Michter's Rye

[cowdery]

I just returned from a shopping trip to Binny's. They had the Michter's 10-year-old rye on sale for $60. Puleeeeese!! They also had the standard rye at a more reasonable price, though I don't remember what. It's the same bottle. Does anyone know whose rye this is?

So what did I buy? The Rittenhouse Rye 100 proof (Heaven Hill), for $11.99.

Either way, it sure is nice to see so much straight rye on the shelf.

[Gillman]

Chuck, I enjoyed your taste notes in the Book, and wonder if you would be minded to offer one here on the Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey, i.e. in the style of the notes in the Book. Rittenhouse is a favorite of mine, and by the way, some years ago I had the Michter's 10 year old rye. The Rittenhouse trumps it no trouble IMO, so you bought well.

Gary

[LeNell]

I hear the 10 year is on its way here to NY. It's close to $50 wholesale here. I think it's a "tad bit" overpriced, too.

[Paradox]

Wow, I remember when I got my first bottle of it and the 10 year bourbon I paid 39.99. They really jacked that one up! After tring the 10 year bourbon that I got on sale for around $26 and not liking it I don't know... Bob said he had the 10yo rye at whiskeyfest last year and really liked it alot, but seems like this new price just may keep me from knowing how good it may be.

[Gillman]

Mark, I am wondering now if this 10 year old rye is the same as the one I was thinking of, from a few years ago sold in the heavy-bottomed decanter-styled bottle. That was a big whiskey with lots of flavors but I did not find it particularly balanced or special. The Rittenhouse is in my view more distinctive and interesting. However is this 10 year old rye LeNell and Chuck were referring to possibly a different whiskey? On the Michter's website the picture shown of the ten year old rye is the one I recall from some years ago. I suppose they might have kept the packaging but used a different whiskey for the contents, do you know?

Gary

[Bob]

For that price, I'd go with Saz or Classic Cask. I don't think I'll fork over that much money for the Michter's. I'll have to try it again at WhiskyFest and then see if its worth it.

[Paradox]

I don't know off hand Gary but I am guessing that it is a different whiskey just put into the same bottle as the previous 10 yers were. There wsa such a long period inbetween when it was last readily available and now that that is what makes me think it is a whole new batch.

I have to go with Bob on this one... For the new price I would w/o a doubt go with VWFRR, Sazerac and the amazingly good Classic Cask rye.

[Gillman]

Thanks, Mark. I have never tried the Classic Cask - by all reports it is very good, so I will keep my eye out.

I'll keep an open mind about the current Michter's 10 year old rye: one thing for sure is, I'd buy it real fast if someone told me it was sourced from Heaven Hill's reserve stocks of extra-aged rye whiskey.

[Paradox]

one thing for sure is, I'd buy it real fast if someone told me it was sourced from Heaven Hill's reserve stocks of extra-aged rye whiskey.

Fer sure!

[dgonano]

Both the old 10 yr bourbon and 10 yr rye were Van Winkle bottlings. Where are the current selections bottled?

[angelshare]

Rittenhouse is a favorite of mine, and by the way, some years ago I had the Michter's 10 year old rye. The Rittenhouse trumps it no trouble IMO, so you bought well.

I am VERY much a rye novice, and, just by luck, I bought a bottle of Rittenhouse while traveling this weekend. The comments by Chuck and you make me believe I blundered into a good choice. I think the bottle I got was $10.50 in West VA. Can't wait to try it!

[drew_kulsveen]

Actually the rye is from 1983-1984. Chatham Imports already had the labels made up and didn't want to sink more money into new labels.

[dgonano]

Drew,

The Michter's in the heart shaped bottle is 20yr rye?

And the look-a-like bourbon is.....?

[Gillman]

I take it from Mr. Kulsveen's brief comment that the rye in the elegant decanter-style bottle, bearing a label stating 10 year old straight rye, is the same rye as was put in bottle when was first sold some 8-10 years ago. I guess what I don't know is whether, (i) the whiskey has continued to age in oak and been bottled periodically since then (like the ORVW 13 year old rye save that it is now tanked) or, (ii) is from the same stock of bottles filled 8-10 years ago in which case of course the whiskey is not some 20 years old but probably somewhat more than half that. When I bought it about 5 or 6 years ago, I thought it was okay but not in the very fine class. If it has been bottled lately and therefore continued to age in wood until this further bottling, the taste might be different than a few years ago, and hopefully better, which may explain the current price being asked.

Gary

[chasking]

Has anyone had any experience with the other Michter's Rye, i.e., the one without an age statement in the round bottle? I just picked up a bottle last night. I have some of the ten-year-old at home and soon I intend to side-by-side them; I'll post my impressions.

[chasking]

Never mind; I just found this thread.

[Gillman]

This sounds to me like a rye which is perfect for the Manhattan Cocktail. Normally I like a 4:1 ratio of whiskey to vermouth; the colour and taste notes for this rye suggest a maximum 3:1 is ideal if not 2:1. It appears historically (the same applies for a martini) the liquor and vermouth were mixed 50/50. Sweetness may have been more appreciated in, say, 1900 than now, but on the other hand, most rye used for the drink then would have been dry and youngish in taste thereby mandating a goodly amount of vermouth to soften the taste.

Gary

[Gillman]

Recently I picked up the regular Michter's rye, which would seem about 4-5 years old. This really impressed with its softness, sweetness and strong but pure rye flavor. It manages to be assertive yet clean in taste and does not taste "funky" as some rye can do, a hard balance to get for a young-to-medium age rye. I can't think of a more American drink, the only analogies are, say, a piney ale brewed with a heavy addition of North West hops or a big California chardonnay all sweet oak and butter and tang. Just because rye is so, well, enthusiastic/energetic a grain, it can get out of balance. The Michter's straight rye (at least the one in my bottle since it is single barrel) gets it exactly right, surely great straight rye was like this before Prohibition. I have not tried as yet the 10 year old version, I heard it is different from the 10 year old released about 10 years ago (which I didn't much like) albeit sold in the same handsome decanter bottle, so that is for another day. The regular Michter's rye is about $30, not cheap when you consider other good ryes can be bought for half that (e.g. Rittenhouse) but it is worth the extra money. I wonder if BT's new rye will be as good. I also wonder who made the rye in Michter's, it does not taste like a Heaven Hill rye. Nor is it Overholt's, clearly. I think it may be either a very good single barrel of Jim Beam rye (the yellow colors are similar) or possibly the elusive Fleishmann's rye from Barton. Fleischmann's rye is a cat and dog label the many excellent whiskey hunters on this list have not (to my knowledge) found! Maybe there isn't any because the last batch went into this Michter's product? In any case it is really good, a revelation as is an early (pre-batch 90) Woodford Reserve I picked up on the same trip in Buffalo, NY. The unity of the all-Louisville honey barrel Forester in those early batches impresses. I like the best of the batches of Woodford that started with no. 90 (90 itself, 110, also 125) but some of the batches, e.g. no. 164 I now am sampling, seem less well-balanced and with a slight metallic or oily note. I wonder if some of the Versailles pot still may be a little hard to handle for the minglers; at 6 years of age or so, even for U.S. whiskey which ages faster than Scots whisky, 6 years is rather young... All Woodford Reserve is good and some very good but it is interesting to go back to an early batch and see what the all-Louisville whiskey was like, which is Forester at its best (not Birthday Bourbon, which I like but is different to me than classic Old Forester). The Forester spoken of recently on the board as having a classic taste 10 years ago and more can be found in the pre-batch 90 Woodford's. True, some of that was aged at Versailles but that alone does not remove for me its status as classic Old Forester whiskey.

Gary

[doc_mcCabe]

I drank this the other night at Delilah's and enjoyed it, though it wasn't the mystical concoction Van Winkle Rye is. I found it less dimensional and a little lighter, not quite as deep and flavorful, maybe more honied while at the same time being less tart. But don't get me wrong, it was still very nice.