Rittenhouse Straight Rye 100 Proof Rye Whiskey

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Not only do I not regret purchasing this bottle, but I’ve resolved never to be without one on my home shelf. It punches well above its price, and for that I am adding a point to the score (in accordance with our guidelines), resulting in… Score: 7/10 Given the hullaballoo over the bonded, and my own fondness for it in Manhattans, I was interested to see what a blind tasting would reveal about the array of Rittenhouse ryes. Whiskey is made by fermenting a mash of grains. For a whiskey to be a rye, the mash bill of grains must be at least 51% rye. When looking at rye whiskey vs. bourbon, the key difference is the mash bill. Bourbon is at least 51% corn. Bourbon must also be made in the US. Rye can be made anywhere.

RittenhouseTown Historic District, a historic area in Philadelphia surrounding the first paper mill erected in British Colonial America With its lower proof, mellow flavor, and bourbon-like mash bill, Elijah Craig Rye Whiskey is the perfect rye for beginners. I blind taste tested more than 75 rye whiskeys and assessed each based on their color, aroma, palate, and finish, assigning scores to the overall taste.With its complex array of flavor notes from fruit and honey to leather and spice, Wild Turkey 101 Rye Whiskey is an excellent sipper and mixer for its price. Verdict: This was a crowd-pleaser. The extra aging made a mellower, sweeter, smoother rye than many of the more typical ryes, with still a touch of rye’s hallmark sour spiciness to distinguish it from a bourbon or other type of whiskey. While two panelists considered that it would make an exceptional Sazerac, another insisted it needed nothing more than a glass and maybe an ice cube to be enjoyed to its fullest. At the end of the tasting, the Rittenhouse 21-year-old was on three out of four top-3 lists. If money is no object, the WhistlePig 12 Year Old World Rye Whiskey is great for drinking neat with its ensemble of balanced flavors thanks to its unique wine cask finishing. If you’re new enough to the world of whisky/whiskey that you’ve yet to become jaded and cynical: good for you; try to hold on to this feeling for as long as it lasts. If, like me, you’ve found yourself in a churlish and ungrateful frame of mind, I can attest to the fact that taking a break to reset your parameters can work wonders. If you’ve had a similar experience, please drop a comment below and tell us about it!

I think that those of us that have pursued our love of fine whisk(e)y have indeed been spoiled a bit. So much so that we ignore perfectly fine whiskies that are readily available, and inexpensive (hence boring since there’s no “chase” involved). Rittenhouse Square, one of the five original open-space parks in central Philadelphia, Pennsylvania At the end of the tasting, once brands were revealed to the panelists, we were all a bit surprised by how the bonded Rittenhouse had performed. On the nose, two panelists described this whiskey as nondescript — a little sourness, a little sweetness, but overall, as one put it, “it doesn’t give anything up.” I’ve learned over that past several years that the best way to answer the question “What are your favorite whiskies?” is to relate my favorite whisk(e)y experiences. Visiting Scotland with my sons, blending a bottle of our own Springbank Single Malt, watching them totally geek out over the experience, there’s no whisky experience in recent memory as rewarding as that. YES, YES, YES, YES, YES. I completely understand your commentary. I find that I gain very little from winery visits, distillery tours, sherry bodega visits any more. Any tour guide has to treat you as a beginner. The only way you can make them interested enough to talk to you on the next level is to ask difficult questions or make your knowledge apparent. This can work sometimes but it can be a bit intimidating for others on the tour. I have done this in sherry and wine tours in Spain and Italy and it has resulted in being allowed to hang around after the tour has finished to sample some of the better stuff. Usually they just want you to be intoxicated enough to blow your money in the shop.What you say about Rittenhouse is the same, although the U.K price ain’t so cheap. Most folk will think that a fine bottle of whiskey. It’s not as good as LOT 49 cask strength 12 and there we go all down that rabbit hole once more.

In Single Malt Scotch, you have Ardbeg 10, Glendronach 12, Bunnhabhain 12, etc., there are so many. On the nose: Despite this having the legal minimum rye content in the mash bill, I love how much of that grain’s characteristic nuances are expressed aromatically. Aloe, key lime pie, eucalyptus, menthol… all the rye hallmarks are here, married to a rich and buttery sweetness from the corn. This is on the young side, obviously, but that youth actually works in the whiskey’s favor, for my tastes. The grains are allowed to sing out individually, but also harmonize pleasantly. Not the deepest or most complex nose on a whiskey, but what is on display here is lovely. If I’m being honest with myself, there are so many excellent whiskies (especially those available domestically) that we need never search beyond the likes of spirits like Rittenhouse Rye, Old Grand Dad 114 (a personal favorite), Russel’s 10 Year Old, and many, many, fine American Single Malts from Balcones, Westland, Stranahan’s, etc. Laura Jacinta Rittenhouse (1841–1911), American temperance worker, author, poet, orphanage manager, club womanJohn most recently reviewed Rittenhouse rye in January of 2022, comparing it to the sister Pikesville ryeexpression from Heaven Hill’s stable of rye whiskeys (among them the most recent addition, Elijah Craig rye). All three share the “barely legal” mash bill of 51% rye, 35% corn, and 14% barley. So, what sets Rittenhouse apart from its in-house competition? Verdict: A good, but nondescript rye. One panelist summed it up perfectly: “If this one is expensive, then shame on it. If it’s an inexpensive rye, then they’re doing a great justice. It has no finish, and [a good finish] is what I want out of a quality whiskey, but everything else about it is good.”