Anyone try the new Mckenzie rye whiskey?

[emr454]

Just curious to see if anyone has tried this whiskey and what they think of it. It's made in the finger lakes region here in NY, and I'm thinking of planning a trip to their distillery next year maybe. I'm curious what others think of it.

Eric

[SMOWK]

I've never seen it in any store. I'm on DelMarVa, but I make plenty of travels throughout Delaware and Maryland.

[Josh]

Lew Bryson mentions it here:

http://blog.maltadvocate.com/2009/12...naging-editor/

I recently had a pre-release sample of 13 month old rye from Finger Lakes Distilling, and it was sweet, brittle, and water-of-life fresh, with a grassiness and mint character that brought a smile to my lips.

Not sure what he means by "brittle", that's a new one to me.

[emr454]

Brittle? As in delicate, maybe?

I haven't seen it in stores yet, but it is online in some places and it looks like it's going to retail for about $40. There is one liqour store in Syracuse that is supposed to carry Finger Lakes Distilling products, they may or may not have their whole line up though.

[callmeox]

IMO, the pricing of these micro-distilled products will end up as their undoing.

I'll take a flyer and drop 6 to 10 bucks on a sixer of some unique micro-brew if the style sounds interesting, but 40 bucks for a 13 month old rye? Unless is was aged in barrels the size of thimbles, young spirit like that just doesn't appeal to me at all.

[emr454]

True, the price is a bit steep, but it's better than Charbay!

I'll buy it if I find it, and it may be the only bottle of theirs I buy, just to support a local micro-distiller. It's highly doubtful it will become a regular pour though. It may be a better idea to buy it from the distillery, they may give out samples, who knows? May even be cheaper.

Eric

[emr454]

Apparently they age the rye whiskey in quarter-casks. I found it on their blog here:
http://fingerlakesdistilling.blogspo...ery-today.html

[scratchline]

I bought a bottle before Christmas and got around to opening it up a couple of days ago. Had it straight and in an Old Fashioned. While it will not be replacing my favorite ryes, it's an interesting product. The nose and taste are very white doggy. But good white dog. Strong and smooth. It has enough flavor to cut right through a cocktail and let you know it's there. Finally too young for my palate, and certainly for the price, but a bottle I'm willing to buy as a vote of support for the NY state distillers industry. At some point I'll mix it with a little of NY's own absinthe:

http://www.delawarephoenix.com/

for a Yankee Sazerac. That absinthe is fantastic, BTW. As I get into the bottle, I'll try to post something more descriptive about the McKenzie. For now, I'd say it's more similar to a Canadian rye than a classic American rye.

-Mike

[p_elliott]

Tom McKenzie one of the owners is a member over at BE I thought he was a member here also maybe not. He's very knowledgeable I've been waiting on their rye to come out they have bourbon aging also. I need to get a bottle of this.

[emr454]

...a bottle I'm willing to buy as a vote of support for the NY state distillers industry.

-Mike

My thoughts exactly.

As far as it being young, hopefully they will consider letting it age longer as they get more established and increase their stocks. If/when I do get a bottle, I'll be sure to report back with my opinion.


Eric