A New Rye

[pepcycle]

I spoke to Lewis just this week.
His signature item is smoked spoonfish (actually paddlefish) marinated in Woodford Reserve. He also marinates and smokes trout and salmon. He does a cold smoked salmon marinated in Lime Vodka (Finlandia)
Rumor is that a certin TN whiskey may end up in the marinade soon. Another signature product is KY Spoonfish caviar. Smaller than Beluga, about the color and size of Osetra. When fresh squeezed, I think it rivals any caviar on the market. He ships. He makes some smoked salmon spreads and I've even seen shrimp in the store. (smoked!!)
He recently got a fairly large grant from the Commonwealth of Kentucky and upgraded all his equipment. Check out his site at kysmokedfish.com.
Tell him Ed sent ya.

[Gillman]

I picked up recently the same brand of rye but aged 21 years. I searched for discussion on Classic Cask. It is a Willett's (the Kulsveens) bottling whose origin is not known for sure but people speculated (this goes back to when the post above was written) that Buffalo Trace was the source, I think Omar said that and I think Omar you are right because this 21 year old has a flavor that to me is quite close to Sazerac 18 year old rye except richer, heavier. The description above of Classic Cask 15 year old is very close to what I would say for the 21 year old, the increase in age hasn't seemed to make much difference. That is a good thing because at 21 years old, I might worry somewhat about excess tannis but while well-oaked, this whiskey is not bitter or astringent/acidic, also, it has a fruity core I really like that defines old rye for me. This is different in style from ORVW 13 year old rye but as good.

The tasters who selected this know what they are doing.

Gary