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What Rye Are You Drinking, Winter 2017/2018


LCWoody
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Knocked my head while giving the pup a bath.  Ouch!  Blood and everything.  Some Kentucky Owl Rye Batch One to get over the bone-headedness of the situation... Mighty fine.

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12 hours ago, Vosgar said:

Ritt BIB DSP-354, one of my favorites

I love Ritt. Should I be looking at the DSP on bottles at LS or is that stuff only in bunkers?

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1 hour ago, CUfan99 said:

I love Ritt. Should I be looking at the DSP on bottles at LS or is that stuff only in bunkers?

Anything in the current bottle is DSP-1.  The older bottles could be DSP-354 or DSP-1, but most of the DSP-354 are long gone.  Anecdotally, I'd say that some prefer the DSP-354, some prefer the DSP-1, and some would call it generally even.  Personally, I have so much 354 around, I've never bought a 1.

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4 hours ago, CUfan99 said:

I love Ritt. Should I be looking at the DSP on bottles at LS or is that stuff only in bunkers?

If I found a DSP354 in a lottery, I would consider it over many LEs. As you can see, to some people, the difference is huge.

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2 hours ago, Kane said:

If I found a DSP354 in a lottery, I would consider it over many LEs. As you can see, to some people, the difference is huge.

Though I like both, I think the the DSP-1 distillate has more rye punch, which is my reason for preferring it to 354. But, you can’t really go wrong with either, for sure. 

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I'm drinking some Rittenhouse now but how do you know if you have dsp 354 or 1? If it's a new bottle then it's 1? What's the difference in taste?

Ritt BIB DSP-354, one of my favorites
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9 hours ago, jeffrey r said:

Anything in the current bottle is DSP-1.  The older bottles could be DSP-354 or DSP-1, but most of the DSP-354 are long gone.  Anecdotally, I'd say that some prefer the DSP-354, some prefer the DSP-1, and some would call it generally even. 

The DSP-1's have been out for a few years, so it's doubtful there's any 354's left. I bought a bottle of the DSP-1 back in January of 2015, and maybe it was just an "off" bottle, but it was harsh. I realize that Ritt is a barely legal rye and is never going to have a high rye kick to it, but this was flat-out nastiness, not the usual nice spiciness I'd associate with a good rye whiskey. Maybe I should give another bottle a try, but since I've got a bunch of 354's stashed away I'm in no hurry. 

1 hour ago, reeko said:

I'm drinking some Rittenhouse now but how do you know if you have dsp 354 or 1? If it's a new bottle then it's 1? What's the difference in taste?

It should be stated on the back label (unless the bottle has changed again)

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It may have changed because I don't see anything on the back, unless I'm not seeing it! I

It should be stated on the back label (unless the bottle has changed again)
IMG_20180822_171255.jpeg
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55 minutes ago, reeko said:

It may have changed because I don't see anything on the back, unless I'm not seeing it! I

IMG_20180822_171255.jpeg

It says DSP KY 1 which is the current HH.

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2 hours ago, reeko said:

It may have changed because I don't see anything on the back, unless I'm not seeing it! I

IMG_20180822_171255.jpeg

Where did you get this bottle? Eastern part of Canada? I'm no foreign language expert but that looks like French on the label. 

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1 hour ago, reeko said:

Ahh thanks! Ugh such a noob! ? So this is the standard version now? Which is more spicy?

 

 

This is in fact the current version, I'm not sure the difference to me would be the amount of spice, I don't have any 354 bottles around but I do think the current version has a profile that seems more capital letter RYE to me. Some of the early DSP1 batches with the old label were really rough around the edges but they have definitely come into their own for me. 

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Where did you get this bottle? Eastern part of Canada? I'm no foreign language expert but that looks like French on the label. 
You're right! It's French. I live in western Canada. I wouldn't be surprised if our alcohol distribution all comes from Eastern Canada.
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This is in fact the current version, I'm not sure the difference to me would be the amount of spice, I don't have any 354 bottles around but I do think the current version has a profile that seems more capital letter RYE to me. Some of the early DSP1 batches with the old label were really rough around the edges but they have definitely come into their own for me. 

I've only had two bottles of Rittenhouse so far (all this year), both dsp 1 and I'm liking it. The more rye the better! I wish I would have gotten into ryes years ago, I can imagine all the good stuff I've missed.

 

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46 minutes ago, reeko said:

 

 

I've only had two bottles of Rittenhouse so far (all this year), both dsp 1 and I'm liking it. The more rye the better! I wish I would have gotten into ryes years ago, I can imagine all the good stuff I've missed.

 

Actually, outside of a few special “one offs” or very limited discovered barrels which became special release Willetts, VWs, Hirsch, etc, the rye market had been very very bleak for some time.  You (we) are currently living in a Rye renaissance, and quality, selection, and availability have not been this good in several decades.  We are in a true Golden Age of Rye.

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2 hours ago, smokinjoe said:

Actually, outside of a few special “one offs” or very limited discovered barrels which became special release Willetts, VWs, Hirsch, etc, the rye market had been very very bleak for some time.  You (we) are currently living in a Rye renaissance, and quality, selection, and availability have not been this good in several decades.  We are in a true Golden Age of Rye.

I agree that it’s nice that there are lots more rye offerings out there currently. However I think that a lot of them are young and terrible (most of the “craft” stuff), or they are just many different plays on MGP or Alberta rye with varying degrees of quality pricing and transparency. There are a few others out there like the Willett house distilled 4/5 stuff which is good but that’s not easy to get nationally, Peerless which is good but a ripoff, KY Owl which is good but a ripoff also and unknown provenance. Then we have the standards of baby Saz, Rittenhouse, EHT rye which is decent but I don’t love it considering the price and availability, Woodford, Michter’s, and then the Wild Turkey offerings. Overall this current situation doesn’t excite me nearly as much as it did a couple years ago when there were plentiful Smooth Ambler and Willett picks 6+ (albeit MGP but delicious), and we had the tail end of the Ritt 21/23/25, Hirsch, Vintage, BMH, High West 16/21, tanked Saz18/VWFRR and Michter’s age stated ryes that were mostly epic. 

 

The best things I can say about the current rye landscape are that the KC rye barrel picks are pretty cool and reasonably priced, HWMWND is still good, WT101R is a great value, RRSiBR is good, Willett 4/5 is good if they distribute it near you, and KY Owl batch one and the pricing was acceptable (to me anyway) for what it is.

 

Other than that, I don’t need 100 different MGP/Alberta labels with stupid stories and/or inflated prices. The KC cask strength is worse than the barrel picks I’ve tried so far, I’m not paying $50 for 14 month aged craft rye in tiny barrels made by rookies with no experience, KY Owl went full retard with batch 2, I don’t like the new Saz18 as much as the tanked, the Michter’s stuff after 2014 has been a joke, we didn’t get any VWFRR last year and don’t know what the new stuff will be like yet, and I’m generally frustrated with the rye market if you can’t tell. 

 

Now, can Heaven Hill finally do the right thing and make the PHC for 2019 a barrel proof NCF rye age stated at like 10 years+ to restore my faith in the rye world?

 

And, I think I’m done ranting. For now

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On 8/21/2018 at 11:42 AM, CUfan99 said:

I love Ritt. Should I be looking at the DSP on bottles at LS or is that stuff only in bunkers?

HH's Pikesville Rye is one to try as well if you haven't. Older, higher proof sibling of Ritt at 6 years, 110 proof although it always seems to me to have a profile all its own . Barrel selection I suppose. Could be a bit cheaper but then couldn't everything? Usually mid $50's here locally I think but haven't looked recently. Would prefer a price point in the mid to upper $40's at most but probably not going to happen anytime soon. 

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2 hours ago, BottledInBond said:

the Michter’s stuff after 2014 has been a joke

Agree with much of what you said, but while I am no fanboy of Michter's, I must say that their Barrel Strength rye of a year or so ago (around $70-$80) is excellent.  They definitely hit on some good casks of KY rye, not overly young and raw (NAS), and not ridiculously priced.  I picked up a few bottles when I would come across them.

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1 hour ago, jeffrey r said:

Agree with much of what you said, but while I am no fanboy of Michter's, I must say that their Barrel Strength rye of a year or so ago (around $70-$80) is excellent.  They definitely hit on some good casks of KY rye, not overly young and raw (NAS), and not ridiculously priced.  I picked up a few bottles when I would come across them.

I think that is fair. That would be the product I would be most likely to buy from them if I was going to buy a Michter’s product at this point

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Actually, outside of a few special “one offs” or very limited discovered barrels which became special release Willetts, VWs, Hirsch, etc, the rye market had been very very bleak for some time.  You (we) are currently living in a Rye renaissance, and quality, selection, and availability have not been this good in several decades.  We are in a true Golden Age of Rye.
I'm glad that I'm in for the ride! I'm glad to be in Canada because we also have quite a selection for ryes.

Does anything think Pikesville is better than Rittenhouse? I was thinking of buying it but I'm a bit hesitant because it's about $85 here.
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10 minutes ago, reeko said:

I'm glad that I'm in for the ride! I'm glad to be in Canada because we also have quite a selection for ryes.

Does anything think Pikesville is better than Rittenhouse? I was thinking of buying it but I'm a bit hesitant because it's about $85 here.

I do, what does Ritt cost up there, here in New Jersey, USA Ritt is between $25 and $28 and Pikesville is between $45 and $55 I find Pikesville to be worth the difference but I also tend to empty bottles of Ritt faster

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25 minutes ago, reeko said:

Does anything think Pikesville is better than Rittenhouse? I was thinking of buying it but I'm a bit hesitant because it's about $85 here.

That's a personal choice only you can make. For me, it just depends on what I'm looking for that particular day. Tonight I wanted a spicier rye and went with Pikesville. The other night I was looking for something a bit milder so Rittenhouse worked great. IMHO, it's great to have both! (that kind of thinking might explain why I have 60+ open bottles :unsure:

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I do, what does Ritt cost up there, here in New Jersey, USA Ritt is between $25 and $28 and Pikesville is between $45 and $55 I find Pikesville to be worth the difference but I also tend to empty bottles of Ritt faster
Ritt is about $55-60 here. It all depends on the liquor store. How's the flavor profile for pike?

Do you empty it faster because it's that good? Or because you want to keep Pikesville for a special occasion?
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34 minutes ago, reeko said:

Ritt is about $55-60 here. It all depends on the liquor store. How's the flavor profile for pike?

Do you empty it faster because it's that good? Or because you want to keep Pikesville for a special occasion?

At that base price for Ritt I'd definitely go for Pikesville. We're pretty much paying double to step up to Pike from Ritt here, and it's well worth it in my opinion.

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