Angel's Envy Rye

[nblair]

Definite gingerbread and brown sugar on the nose. The nose is overpoweringly sweet, but the rye shines through nicely once you take a sip. It doesn't taste as sweet as the nose makes you believe it would be. I don't regret buying a bottle, and may even replace it when it's gone. Hats off to AE, especially because I don't care for the bourbon.

[P&MLiquorsEric]

Definitely lots of rum/sugar/gingerbread/nutmeg on nose and after initial taste. Rye is present on the finish which is long and spicy. Odd considering this is not a "hot" whiskey and hides its 100 proof very well.

This is a good rye whiskey for those that don't drink ryes... Or those who don't drink whiskey in general. The problem will be getting it into the mouths of those people. A $75 price tag will be a barrier to most once this becomes a regular addition to lineup.

[LostBottle]

I tried this again tonight. I did get more rye out of it than my tasting a couple nights ago; I am not sure if this is due to some air, or my palate adjusting to the big sweetness. While there throughout the tasting, the rye spice was really only a big player on the palate entry, then the sweetness just takes over. When I added a bit of water the AER simply fell apart, becoming two distinct messes: one sweet syrup and the other a bitter rye. As a side note, The 100 proof of this is actually very smooth, so water should not be needed anyway; plus I tend to avoid water with (older) ryes because they too show a tendency towards bitter characteristics with added branch.

After having more time with this whiskey, I have to be honest - while AER is undoubtedly good quality and crafted with some care, it still seems more novelty than go-to drinker. It just does not seem as well-integrated as good finished Scotches. All of this said, it is an interesting novelty and I will enjoy the rest of the bottle. If the moods strikes and the price comes down, I might even buy another when the open one runs out. At the end of the day though, this would be only a very occasional dram as I prefer something a bit more "pedestrian".

Edited May 26, 2013 by LostBottle

[MacinJosh]

Does anyone know if there will be a cask strength AER? I found the AE CS simply amazing. I wish I had another bottle.

No word yet but they very well could. I wonder, however, if they use a similar technique to the AE CS bourbon, would the rum influence not be way too much? I've already read some reviews that say the AE Rye doesn't taste like a whiskey, but rather very sweet like a dessert. Any note additional rum influence might send it over the top. I don't recall the exact method Lincoln and Wes used with AE CS, but I believe they batched more of the longer finished barrels with the non-finished barrels, hence the darker color.

Edited May 27, 2013 by MacinJosh

[squire]

That's a good point Josh, the more concentrated flavor of a cask strength being perhaps too much of a good thing.

[tanstaafl2]

Does anyone know if there will be a cask strength AER? I found the AE CS simply amazing. I wish I had another bottle.

I have been told the AE CS Bourbon will be available again in the near future (end of the year?) but haven't heard anything about a CS rye. I have had a few sample tastes of the rye which I greatly enjoyed and look forward to getting a couple of bottles of it soon thanks to the assistance of a very thoughtful fellow SBer. But I think I would also be concerned about the rum cask dominating even more if it spent longer in the barrel as was the case with the CS bourbon. Of course that wouldn't stop me from wanting to try a CS rum cask rye that was just barrel proof but not finished any longer!

[whiskeyagonzo]

I have been told the AE CS Bourbon will be available again in the near future (end of the year?) but haven't heard anything about a CS rye. I have had a few sample tastes of the rye which I greatly enjoyed and look forward to getting a couple of bottles of it soon thanks to the assistance of a very thoughtful fellow SBer. But I think I would also be concerned about the rum cask dominating even more if it spent longer in the barrel as was the case with the CS bourbon. Of course that wouldn't stop me from wanting to try a CS rum cask rye that was just barrel proof but not finished any longer!

I hope you are right about AE CS being available again this year. It does seem from what I have heard that the rum taste would be too much in the CS rye. That being said I think I am gonna have to try this though new AE rye. Anyone know where to pick up a bottle?

[tanstaafl2]

I hope you are right about AE CS being available again this year. It does seem from what I have heard that the rum taste would be too much in the CS rye. That being said I think I am gonna have to try this though new AE rye. Anyone know where to pick up a bottle?

Got the news from a very reliable source so I am hopeful we will see the AE CS bourbon again at some point. I am told a few bottles of the AE Rye are still floating around Kentucky but it may require some hunting to find it. It was distributed in a few other states but they were limited in number. My state wasn't included but I managed to secure one from TPS (It was 1 bottle per customer and they never put it on their website. I just happened to call at the right time) but they sold out of their limited allocation pretty quick.

[squire]

Shows there's a demand for it.

[luther.r]

Shared some of this last night with a couple casual whiskey enjoying friends. Neither could take the sweetness and ended up pouring theirs into my glass and had me pour them something different. I drank their share with no complaints.

[whiskeyagonzo]

Maybe I will get lucky and stumble onto some. Kentucky isn't that far off after all...

[Wryguy]

Just had a sample at a local liquor store, and I was surprised by how much I liked it. Very sweet for a rye, but it is definitely a rye, the rye notes appear on the latter end of the palate, very drinkable neat. The finish was especially nice, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Really nice nose on the empty glass. I'll be buying a bottle or two.

[wripvanwrinkle]

For me, it is very reminiscent of heavily spiced pumpkin pie.

[tanstaafl2]

For me, it is very reminiscent of heavily spiced pumpkin pie.

Didn't get any pumpkin pie spice when I had a chance to sample it a few weeks ago but certainly an interesting balance of sweet and spice. Just got a couple of bottles thanks to the kind assistance of a fellow SBer so I look forward to exploring it again this weekend!

[P&MLiquorsEric]

Agreed that if you can't drink this one neat, then bud light with water might be too strong for you.

This is a rye for those that don't like whiskey period. Some might call it a training wheels whiskey. At its price point, I don't think any of the SoCo/Fireball/honey fans will accidentally find it.

If someone could put out a knockoff/generic at 1/4 the price, they would create the next craze.

[MyOldKyDram]

Having some right now. Hard to wrap my head around what I'm drinking here, but whoever mentioned hummingbird cake ain't too far off. Creamy and sweet, with loads of fresh fruit and spice. The rum does oddly dominate, but I am able to tease out some rye on the palate. One thing's for sure, it isn't like anything else out there.

[WAINWRIGHT]

Having some right now. Hard to wrap my head around what I'm drinking here, but whoever mentioned hummingbird cake ain't too far off. Creamy and sweet, with loads of fresh fruit and spice. The rum does oddly dominate, but I am able to tease out some rye on the palate. One thing's for sure, it isn't like anything else out there.

I have had several people tell me almost the same,would you say it's worth the $70 premium it commands or even go as far say it's unique enough for a repeat purchase?I'm really on the fence on this one,can you tell?:grin:

[MyOldKyDram]

I've only had the one taste so far, so I won't speak on repeat purchases, but I don't regret the one buy even if I don't (immediately) think it's worth the $70. Can you tell that I'm also well on that fence? I'll post some additional notes as I get into it more. I will say again that it's very unique and quite good. Probably will make for great sipping on these hot summer days. I may even throw a lil umbrella in my Glencairn.

[squire]

Presumably that would be a red umbrella.

[MyOldKyDram]

No red in this house. UK Blue.

[squire]

Go Big Blue Nation.

[ChainWhip]

Go Big Blue Nation.

[theglobalguy]

I have had several people tell me almost the same,would you say it's worth the $70 premium it commands or even go as far say it's unique enough for a repeat purchase?I'm really on the fence on this one,can you tell?:grin:

Funny you say that, i ran across is today @ $70, flinched when i saw the price. Guess i hadn't been paying attention to the details earlier in the thread. So so many other great pours out there for less i went another direction. While i like the regular AE product, i view it as more a dessert drink and i'm usually in the mood for the more standard bourbon profiles.

[squire]

In that case I'm having desert first.

[MyOldKyDram]

Still quite sweet, but much more spice tonight and am enjoying it a good bit more. Leaning towards second bottle more. More studying is in order.