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What Rye did you purchase today? Fall / Winter 2015


johnnybogey
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I thought I was stocked up enough with SAOS Rye but after all this discussion, I picked up another bottle of the 8 yr SB CS for $55.  I now have one bottle of the regular 7 yr open and 2x in the bunker, along with 3x 8 yr SB CS.  Hopefully that will allow me to rye-d out the storm.  (I apologize for that pun)

Jason

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My lucky rye streak continued today. Got a call from a store that they had a Saz18 for me if I still wanted it. I said "yes, please" and picked it up.

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Bad news, the store that had Pikesville finally figured out that it was priced wrong. Now it's at $60. Luckily I got a few before they changed the price. 

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8 hours ago, KyleCBreese said:

Bad news, the store that had Pikesville finally figured out that it was priced wrong. Now it's at $60. Luckily I got a few before they changed the price. 

It was originally at $32.

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Finally found a Pikesville Rye 110 while I was replenishing my OGD bonded.

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11 hours ago, Harry in WashDC said:

Finally found a Pikesville Rye 110 while I was replenishing my OGD bonded.

Crack that sucker and tell us what you think!

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13 hours ago, flahute said:

Crack that sucker and tell us what you think!

Steve and Paddy -  I will report soon.  It's in the trunk of my car.

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Picked up some Whistle Pig 10 year. First rye I've tried that has a 100% rye mash. I think it's pretty good, but a little overpriced. For the money I'd rather have something from High West but don't regret buying it at all

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On December 22, 2015 2:20:14 PM, Harry in WashDC said:

Steve and Paddy -  I will report soon.  It's in the trunk of my car.

Uh oh. Here we go again with the trunk thing. :huh:Geez Harry. :lol:

But seriously…….Even though I'm not a rye guy, I'm looking forward to your tasting notes too Harry.

Cheers! Joe

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Found an old school label Ritt BIB today. It's been a while since I've had a good pour of this rye. 

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Here are my Pikesville Rye 110 (and "aged at least 6 years") comments based on the bottle of it which I removed from my car trunk today just for you guys (thus making space in my car trunk for presents given to me with greatest love and affection by me).

My biases are obvious: I like high rye bourbons and drink them neat but do not turn up my nose at wheated bourbons; I usually drink bourbons neat (or barrel proof ones with a little water) but do not usually drink ryes neat; I use ryes in cocktails more than I use bourbon because I like that cereal/grass/mint edge which I think adds to the complexity of the cocktails I usually make and drink; finally, I do like some of the MGP ryes offered by some NDPs.

Rittenhouse is my basic (but by no means exclusive) rye for Manhattans so I considered a SBS, but since Ritt and Pikesville are both Heaven Hill products (and, reportedly - see thirstysouth.com and some other blogs out there - have the same mash bill of 51% rye, 39% corn, and 10% malted barley), I decided to try the ("at least 6 years" Pikesville against baby Saz even though the Saz is 90 proof and allegedly a little over 4 years.  I did neat tastings, tastings with a little water in the Pikesville to bring it down to about 90 proof, and cocktail tastings by making 2:1 Manhattans with M&R Vermouth (instead of my usual Dolins which I love straight so I decided to instead use what I consider a perfectly serviceable sweet vermouth used by most bars to avoid any distractions).

Now that all that is out of my system, read on . . .

Color - Pikesville is darker (think thick maple syrup) while Saz is coppery - which you'd expect because Pikesville likely is older.  Even when water is added, the Pikesville maintains a slightly darker hue - not much.

Nose - Pike is more complex that the Saz.  If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn I was sniffing a CS 4R OBSQ - the Pikesville was that floral, complex, and fruit-edged.  The Saz, while nice and at a much lower proof, did carry its characteristic cereal notes.  Even with water added, the Pikesville was more complex, again likely due to its added age.

Taste - Pikesville neat had the vanilla, cinnamon, and brown sugar notes I expect to find in a good 6 year bourbon, but it was not as sweet as, say, VOB bonded.  Frankly, it reminded me of OGD bonded level of sweetness on a long day when I'm tired - that first hit is heaven and just spicy enough to wake me up.  I was also surprised at the lack, I say again, the LACK of the mint bomb/grassy/pickle (dill+salt??) flavor I find (and do like) in my MGP favorites.  The Saz, similarly, lacked a bomb, but surprisingly to me did have a spearmint (not peppermint) flavor mingled in there which was hard to find in the Pikesville.  Even with water, the Pikesville was fun to savor - kind of like OGD 114 after it has been sitting a few minutes until the small ice cube in it melts, and the glass returns to room temperature.

About here, when that thought hit me, I fetched an half-full bottle of OGD 114 and, after testing it, too, decided NOT to change anything in that previous paragraph.

Finish - as expected, the higher proof Pikesville hung around longer than the Saz and kept letting me taste different things.  With water, the finish lasted about as long as the Saz's lasted.

Total rye and OGD consumed was less that 3.5 ounces in the aggregate - I intentionally avoided getting happy.  AND, I could drink this rye neat anytime.

Edited by Harry in WashDC
clarify an ambiguity - sheesh, my teachers would be PO'd.
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Great and informative review, Harry.  I love the way you walked us through your experience with these.  

 

 

 

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Thanks for the report Harry! Your notes and experiences are very similar to my own on Pikesville. I like it a lot.

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Haven't tried that many ryes neat (Bulleit, Ritt, Baby Saz, Pikesville). Of those, the Pikesville is the only one I would have again neat. I think HH has a hit on their hands...

Anybody have any comparison notes for the Pikesville vs. the new Russels Reserve 103 proof rye?

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If you ever run across one of the Willet MGP ryes bottled at 5 or 6 years and 110 proof (and it doesn't cost two arms and a leg... I have a 5yo 110 proof if you are ever passing through Atlanta!) it makes an interesting comparison between a low and high rye whiskey mashbill (as does the Redemption BP MGP rye Batch 3 6yo at 122 proof).

I am not that surprised that a barely rye mashbill like Ritt/Pikesville might be similar to a high rye bourbon like OGD or Four Roses. Also I think some thought that the Ritt made by B-F for HH was a bit more bourbon-y than the new HH made Ritt and I wonder if this Pikesville at 6yo is left over B-F made rye. The transition back to HH from B-F wasn't all that long ago after all.

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35 minutes ago, tanstaafl2 said:

 Also I think some thought that the Ritt made by B-F for HH was a bit more bourbon-y than the new HH made Ritt and I wonder if this Pikesville at 6yo is left over B-F made rye. The transition back to HH from B-F wasn't all that long ago after all.

Agree Bruce. Tasting it against Ritt 354 and Ritt DSP 1, with Pikesville brought to 100 proof, sure drinks as 354 B-F.  

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Good question, Bruce, on whether it is  leftover BF-made.  I saw someplace (a blog, not an official HH site or statement, but can't remember when or which one) that, supposedly, HH picks the Pikesville from special parts of the rick house(s) holding its Ritt-designated distillate.  I have no idea if that's true.  I also have no idea if the residual BF-make is sitting, segregated, in those rick houses; that would mean that "selected from special parts of the Rittenhouse rick house" would be a true statement but not unambiguous.

I do have an almost full Redemption BP Batch 3, but it is not accessible for a few more days.  The Pikesville 110 will go back in my trunk so I can try them at the same time.

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Thanks Harry, a good read. 

I would hope that B-F would hold some of the leftover Rit. rye for about 12 to 13 years and release it. I think that would be some good rye.  

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It was actually purchased a few weeks ago, but since I haven't been on here in a while and haven't purchased much lately (I'm technically on a moratorium from any purchases...with the exception of something hard to find of course ;)) I thought I'd slap it in here.  Got a bottle of the new Pikesville 110.  Had no clue what it was when I saw it on the shelf (found while traveling) so it was an impulse buy.  I'm pretty pumped that I grabbed it because I've been reading a lot of good things about it on here and other sites.

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Purchased the new High West Yippee Ki-Yay a few weeks ago that is currently only available in Utah and finally took delivery yesterday after it was hand carried to me by one of my network of liquor mules located across the country and around the world... B)

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On 12/28/2015, 12:51:54, tanstaafl2 said:

Purchased the new High West Yippee Ki-Yay a few weeks ago that is currently only available in Utah and finally took delivery yesterday after it was hand carried to me by one of my network of liquor mules located across the country and around the world... B)

Extremely jealous of this one! 

I love their other stuff, I bet this one is a good one - what was distillery price?

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Picked up a Redemption BP 8yr today. There had been 8 bottles on the shelf for maybe a month or more, went in today and there were only 3 left, so grabbed one. I have a 7yr open right now that is really nice, like the better bottles of Old Scout CS that I have had.  Pikesville 110 is stocked deep nearby, so didn't get any of that.

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