BigSkyDrams Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 (edited) I did the side by side last night, and again this evening with smaller samples. I tried blind last night, but it was obvious which was which as soon as I tasted, and not just due to the proof difference, but also because I’m pretty familiar with the sazerac. I was a bit congested yesterday and my senses were suffering from it, so my notes were pretty minimal. Tonight was better for that. Both were coppery with pretty minimal legs. Pikesville, as mentioned above, has a fantastic nose. Tonight I picked up some honey and cloves along with it. Palate was sweet for the ryes I’ve had (as was the sazerac), continuing the spices and honey from the nose, yellow raisin and an herbal note fading into the sweet spicy finish. Sazerac was brown sugar and pepper on top of the rye spices on the nose. Not as complex. Richer sweetness on the tongue and through the finish, with some toffee and maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg, adding character as it passes. The bite from the extra twenty-proof on the Pikesville was nice, but with the extra value and richer sweetness all the way through, I’ll take the saz as my first choice... not that the Pikesville is a shabby second! Edited December 18, 2017 by BigSkyDrams 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flahute Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 On 11/24/2017 at 3:52 PM, fishnbowljoe said: Self proclaimed rye whore. I like it! Sláinte! Joe You now have a counterpart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWBadley Posted December 26, 2017 Share Posted December 26, 2017 On 12/17/2017 at 4:57 PM, BigSkyDrams said: I did the side by side last night, and again this evening with smaller samples. I tried blind last night, but it was obvious which was which as soon as I tasted, and not just due to the proof difference, but also because I’m pretty familiar with the sazerac. I was a bit congested yesterday and my senses were suffering from it, so my notes were pretty minimal. Tonight was better for that. Both were coppery with pretty minimal legs. Pikesville, as mentioned above, has a fantastic nose. Tonight I picked up some honey and cloves along with it. Palate was sweet for the ryes I’ve had (as was the sazerac), continuing the spices and honey from the nose, yellow raisin and an herbal note fading into the sweet spicy finish. Sazerac was brown sugar and pepper on top of the rye spices on the nose. Not as complex. Richer sweetness on the tongue and through the finish, with some toffee and maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg, adding character as it passes. The bite from the extra twenty-proof on the Pikesville was nice, but with the extra value and richer sweetness all the way through, I’ll take the saz as my first choice... not that the Pikesville is a shabby second! Nice description! I agree with your general spice notes on these. In my mind I compare most ryes to several benchmarks- Rit, old Rit, and older Rit Ever get a big orange-cherry aroma off some ryes? Pikesville goes a different direction for sure with bigger corn say but also getting into some nice age notes and vanillas Just curious if you took either of them down with a little branch? I really thought the Pikesville came into it's own after either 20 minutes airtime or down to about 95-100prf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSkyDrams Posted December 28, 2017 Share Posted December 28, 2017 On 12/26/2017 at 11:26 AM, RWBadley said: Nice description! I agree with your general spice notes on these. In my mind I compare most ryes to several benchmarks- Rit, old Rit, and older Rit Ever get a big orange-cherry aroma off some ryes? Pikesville goes a different direction for sure with bigger corn say but also getting into some nice age notes and vanillas Just curious if you took either of them down with a little branch? I really thought the Pikesville came into it's own after either 20 minutes airtime or down to about 95-100prf Thanks! I had noted some orange zest on the nose of the Pikesville. When I did the tasting, I had been nursing the Saz for a few months, while the Pike was just opened. I typically let them aerate in the glass for 10-15 minutes before tasting. But I will be doing some more experiments with the Pike, including another proofed down SBS with the Saz. I’ve never had Rittenhouse yet, but it is on the list! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWBadley Posted December 28, 2017 Share Posted December 28, 2017 I was kinda half kidding about the Rittenhouse. Great stuff for sure , tho my experience with it mostly dates back to the old dsp and single barrel versions of the 21 yo rye they put out a few years back. Probably some of the best rye I've tasted are no longer found easily. BTAC Handy was usually pretty good. The Old van winkle 13 ryes, some pre war and medicinal rye. Saz 18 was surely up there along with the Vintage 21 and 23. Willett had an 8 year old bottling a while back that was killer! HW 21 was excellent but quite different from the usual, being aged in used barrels. Of currently available the Pikesville is probably my favorite, and is generally on the shelf here around $50. If anybody can suggest a craft Rye or Canadian that meets or beats it I'd sure like to know. Murray liked the Northern Harvest Rye a lot- which I have to admit confused the hell outta me. Same for the hubbub over Collingwood 21 rye. Weird stuff. Cheers, RW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry in WashDC Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 Wash Post for 25 Jan 2018 has a nice article on HH's Pikesville Supreme (80 proof) and Baltimore's reaction to its discontinuance and replacement with HH's Pikesville 110 proof. Apparently, some persons and bars bought cases of the 80 proof. Persons interviewed have no interest in the 110 proof. If I lived in Baltimore, I likely would use the internet to find that formula for how much water to add to a known quantity of high proof whiskey to dilute it to a desired lower proof rather than forgoing Pikesville altogether. Here's the Wash Post link - https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/why-have-baltimoreans-been-hoarding-this-rye-whiskey/2018/01/24/8a1b353c-efdd-11e7-97bf-bba379b809ab_story.html?hpid=hp_regional-hp-cards_rhp-card-lifestyle%3Ahomepage%2Fcard&utm_term=.d44fc623961e Here's one formula link (picked from many found by searching for "dilute alcohol calculator") - http://homedistiller.org/distill/dilute/calc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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