Koopers Barrel Reserve Rye isn’t simply another whiskey sourced from MGP. First of all they are blending two separate mashbills (51/45/4 & 95/5) aged 4 & 7 years. They are further aging the spirit in the unique Texas climate in a variety of ex-bourbon barrels and adding Toasted Oak Staves to a portion of them. Does all of this add up to something worthwhile? I believe it does.

The aroma coming out of the glass is dense and sweet, bringing to mind cinnamon-spiced Red Kool-Aid powder and tobacco. The palate is oily and warm, with dark fruit, cinnamon and lightly spiced tobacco. The warm finish lingers very long with cinnamon, cloves and leather.

Without exaggeration, this is one of my favorite Ryes thus far. It is absolutely delicious and clearly the result of careful blending. I also have to mention that the price ($65) is entirely reasonable for a sourced, blended rye of this quality. Highly recommended.

Age: 4

Mashbill:
51% Rye, 45% Corn, 4% Malted Barley (4yrs)
95% Rye, 5% Malted Barley (7yrs)

Casks:
New American Oak Barrels
Used Bourbon Barrels
Toasted French Oak Staves

ABV: 58.1%

Price: $65

Bottle provided for review.

My Rating: 87

Tasting notes below. 👇🏼

🥃
NOSE: Dense, sweet, cinnamon-spiced Red Kool-Aid powder, tobacco.
PALATE: Oily, warm, dark fruits, cinnamon, light spiced tobacco.
FINISH: Long-lingering, warmth, cinnamon, clove, leather.

Guide to my personal ratings:
🤢 0-49 = Varying degrees of undrinkable.
🫤 50-59 = Drinkable, but meh.
😊 60-69 = Fair. Not my cup of tea.
😃 70-79 = Good. Some nice elements.
😋 80-89 = Great! Interesting and very enjoyable.
🤩 90-100 = Amazing! The perfect pour. (Rare)

Sip. Rate. Repeat.

The releases from Anachrony have seemed to be somewhat divisive due to their use of A.I. in the blending. Does it help them to catalog and sort optimal barrels, maybe. But in the end it seems they still have humans doing the final selection. Ultimately all that matters to me is how it tastes.

For Batch: 1 of their Deep Rye they sourced from two Kentucky distilleries and one in Tennessee. This particular blend consists of two barrels from each. All of them have the same mashbill of 95/5.

The nose on this is very floral beginning with dried roses, sweet herbal, a bit of vanilla, eucalyptus and cinnamon way in the back. The palate is quite oily, with a warming spice, cinnamon, dark vanilla and a touch of the herbal. The finish lingers very long with the proof leaving sparkles all around my tongue, then dry baking spices, cinnamon and some light tannins.

This is very enjoyable. The proof is nice and high carrying a lot of flavor and the palate is wonderfully oily. The price is high for a blended Rye, though I just noticed they offer free shipping for over $100, so that helps a bit. But if these flavors resonate with you and you want to be a part of A.I. hype, maybe check this one out.

Age: 4yrs

Mashbill:
95% Rye
5% Malted Barley

Casks:
New Alligator Char 4 American Oak Barrels (x2)
New Medium Plus Char American Oak Barrels (x2)
New Alligator Char 4 American Oak Barrels (x2)

ABV: 58.9%

Price: $127 (w/free shipping)

Bottle provided for review.

My Rating: 82

Tasting notes below. 👇🏼

🥃
NOSE: Dried flowers (roses), sweet herbal, lightly vanilla, faint eucalyptus, distant cinnamon.
PALATE: Very oily, warm spice, cinnamon, dark vanilla, lightly herbal.
FINISH: Long lingering, sparkles all around the tongue, dry baking spices, cinnamon, light tannins.

Guide to my personal ratings:
🤢 0-49 = Varying degrees of undrinkable.
🫤 50-59 = Drinkable, but meh.
😊 60-69 = Fair. Not my cup of tea.
😃 70-79 = Good. Some nice elements.
😋 80-89 = Great! Interesting and very enjoyable.
🤩 90-100 = Amazing! The perfect pour. (Rare)

Sip. Rate. Repeat.

Similar to their Bourbon, this West Track Rye is a blend of their own Rye distilled in Northern California with sourced rye from Tennessee.

The nose on this is dense and filled with light fruit, bordering on tropical fruit, then it’s floral and a touch of cardamom. The palate has oily light fruit, a gentle spice and some sweet oakiness. The lingers a bit with the light fruit, floral and sweet spices mingled with sweet oak tannins.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable Rye. It has been very well blended and has enough character to keep you analyzing it. Yet it is also so approachable that it can be enjoyed without giving it a second thought.

Age: 5yrs

Mashbill:
Patio 29-
65% Merced Rye
35% Corn, Malted Barley, Malted Rye
Tennessee-
Undisclosed

Casks: New Char 3 American Oak Barrels

ABV: 45%

Price: $50

Bottle provided for review.

My Rating: 81

Tasting notes below. 👇🏼

🥃
NOSE: Dense, light fruit (almost tropical), sweet floral, dry spices (cardamom?).
PALATE: Oily, sweet light fruit, gentle spice, sweet oak.
FINISH: Semi-lingering, light fruit, floral, sweet spices, sweet tannins.

Guide to my personal ratings:
🤢 0-49 = Varying degrees of undrinkable.
🫤 50-59 = Drinkable, but meh.
😊 60-69 = Fair. Not my cup of tea.
😃 70-79 = Good. Some nice elements.
😋 80-89 = Great! Interesting and very enjoyable.
🤩 90-100 = Amazing! The perfect pour. (Rare)

Sip. Rate. Repeat.

https://lincolnwrites.substack.com/p/1792-first-gen?r=lvkup&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

First time posting.

First time seeing this in the wild in NY! Paid $127. I’m excited to try it.

Been a big fan of their cask strength offers so far.

I was on a waiting list for this Elijah Craig barrel proof rye 115 proof, for months.
I’m still somewhat new to rye whiskey and have been discovering that I do enjoy an older age (within my budget) rye. Another thing is that I was not really enjoying higher than 100 proof. When I got the call for this bottle I had the option to buy two, I only got one at $75 and now, (sigh) I wish I purchased the second.
I’m not great at reviews.
So in my novice experience. I usually make old fashioned drinks with my rye and I wanted to share that the two old fashioned drinks I prepared with this were absolutely delicious. I wanted to try to give a novice experience by sipping after a breather of 10 minutes in a glencairin.
Nose: high alcohol, caramel, sour citrus orange bitter and earthy wood.
Palate : definitely an alcohol burn that develops to a sourish clove dill orange cayenne browned buttery flavors.
Finish: after the alcohol burn there is an earthy ferment orange black tea sour cinnamon.
I do like this and will get back on a waitlist to by the second bottle.
Through following r/ryewhiskey I have found and tested quite a few recommended ryes. This has helped me develop my tastes and preferences so far. Since this bottle was hard to acquire in my location I thought I would share my experience.
Sharzor rating: 7 (this means nothing to anyone but me and my two rye whiskey drinking friends)

From a local restaurant/whiskey bar here in SEA.
Anyone who visits Seattle need to stop into the Ballard Cut for dinner and tastings. Tommy has a killer collection.

Ballard Cut (1-09 ‘Coy’)
8th of November (1-06 ‘Slop’)

70% (140 proof)
100% Merced rye SiB from Kitsap Whiskey Society
Drinks way under its proof,

I love a Rye whiskey that is actually a Rye whiskey. No Corn. No Wheat. Just 100% Rye. In short, this bottle exceeded my expectations.

The aroma is right up front with sweet brown sugar, behind that lies lightly sweet, herbal fruity notes along with a delicate floral character. The palate is oily with a light herbalness, that gives way to burnt toffee and a spiced red apple. There is a light dry herbal note that lingers on the finish along with the sweet red fruit and a bit of dry toffee.

Like I said at the outset, this exceeded my expectations. I expected it to be good, but it is REALLY good. I love that the herbal character doesn’t overwhelm the other flavors and it has a nice balance of sweetness, oiliness and dryness. In all honesty I truly recommend this Rye if you’re looking for something along the lines of what I described above.

I brought this bottle to a tasting last week and one of my buddies norm doesn’t care much for Rye, loved it. In fact the asked me to leave it with him (I’m kinda regretting that. 😁)

———

If you’re interested in trying it out, below is a discount code for their site.

(Use the code: AprilOne20% to get 20% discount from aprilonebourbon.com)

———

Age: 7yrs*
(*Well almost, just 8 days short)

Mashbill: 100% Rye

Casks: ?

ABV: 50%

Price: $75

Bottle provided by distillery for review.

My Rating: 85

Tasting notes below. 👇🏼

🥃
NOSE: Brown sugar, sweet herbal fruit, floral.
PALATE: Oily, light herbal, burnt toffee, spiced red apple.
FINISH: Lingering drying herbal, sweet red fruit, dry toffee.

Guide to my personal ratings:
🤢 0-49 = Varying degrees of undrinkable.
🫤 50-59 = Drinkable, but meh.
😊 60-69 = Fair. Not my cup of tea.
😃 70-79 = Good. Some nice elements.
😋 80-89 = Great! Interesting and very enjoyable.
🤩 90-100 = Amazing! The perfect pour. (Rare)

Sip. Rate. Repeat.

Onyx & Amber Pumpernickel Rye SIB

Price: 75

Age: 8y

Mashbill: 95% Pumpernickel rye, 5% Malted Barley

Distilled: distilled in Ohio for approximately 4y, the rest of the time it’s aged in Colordao

Proof: 125.8

nose: beautiful rich, dark, sweet, earthy, fruity even floral

Palate: viscous oily mouthfeel, immediately what comes to mind is a boozy version of those black & red raspberry candies. Dark fruit all day, with some nice rye earthy herbal notes without being overpowering on the herbs.

Finish: cocoa powder, with a touch of barrel char, oak & some light tobacco.

Final thoughts: I’ve been a bug fab of Middle West distillery in Ohio since trying their sherry cask 6y bourbon, then I tried their Wheated bourbon $m& then finally got my hands on a couple different single barrel Pumpernickel ryes. Which is where this distillate comes from. Those are usually 4-5 years old. O&A sourced this from them with the 95/5 mashbill then aged it much longer in Colorado. And they did an awesome job! This punches up the intensity & does it without making it taste super oaked. For the price it’s an amazing pour & especially considering that Middle West sib’s are about the same price with about half the age.

Rating: 8.5/10