in there I cannot place. This is a dark brooding whiskey that requires more time and contemplation then I could give it. While something I cannot see myself reaching for, I probably would revisit on a cold Moscow night.

The highlight of the night (well, year actually) goes to a piece from Jake's jaw dropping collection. He has a tax strip Old Overholt from what I believe is around the mid 80's. This stuff was f****** amazing! The nose of the Overholt (not to be confused with the Overcoat version of recent years) is akin to sticking your head inside a 53 gallon drum of black licorice pieces - wonderful. The mouth feel is softer and thinner than I am used to and you almost expect it to go astringent a moment after it hits your tongue...and then..it doesn't. The vanilla sweetness comes first and then the rye builds. The alcohol is there, but it stays in the background and lets the flavors develop. The finish is rye with the oak nicely in the background adding to the complexity. When they coined the idiom "they don't make them like they used to", I am pretty sure they were talking about this bottle.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LostBottle

We had a get together at Jake's place last night and got to enjoy some good rye I had not consumed before.

I compared the Bowman barrel-strength rye directly against the Handy. No contest, the 4 extra years on the Bowman make a tremendous difference. The nose on the Bowman was powerful, rich and complex. In comparison, the youth of the Handy became very apparent as the whiskey smelled much younger and alcoholic. The palate of the Bowman was bold like you would expect a cask strength to be and the Handy is always a punch in the mouth. While there are similarities in the whiskeys, the Bowman just has so much more happening - it has sweetness and hotness like the Handy, but then the Bowman keeps coming. I think it is interesting that the older rye had more of those notes I associate with a youthful rye - menthol and black pepper. The finish on both was nice, but I the Bowman edges out the Handy here too. Verdict? I waited too long to buy the Bowman and now I realize what I missed out on.

I also had the opportunity to try the Hirsch 25. The first thought when you see the bottle is, who poured coffeee in this thing? This stuff is dark, and not merely Stagg dark. This is "I can hold it up and suck the light out of a 30 foot radius" kind of dark! The whiskey itself keeps this same dark theme. There is dark maple syrup, dark wet wood, and dark fruit. The finish starts rye and then turns to long and woody with something else in there I cannot place. This is a dark brooding whiskey that requires more time and contemplation then I could give it. While something I cannot see myself reaching for, I probably would revisit on a cold Moscow night.

The highlight of the night (well, year actually) goes to a piece from Jake's jaw dropping collection. He has a tax strip Old Overholt from what I believe is around the mid 80's. This stuff was f****** amazing! The nose of the Overholt (not to be confused with the Overcoat version of recent years) is akin to sticking your head inside a 53 gallon drum of black licorice pieces - wonderful. The mouth feel is softer and thinner than I am used to and you almost expect it to go astringent a moment after it hits your tongue...and then..it doesn't. The vanilla sweetness comes first and then the rye builds. The alcohol is there, but it stays in the background and lets the flavors develop. The finish is rye with the oak nicely in the background adding to the complexity. When they coined the idiom "they don't make them like they used to", I am pretty sure they were talking about this bottle.

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Great post! I'm EXTREMELY jealous! Couldn't you have said that some readily available bottle was the star of the night? ;)

Killed that Saz Jr last night it will be a while before it will be replaced if ever, not that fond of it too grassy or hay.

Awesome review Will. Hell of a great night, thanks to Jake et all!!

Enjoyed some VWFRR last night. BT or not, it is some damn fine stuff.

A little Ritt 21 tonight

Drinking some WT 101 today and enjoying it the most I have in months. Recently, it always seems to taste very young and harsh to me. But today I get this rich caramel along with the spice. Very enjoyable and very lacking in the bunker.