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What Rye Did You Purchase/Drinking (2019)


LCWoody
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On 1/20/2019 at 6:11 PM, 0895 said:

Save your money, unless you enjoy the taste of disappointment. 

Gotta remember this line! :D

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Happened to see a few bottles of Baby Saz so I grabbed one. It's been a while since I've had a bottle of this open in the cabinet.

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18 minutes ago, Kane said:

Delayed opening this due to bad reviews. My expectations are set low, now let's see...

 

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Yeah okay, I can immediately see the problem: there is no taste. The nose is beautiful (but nothing like rye, still...), but that cask finish does nothing for the palate or finish. The low proof also sucks the life out of MGP juice. Palate is cardboard,. Boring.

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24 minutes ago, Kane said:

Yeah okay, I can immediately see the problem: there is no taste. The nose is beautiful (but nothing like rye, still...), but that cask finish does nothing for the palate or finish. The low proof also sucks the life out of MGP juice. Palate is cardboard,. Boring.

Yep, pretty much this. No reason for the proof to be so low, especially for the price. At 100-110 it would probably be fairly good.

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1 minute ago, EarthQuake said:

Yep, pretty much this. No reason for the proof to be so low, especially for the price. At 100-110 it would probably be fairly good.

I also wonder what the implications of 12yr juice are. Never had MGP that old, maybe the characteristic pickle and rye spice aren't meant to last that long.

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32 minutes ago, Kane said:

I also wonder what the implications of 12yr juice are. Never had MGP that old, maybe the characteristic pickle and rye spice aren't meant to last that long.

I've had a couple Whistlepig 10 single barrel barrel proofs which were MGP, those are at least 10 years old (some reportedly have been 11-13 years). The classic MGP flavor is there but it's refined and elegant I would say, and bottled at barrel proof still has a lot of punch to it. I think the MGP they use for the 12 has a lot in common with these WP10 single barrels. So I imagine if they just upped the proof on the 12 it would be noticeably better, but it's hard to say for sure.

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Anyone try the Hoch Vatted?  I passed on it a couple times last week when I was out hitting some spots between seeing my clients.  Also passed on a Hoch 16 for the obvious reason of price.  I’d already spent $300 that week on whiskey I didn’t need lol.  

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5 hours ago, Obeezy1Kaneezy said:

Anyone try the Hoch Vatted?  I passed on it a couple times last week when I was out hitting some spots between seeing my clients.  Also passed on a Hoch 16 for the obvious reason of price.  I’d already spent $300 that week on whiskey I didn’t need lol.  

One of my favorite Whiskey's the other NJ SB'ers are probably tired of seeing those words typed by me. 

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One of my favorite Whiskey's the other NJ SB'ers are probably tired of seeing those words typed by me. 


I saw this when searching for Hochstader vatted rye. One of my favorite cigars, might need to give this rye a try.

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6 hours ago, Obeezy1Kaneezy said:

Anyone try the Hoch Vatted?  I passed on it a couple times last week when I was out hitting some spots between seeing my clients.  Also passed on a Hoch 16 for the obvious reason of price.  I’d already spent $300 that week on whiskey I didn’t need lol.  

Bought a bottle of the vatted after reading a lot of good reviews. Was really disappointed, it was a thin, young rye with some really off notes that is only really suitable for cocktails imo and even then, there are so many better options.

 

The Hoch 16 I imagine is quite good, I had a bottle of the Lock Stock 16 which I understand is the same thing, just at a bit lower proof - but yeah the price on these puts me off. The Lock Stock 16 was good but not $150 a bottle good. 

Edited by EarthQuake
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15 hours ago, Obeezy1Kaneezy said:

Anyone try the Hoch Vatted?  I passed on it a couple times last week when I was out hitting some spots between seeing my clients.  Also passed on a Hoch 16 for the obvious reason of price.  I’d already spent $300 that week on whiskey I didn’t need lol.  

I think it's pretty good. It's definitely a bit thin, and the finish is a little bitter, but it has some nice cinnamon notes that are unique compared to other ryes. It isn't priced competitively around Atlanta in my opinion (about $50), so I've only ever purchased one bottle but I do like it.

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2 hours ago, Spade said:

I think it's pretty good. It's definitely a bit thin, and the finish is a little bitter, but it has some nice cinnamon notes that are unique compared to other ryes. It isn't priced competitively around Atlanta in my opinion (about $50), so I've only ever purchased one bottle but I do like it.

At $50 I might feel a bit differently but I've paid between $26-$35 at that price I find it to be the most enjoyable rye, particularly when I want something more rye forward than the barely legals like Rittenhouse or the Beam Ryes.

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Under $25 and the Hoch vatt would probably be okay, I think I paid about $35-40 which was definitely not worth it. Old Overholt and Rittenhouse are better and if you want high rye Dickel (MGP) is better at $20-25 or so, HW double rye is another solid value rye that I would take all day over Hoch. $50 is certainly too much to pay, you're getting into Pikesville, Willett 4 year, Knob Single Barrel, etc territory, there are vastly superior products at that price point.

 

I was curious so I looked up my notes. I paid $37 for the Hoch vatt, and rated it 2/10 (lol this is worse than I remember). From my notes it had strong grain forward notes like a lot of bad craft ryes. If I recall correctly I did a side by side with Dickel Rye and Baby Saz at the time, so it's not like I was comparing it to heavy hitters either.

 

For scoring reference:

 

Few Rye 1/10 (this stuff is foul)

Hoch Vatt 2/10

Basil Hayden Rye 5/10

Rittenhouse 6/10

Baby Saz 7/10

Dickel Rye 7/10

Mitcher's Rye 7.5/10

High West Double Rye 7.5/10

High West Rendevouz 8/10

Whistlepig 12 8/10

CEHT Rye 8/10

Knob Creek Cask Strength 2009 8/10

Whistelpig 10 (ADL) 8.5/10

Pikesville 8.5/10

HW MWND 9/10

Russell's Reserve Single Barrel 9/10

Willet 4 year 9/10

Whistlepig 10 Store Pick (MGP) BP 9.5/10

Edited by EarthQuake
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I’ll add my two cents and agree with Kevin, at $30ish here in NJ, I think the Vatted Rye is an very good rye at a very good price.  Flavors are definitely rye forward and the vatting adds complexity.  At 100 proof, it’s a easy supper neat.  Comparisons to Barrel proof ryes miss point.  I’ve been rotating between the Hoch Vatted, Willett 4YO rye and Kentucky Owl Batch one and while the Vatted Rye is weakest of the three it is a mightily enjoyable pour.

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Just picked up this Willett Single Barrel, store pick last week in SF.  Price was higher than I liked, but it's Tech Bro pricing, and that's the San Francisco tax.  It's damned fine, and as a Willett enthusiast, it plays to my palate.  

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It's a Twin TH Thursday. I broke my "no duplicates" rule with this pair-- tough to pass when priced at only ten bucks more than the Whistlepig 10yo PS. Luckily my favorite of the BTAC set seems to be at the bottom of everyone's want list.

 

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Hard to follow those last two lol.  Cracked open this Templeton 6 tonight. 

 

 

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9 hours ago, Obeezy1Kaneezy said:

Hard to follow those last two lol.  Cracked open this Templeton 6 tonight. 

 

 

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I'm suspicious of anything from Templeton, especially non-straight, and have never purchased their stuff. How did you like it?

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14 minutes ago, dad-proof said:

I'm suspicious of anything from Templeton, especially non-straight, and have never purchased their stuff. How did you like it?

 

I was wondering if anyone was going to say anything lol.  

 

First bottle.  I bought it out of curiosity just to see if I could taste anything out of the ordinary, which I couldn’t, but I also went to a Scotch tasting prior so I’ll dip into the bottle again soon.  It wasn’t bad though. 

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25 minutes ago, Obeezy1Kaneezy said:

 I bought it out of curiosity just to see if I could taste anything out of the ordinary, which I couldn’t, but I also went to a Scotch tasting prior so I’ll dip into the bottle again soon.

Thanks for taking one for the team! :D

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Cracked a WFE 10yr small batch rye last night. 115 proof. MGP distilled. 

Just tremendous. The time in the barrel has resulted in some beautiful complexity. The dill and other calling cards of the 95% rye mash bill are muted here. This is a unique pour.

Need a few more pours of this to confirm my initial impression of course.

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