Rye Value - What's the best pour under X?

[Shell]

As a brand new rye lover, I can't believe Bulleit gets no love. If there's lots of bottles better than that in a reasonable (<$60) price range I may just end up never buying anything but rye whiskey!

[Shell]

... I hope to dive into some of this High West stuff soon and see what that's all about. But for affordable and very good ryes, I think Bulleit and Rittenhouse are top choices for sure.

STLb

[White Dog]

High West Rendezvous Rye is EXCELLENT, and Templeton Rye is very good. But at ~$50 for the High West / ~$40 for Templeton, they are not in the under $30 category. Unfortunately, they are not available here in MI and find that I'm out of both. I've heard great things about some of the other High West ryes (such as the Double Rye) and hope to snag some on a future out of state trip.

[cowdery]

Bulleit is still pretty new, just released this year, so I don't think it's lacking in love, just people haven't gotten to it yet.

Redemption Rye is the same stuff too, though a bit younger.

I wonder if the jig may finally be up for Templeton.

[timd]

Redemption Rye is the same stuff too, though a bit younger.

[Shell]

I love Bulleit Rye - it has become my 'go to' rye of late. ...

[timd]

Sazerac Rye (no age statement) would be my 'go-to' rye.

[White Dog]

I have long been under the impression that Templeton was the OLDEST of the LDI branded Ryes - that Redemption was the youngest, Bulleit in the middle, and Templeton was the oldest?

Is that not correct?

[timd]

Why are you under that impression? Was it something Scott Bush said? Both Bulleit and Templeton are NAS, and they both claim 5, but taste like 4. Redemption lists 2, and Willett lists age, be it 2, 3, or 4 depending on the bottling.

[White Dog]

I recall at a Binny's tasting - maybe 2 years ago in Chicago that the rep told me that Templeton was 6 years+...

I believe Bulleit to be 4-5, and as you note Redemption is 2 years young.

I also think the Templeton tastes a bit more mature than the others - but could just be price-tag pyschology (since it's a $35-$40 bottle when you can actually find it anywhere...).

[timd]

The funny thing is that the Willett tastes the oldest to me, but that may be due to the proof??:skep: It just tastes really resolved.

[awachatz]

For the money, the best rye I have had under $20 a bottle is Rittenhouse rye BIB. Surprisingly good based on how cheap the sales price is.

[White Dog]

Well, that seals it - we'll just have to setup some place between Dallas & Wisconsin to meet and taste all these various ryes in one sitting and make our decision about what's-what that way!

Everybody just grab a bottle or two of Rye and head for somewhere in the middle of the country (mid-points probably St. Louis or KC).

Hell, just get on a plane. All these bottles are in my basement.:cool:

[cowdery]

White Dog is right and, Tim, haven't we taught you better than to listen to producer reps?

The first batch of Templeton tasted like it could have been six years or older. I haven't had any recently but I know LDI has long since run out of older whiskey to sell. Both Templeton and Bulleit are at least four years and that's all we can say from sure. If one of them is older than that, I would guess it's the Bulleit. Diageo is, after all, Diageo. Both are probably buying mostly new make at this point since that's about all that's available. Diageo is paying LDI to age it for them while Templeton is taking it back to Iowa to age there. Diageo, being Diageo, can afford to keep aging it until it's ready, whereas Templeton is under heavy demand pressure from the Iowa ABC and is probably bottling everything they have the day it turns legal.

[timd]

White Dog is right and, Tim, haven't we taught you better than to listen to producer reps?

The first batch of Templeton tasted like it could have been six years or older. I haven't had any recently but I know LDI has long since run out of older whiskey to sell.

In my defense, this was 2 years ago - so perhaps it was still older when I tasted it then? And I've still got an unopened bottle from that time... it was an older bottle Joe pulled out of the basement for me at Binny's, so could make for an interesting taste-off against Bulleit?

Just to me, in my memory, I recall it tasting more mature than Bulleit does now... not that I don't like Bulleit, it's plenty good enough for around $20 - I try to keep a bottle on hand for when I'm hankering for a good mouthwash :yum:!

Any D/FW SBers want to do a Rye-off over the holidays? Just let me know!

[Flyfish]

Has anyone tried, or even seen, OGD rye? Is it the same juice as OO or JB? Or, because OGD bourbon is so high rye, would there be any point in an OGD rye in the first place?

[p_elliott]

Has anyone tried, or even seen, OGD rye? Is it the same juice as OO or JB? Or, because OGD bourbon is so high rye, would there be any point in an OGD rye in the first place?

Never heard of it ????? I don't think it exist

[BFerguson]

Low-Rit BIB. Not sure any other bottle comes close.

Mid-Willett 4 or 5yr rye. Hands down this beats anything in the mid range. Generally I can pick it up for around $30.

High-VWFRR, Ritt 21-25yr, and HW 21yr. All magnificent specimens in their own respects. And all quite different.

B

[shoshani]

Has anyone tried, or even seen, OGD rye? Is it the same juice as OO or JB? Or, because OGD bourbon is so high rye, would there be any point in an OGD rye in the first place?

I don't think such a thing exists, but if it did there would be room. OGD is high rye, but like 30% rye if that. Any rye whiskey has to be at least 51% rye, so n OGD rye would have even more rye character.

The idea of an OGD rye isn't anythig new, by the way. Before Prohibition, Old Fitzgerald had a rye as well as a bourbon (this was Herbst Fitz, which wasn't wheated); before and slightly after Prohibition, Old Crow was sold in both bourbon and rye. I don't know whether these Kentucky distilleries made their own rye, or whether they bought it in from PA or MD and bottled it themselves.