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Today on The Bourbon Bytes Podcast, New Riff drops its oldest Headliner Blend ever,
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Bardstown Bourbon Company goes tropical, and Heaven Hill unveils a first-of-its-kind double
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mash. Plus, I'm revisiting one of my favorite barrel-strength rye whiskeys of all time.
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Hello everyone and welcome to The Bourbon Bytes Podcast. I'm your host,
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Clifton, and this is the week of July 23rd, 2026. I feel like this month is lasting forever,
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but I don't mind it. I'm really enjoying the weather out here in Southern California,
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and I feel a little guilty saying that because I know a lot of you guys are being hammered by just
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terrible weather around the country. So I feel for every one of those areas that are flooding
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or those massive heat waves, just I hope it all chills out soon and we can get on with better
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days. But man, the weather this time of year is so crazy. But today is not about that. Today is
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about the latest and greatest in the world of whiskey in terms of news, and I'm really excited
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to be revisiting one of my favorite whiskeys of all time. So it's going to be a good episode.
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Hopefully you have a glass poured, whether it be a bourbon or a cup of coffee, depending on the time
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of day, or a little bit of both if it's one of those days, because I get that too. But our first
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news story comes to us from New Riff. They are releasing their 2026 Headliner blend. This is
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their third year releasing this, and it is a blend of three distinct whiskeys, all aged at least 10
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years old. Now proceeds of this release will benefit Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the
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Greater Cincinnati and Tri-State Trails, which is a great organization. I never really got a chance
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to volunteer with them, but I really wanted to when I was in college. I ended up going with another
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organization and helping out in some lower-income schools instead. But Big Brothers Big Sisters is
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definitely one that I would have supported if I had more time on my hands. But this year's release
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features 50% of an 11-year-old malted rye bourbon, 25% of an 11-year-old rye, and 25% of a 10-year-old
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Balboa rye. So they're throwing all of their fun experimental releases into this headliner. This is
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the first time that every component is at least a decade old, and it's New Riff's first 50-50 bourbon
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and rye blend ever released. By the way, the label on this is super cool. I love it. It kind of reminds
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me a bit of like a mix of a Avril Lavigne and like a Paramore album cover, just with all the, you know,
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bright text, a little bit disjointed, a little bit funky. Really, really cool. So check out the label
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if you haven't yet. It's really exciting. Now personally, I've not had a chance to try this one,
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but I do love some of the experimental stuff that New Riff does. This one in particular is bottled
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without chill filtration and is bottled at 118.8 proof, and it will retail for about $150 per bottle.
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Now it's going to be available starting this Friday at the distillery for the New Riff Whiskey
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Club members. There's a limit of one bottle per person, and bottles must be picked up at the
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distillery. No shipping is offered at this time. That's one of the saddest things about New Riff is,
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you know, it's hard to get these things out of Kentucky. They're so wildly popular, they rarely
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make it out of the state. Sometimes I'll see them come out, you know, several months after.
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Like, I just saw the New Riff Winter Whiskey at my local store. I almost picked it up, but I figured
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I had enough bottles for next week's live stream. Next Thursday, I'm going to be doing a New Riff
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stream where I'm comparing the bourbon and the rye to the eight-year version of the bourbon and
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rye. So yeah, I'm looking forward to doing that stream next Thursday on YouTube at youtube.com
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slash bourbon bytes. But yeah, unfortunately, I will not have this Headliner Blend for that live
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stream. But I wanted to talk about it anyways, because it is a really cool bottle. It's for a
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really good cause. And man, 10-year-old New Riff, it's definitely getting up there in age. I'm just
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excited to try the eight-year next week. Well, speaking of new releases, this one's a fun one.
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Bardstown Bourbon Company just announced their Victoria Pineapple Finished Whiskey. Yeah, you
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heard that right. Pineapple Finished Whiskey. This is a Kentucky exclusive, and it is a marriage of
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mature bourbon and rye. And they said they set out to explore flavors that could be achieved
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through patience, process, and barrel influence rather than shortcuts. Dan Calloway, who's their
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master blender, says the goal was never to make a whiskey taste like pineapple. The goal was to
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understand what made these barrels so special in the first place. Now, this release is named
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after the Victoria Pineapple, which is apparently a variety celebrated for its intense sweetness,
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fragrant aroma, and historic connection to premium rum production on Barbados. So they
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custom blend of bourbon and rye in Caribbean-sourced pineapple rum casks. And what is pineapple rum?
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Well, apparently the production process of this actually added the Victoria Pineapples directly
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into the rum for maturation. Now, here's where it gets crazy. So Bardstown Bourbon Company
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seeked to mirror the process. So when they added their whiskey blend into this used barrel,
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they actually added fresh pineapple into it as well, and they let it sit there for 27 months.
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They replicated what was going on with this rum. I have no idea how this is going to taste. Listen,
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I've had pineapple flavored rum, but I've never had some of this distinctive pineapple matured
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rum. It sounds really, really cool. And I'm a big fan of Caribbean rum. So if I try this,
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I'm going to have to seek out a bottle of this pineapple rum to get a sense of what that flavor
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profile is and see how it compares to a whiskey that's also been blended with pineapples in the
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barrel. Now, this was going to be bottled at 106 proof. It's going to be available at the
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Bardstown Bourbon Company Distillery and Louisville Tasting Room starting this Friday as well
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for a suggested retail price of $140. It definitely seems like a fun summer drink.
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Haven't had a chance to try it. I don't know if any samples are on their way to me. If they are,
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I will definitely give this a review for you guys and let you know. I'll probably do a live
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stream where I compare it to the rum if it does come in. So fingers crossed, but not getting my
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hopes up. This is a very limited release. Another limited release worth talking about is the new
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Yellowstone Bourbon. This is their 11th release of their limited edition series. It is a blend
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of 7 and 14 year old Kentucky straight bourbons finished in ruby and tawny port cask, then married
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and bottled at a potent 101 proof. That's their words, not mine. I've tried some of these Yellowstone
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limited edition releases in the past. They are good. They're quite a bit pricey for what they
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are. You know, I think the flavor influence of the casks isn't as strong as I like it to be.
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This one comes in at $99 for a 750 milliliter bottle, which is fair for a 7 to 14 year old
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bourbon blend. Now this isn't coming out until this August, but if you are a fan of Yellowstone
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releases, this sounds like one of their strongest finishes yet. I do love a port finish, so maybe
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this will be the one that changes my mind. Maybe this will be the Yellowstone that convinces me to
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finally start buying Yellowstone. And last new whiskey release, I got to talk about the new
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Heaven Hill Double Mash bottled in bond. Now this is a follow up to the blue label bottled in bond
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that we all know and love from Heaven Hill, but this one is basically the same label. It just is
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red and it says double mash on it. It is a nine year old bottled in bond bourbon, bottled at 100
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proof, of course, and it unites their traditional and weeded bourbon mash bills, which I think is,
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I said, the first of a kind for Heaven Hill. So they're taking two thirds of their traditional
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mash bill, which is the 78% corn, 10% rye and 12% malted barley mash bill with one third of their
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wheated bourbon mash bill, which is 68% corn, 20% wheat and 12% malted barley. So this is like
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combining a Elijah Craig with a Larceny. Retail on it's only about $50. They say it's limited
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quantities available nationwide and it's going to start coming out this August. I think this is a fun
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companion to the bottled in bond bourbon and it kind of fits the middle ground between their
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Old Fitzgerald seven year, which is now a regular release everywhere or limited, but still available
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and their bottled in bond bourbon. It's kind of the blend of the two together, but even older. So
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I support it. I would love a chance to try it. I'm just a big fan of what Heaven Hill does and
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both of those mash bills I'm a big fan of and yeah, I'm just excited to give those a try,
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especially at the $50 price point. I think $50 for a bottled in bond nine year old bourbon,
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you can't go wrong with that price. All right, well that does it for this week's news. Now it's
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time to get into our Byte-Sized review. All right. Well, if you saw the thumbnail of this podcast,
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you know that I am drinking Michter's Barrel Strength Rye, and this was one of the first
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cast strength ryes that I ever fell in love with. Now this was originally released back in 2015.
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I was not drinking bourbon at all in that time period. I was barely old enough to drink at all,
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but I did try a 2019 release of this that made me fall in love with Michter's in general. So I'm very
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excited to revisit or visit for the first time for me a 2016 version of it. Now this is essentially
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just a barrel strength version of standard Michter's Rye. There's not an age statement,
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but it's believed to be about six to eight years old. And what's unique about Michter's is their
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barrel entry proof is only 103 proof. So it's interesting to see these come in at different
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proof points when they're bottled. Now I don't have the specific proof of this one, but looking
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at its sister barrels, it's around 113 to 114 proof just based on other ones. This is barrel
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number 16C410, but others in the similar range are right around 113, 114. So I'm just going to guess
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this is around that proof. Now, I unfortunately don't remember who sent me this sample, but I
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want to say a huge thank you to whoever it was. Because you obviously know my tastes and I'm really
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excited to revisit this classic. I think Michter's Rye is really good. I'm a big fan of their flavor
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profile. I've had their 10 year version. Of course I've had the Toasted Barrel Strength Rye, but
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even their standard barrel proof rye has just always been one of my favorites. So
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it's been a minute since I've tried it. So I'm excited to finally give it a review for the
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podcast. Let's go ahead and give it a nose. Oh, wow, man, that even just smells old. I mean,
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it has that vintage character that I've gotten on some other whiskeys from around that time period.
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Like I said, I wasn't drinking at the time, but I've been fortunate enough to find some older
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bottles of like Wild Turkey and the, you know, 2011 to 2015 age range, which isn't that long
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ago, but honestly, in the scheme of things, you know, that's 10 plus years. So the flavor profile,
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I think has changed quite a bit from back then. And I can just get it on the nose. This has a
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little bit of that copper note that I get on some older whiskeys, but one thing's for sure. This is
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definitely a rye. This is reading very, very herbaceous on the nose. I would say minty, but
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it's weird because it's like a minty and like a citrus thing happening at the same time. Very,
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very bright. Like I said, very different from a bourbon. It's got some nice baking spices there.
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Definitely more like a traditional rye bread kind of note, just amped up with that herbaceous like
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menthol kind of thing going on. There's definitely a bit of sweetness there, but it's leaning more
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floral. And again, back in the, the plant world of things, it's unique for sure. It's definitely
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not like I remember on the nose, but let's see how it holds up on the palate. Cheers.
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Ah, there we go. That is the flavor that I love. Wow. Crazy different from the nose. I mean,
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it has a little bit of that vintage quality that I was getting on the nose, but this is so much
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richer on the palate. And honestly, it drinks a really decent proof. Like it's a little hot,
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but the nose makes you think it's going to be higher proof than it is on the palate. It
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lingers on the mid palate and finish and really goes deeper and darker than I would have ever
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expected based on that nose alone. It's like a blend of brown sugar and a little bit of like
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burnt sugar, like a little bit too caramelized sugar, but it kind of rounds out those brighter
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notes from the nose and kind of makes it more cohesive in general. And there's definitely a
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lot of oak happening here. I mean, like I said, six to eight years old is what this is expected
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to be. I would guess maybe this initial release is potentially older just because that oak is
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showing up in such a strong way on the palate. I didn't get it on the nose, but on the palate,
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it is there. It is rich. And it's definitely, um, competing with some of those sweeter notes
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because it has that tannic element to it. The more and more I drink it, the more spicy it is
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on the palate, but it's like a spiced fruit. You know, on my live stream last week, I was
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reviewing a rum that had a very specific Christmas or like holiday spice to it.
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This is almost in that territory. And I said, that was very much clove or cardamom.
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Um, this is definitely leading towards cinnamon and clove, um, which are rare to me on a rye
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whiskey. I think honestly, this is one of the more unique tasting rye whiskeys I've ever had.
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And there's definitely a little bit of fruitiness here. If there's anything I can relate it to,
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I would say a little bit of like a plum. And I think that kind of compliments that cinnamon and
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clove flavor that I'm getting. That kind of reminds me of a bit of a holiday spice finish
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is of course, nice and long leans back in towards that herbal element, a little bit menthol on the
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very end of the finish, which I was getting on the nose. So it kind of makes sense to kind of
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round out that way as well. I mean, overall, this is a very unique whiskey. It definitely
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doesn't taste like I remember it tasting, but of course I first had it about seven years ago
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and this release is from 10 years ago. So things change. This is obviously some of their source
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distillate. I'm not exactly sure where it's from. Um, but this is definitely different than I
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remember it tasting. That being said, it's still very good and it's very much unlike most
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cask strength rye whiskeys you can get today. Now retail on this was $75 when it first came out.
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I think more recently retail has been closer to $120. I think that's a very fair price. Listen,
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it's always weird revisiting these older whiskeys for review because it's going to be a bit different
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than your experience if you pick up a bottle today. But if you do see a vintage bottle of this
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from 2015 or 2016, I want to let you know how I think about it in 2026. Is it worth paying the
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secondary for a vintage bottle? Well, let's go ahead and get into our rating because we rate
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everything out of a one to 10 scale here. We don't complicate it with different scores of nose, palate,
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finish, anything like that. It's just a single score for a single whiskey. And while this is
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incredibly unique, it's a little bit different from what I'm used to with some of their more
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releases. But that being said, it's really cool to try something from 10 years ago, especially
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one of their first releases of barrel strength rye. It's interesting to see how it's evolved.
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I personally think it's better now than it was back then, but I'm still going to give this a solid
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seven out of 10. Definitely nowhere near as good as some of the ones I've loved. Of course,
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I love their Toasted Rye at barrel strength even more than the barrel strength rye, but I've given
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the barrel strength rye from 2019 that I had. I think I gave that a 10 out of 10 when I reviewed
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it on my YouTube channel. So this one is not quite up there in terms of what I remember,
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but you know, memory fades, things change. Maybe this is just a specific bottling of it that just
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wasn't quite my jam, but seven out of 10 is a solid score for a barrel strength rye. Personally,
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I would have loved if the nose was a little bit more rich. I would have loved if the palate
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was a little bit brighter and finish. I wouldn't actually change anything about the finish. The
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finish is great, but I just think they're a little bit mismatched in terms of nose and palate. I
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wish they would have kind of been a little bit more similar because they're great things in both
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of them, but competing, they're a little odd. So if you get a chance to try an older release of
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this, definitely give it a try. I just personally have preferred the later releases and will
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continue to seek them out. If there's any other whiskeys that you'd like me to re-review or revisit
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since starting my YouTube channel, please let me know. I mean, I've been doing videos on there
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since 2018. I've been doing whiskey reviews. So there's definitely, my palate has changed
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quite a bit, I'm sure. And there's definitely some whiskeys that have changed as well. So
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would be really fun to revisit some of my previous favorites or some of my previous
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not so favorites and see how I feel about them today. Let me know if that's something you want
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to see. You can join our discord server at bourbonbytes.com. Leave any feedback or suggestions
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you want. I'm always happy to have them. You can also email me, contact@bourbonbytes.com.
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Until next time, this has been the Bourbon Bytes podcast, a whiskey podcast with a gaming twist.
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I'm your host Clifton. Cheers, and I will talk to you next week. Bye.
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Today on The Bourbon Bytes Podcast, New Riff drops its oldest Headliner Blend ever,
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Bardstown Bourbon Company goes tropical, and Heaven Hill unveils a first-of-its-kind double
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mash. Plus, I'm revisiting one of my favorite barrel-strength rye whiskeys of all time.
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Hello everyone and welcome to The Bourbon Bytes Podcast. I'm your host,
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Clifton, and this is the week of July 23rd, 2026. I feel like this month is lasting forever,
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but I don't mind it. I'm really enjoying the weather out here in Southern California,
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and I feel a little guilty saying that because I know a lot of you guys are being hammered by just
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terrible weather around the country. So I feel for every one of those areas that are flooding
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or those massive heat waves, just I hope it all chills out soon and we can get on with better
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days. But man, the weather this time of year is so crazy. But today is not about that. Today is
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about the latest and greatest in the world of whiskey in terms of news, and I'm really excited
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to be revisiting one of my favorite whiskeys of all time. So it's going to be a good episode.
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Hopefully you have a glass poured, whether it be a bourbon or a cup of coffee, depending on the time
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of day, or a little bit of both if it's one of those days, because I get that too. But our first
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news story comes to us from New Riff. They are releasing their 2026 Headliner blend. This is
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their third year releasing this, and it is a blend of three distinct whiskeys, all aged at least 10
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years old. Now proceeds of this release will benefit Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the
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Greater Cincinnati and Tri-State Trails, which is a great organization. I never really got a chance
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to volunteer with them, but I really wanted to when I was in college. I ended up going with another
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organization and helping out in some lower-income schools instead. But Big Brothers Big Sisters is
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definitely one that I would have supported if I had more time on my hands. But this year's release
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features 50% of an 11-year-old malted rye bourbon, 25% of an 11-year-old rye, and 25% of a 10-year-old
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Balboa rye. So they're throwing all of their fun experimental releases into this headliner. This is
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the first time that every component is at least a decade old, and it's New Riff's first 50-50 bourbon
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and rye blend ever released. By the way, the label on this is super cool. I love it. It kind of reminds
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me a bit of like a mix of a Avril Lavigne and like a Paramore album cover, just with all the, you know,
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bright text, a little bit disjointed, a little bit funky. Really, really cool. So check out the label
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if you haven't yet. It's really exciting. Now personally, I've not had a chance to try this one,
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but I do love some of the experimental stuff that New Riff does. This one in particular is bottled
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without chill filtration and is bottled at 118.8 proof, and it will retail for about $150 per bottle.
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Now it's going to be available starting this Friday at the distillery for the New Riff Whiskey
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Club members. There's a limit of one bottle per person, and bottles must be picked up at the
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distillery. No shipping is offered at this time. That's one of the saddest things about New Riff is,
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you know, it's hard to get these things out of Kentucky. They're so wildly popular, they rarely
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make it out of the state. Sometimes I'll see them come out, you know, several months after.
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Like, I just saw the New Riff Winter Whiskey at my local store. I almost picked it up, but I figured
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I had enough bottles for next week's live stream. Next Thursday, I'm going to be doing a New Riff
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stream where I'm comparing the bourbon and the rye to the eight-year version of the bourbon and
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rye. So yeah, I'm looking forward to doing that stream next Thursday on YouTube at youtube.com
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slash bourbon bytes. But yeah, unfortunately, I will not have this Headliner Blend for that live
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stream. But I wanted to talk about it anyways, because it is a really cool bottle. It's for a
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really good cause. And man, 10-year-old New Riff, it's definitely getting up there in age. I'm just
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excited to try the eight-year next week. Well, speaking of new releases, this one's a fun one.
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Bardstown Bourbon Company just announced their Victoria Pineapple Finished Whiskey. Yeah, you
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heard that right. Pineapple Finished Whiskey. This is a Kentucky exclusive, and it is a marriage of
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mature bourbon and rye. And they said they set out to explore flavors that could be achieved
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through patience, process, and barrel influence rather than shortcuts. Dan Calloway, who's their
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master blender, says the goal was never to make a whiskey taste like pineapple. The goal was to
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understand what made these barrels so special in the first place. Now, this release is named
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after the Victoria Pineapple, which is apparently a variety celebrated for its intense sweetness,
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fragrant aroma, and historic connection to premium rum production on Barbados. So they
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custom blend of bourbon and rye in Caribbean-sourced pineapple rum casks. And what is pineapple rum?
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Well, apparently the production process of this actually added the Victoria Pineapples directly
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into the rum for maturation. Now, here's where it gets crazy. So Bardstown Bourbon Company
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seeked to mirror the process. So when they added their whiskey blend into this used barrel,
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they actually added fresh pineapple into it as well, and they let it sit there for 27 months.
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They replicated what was going on with this rum. I have no idea how this is going to taste. Listen,
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I've had pineapple flavored rum, but I've never had some of this distinctive pineapple matured
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rum. It sounds really, really cool. And I'm a big fan of Caribbean rum. So if I try this,
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I'm going to have to seek out a bottle of this pineapple rum to get a sense of what that flavor
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profile is and see how it compares to a whiskey that's also been blended with pineapples in the
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barrel. Now, this was going to be bottled at 106 proof. It's going to be available at the
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Bardstown Bourbon Company Distillery and Louisville Tasting Room starting this Friday as well
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for a suggested retail price of $140. It definitely seems like a fun summer drink.
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Haven't had a chance to try it. I don't know if any samples are on their way to me. If they are,
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I will definitely give this a review for you guys and let you know. I'll probably do a live
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stream where I compare it to the rum if it does come in. So fingers crossed, but not getting my
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hopes up. This is a very limited release. Another limited release worth talking about is the new
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Yellowstone Bourbon. This is their 11th release of their limited edition series. It is a blend
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of 7 and 14 year old Kentucky straight bourbons finished in ruby and tawny port cask, then married
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and bottled at a potent 101 proof. That's their words, not mine. I've tried some of these Yellowstone
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limited edition releases in the past. They are good. They're quite a bit pricey for what they
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are. You know, I think the flavor influence of the casks isn't as strong as I like it to be.
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This one comes in at $99 for a 750 milliliter bottle, which is fair for a 7 to 14 year old
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bourbon blend. Now this isn't coming out until this August, but if you are a fan of Yellowstone
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releases, this sounds like one of their strongest finishes yet. I do love a port finish, so maybe
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this will be the one that changes my mind. Maybe this will be the Yellowstone that convinces me to
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finally start buying Yellowstone. And last new whiskey release, I got to talk about the new
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Heaven Hill Double Mash bottled in bond. Now this is a follow up to the blue label bottled in bond
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that we all know and love from Heaven Hill, but this one is basically the same label. It just is
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red and it says double mash on it. It is a nine year old bottled in bond bourbon, bottled at 100
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proof, of course, and it unites their traditional and weeded bourbon mash bills, which I think is,
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I said, the first of a kind for Heaven Hill. So they're taking two thirds of their traditional
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mash bill, which is the 78% corn, 10% rye and 12% malted barley mash bill with one third of their
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wheated bourbon mash bill, which is 68% corn, 20% wheat and 12% malted barley. So this is like
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combining a Elijah Craig with a Larceny. Retail on it's only about $50. They say it's limited
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quantities available nationwide and it's going to start coming out this August. I think this is a fun
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companion to the bottled in bond bourbon and it kind of fits the middle ground between their
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Old Fitzgerald seven year, which is now a regular release everywhere or limited, but still available
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and their bottled in bond bourbon. It's kind of the blend of the two together, but even older. So
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I support it. I would love a chance to try it. I'm just a big fan of what Heaven Hill does and
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both of those mash bills I'm a big fan of and yeah, I'm just excited to give those a try,
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especially at the $50 price point. I think $50 for a bottled in bond nine year old bourbon,
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you can't go wrong with that price. All right, well that does it for this week's news. Now it's
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time to get into our Byte-Sized review. All right. Well, if you saw the thumbnail of this podcast,
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you know that I am drinking Michter's Barrel Strength Rye, and this was one of the first
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cast strength ryes that I ever fell in love with. Now this was originally released back in 2015.
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I was not drinking bourbon at all in that time period. I was barely old enough to drink at all,
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but I did try a 2019 release of this that made me fall in love with Michter's in general. So I'm very
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excited to revisit or visit for the first time for me a 2016 version of it. Now this is essentially
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just a barrel strength version of standard Michter's Rye. There's not an age statement,
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but it's believed to be about six to eight years old. And what's unique about Michter's is their
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barrel entry proof is only 103 proof. So it's interesting to see these come in at different
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proof points when they're bottled. Now I don't have the specific proof of this one, but looking
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at its sister barrels, it's around 113 to 114 proof just based on other ones. This is barrel
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number 16C410, but others in the similar range are right around 113, 114. So I'm just going to guess
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this is around that proof. Now, I unfortunately don't remember who sent me this sample, but I
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want to say a huge thank you to whoever it was. Because you obviously know my tastes and I'm really
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excited to revisit this classic. I think Michter's Rye is really good. I'm a big fan of their flavor
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profile. I've had their 10 year version. Of course I've had the Toasted Barrel Strength Rye, but
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even their standard barrel proof rye has just always been one of my favorites. So
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it's been a minute since I've tried it. So I'm excited to finally give it a review for the
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podcast. Let's go ahead and give it a nose. Oh, wow, man, that even just smells old. I mean,
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it has that vintage character that I've gotten on some other whiskeys from around that time period.
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Like I said, I wasn't drinking at the time, but I've been fortunate enough to find some older
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bottles of like Wild Turkey and the, you know, 2011 to 2015 age range, which isn't that long
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ago, but honestly, in the scheme of things, you know, that's 10 plus years. So the flavor profile,
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I think has changed quite a bit from back then. And I can just get it on the nose. This has a
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little bit of that copper note that I get on some older whiskeys, but one thing's for sure. This is
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definitely a rye. This is reading very, very herbaceous on the nose. I would say minty, but
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it's weird because it's like a minty and like a citrus thing happening at the same time. Very,
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very bright. Like I said, very different from a bourbon. It's got some nice baking spices there.
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Definitely more like a traditional rye bread kind of note, just amped up with that herbaceous like
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menthol kind of thing going on. There's definitely a bit of sweetness there, but it's leaning more
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floral. And again, back in the, the plant world of things, it's unique for sure. It's definitely
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not like I remember on the nose, but let's see how it holds up on the palate. Cheers.
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Ah, there we go. That is the flavor that I love. Wow. Crazy different from the nose. I mean,
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it has a little bit of that vintage quality that I was getting on the nose, but this is so much
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richer on the palate. And honestly, it drinks a really decent proof. Like it's a little hot,
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but the nose makes you think it's going to be higher proof than it is on the palate. It
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lingers on the mid palate and finish and really goes deeper and darker than I would have ever
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expected based on that nose alone. It's like a blend of brown sugar and a little bit of like
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burnt sugar, like a little bit too caramelized sugar, but it kind of rounds out those brighter
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notes from the nose and kind of makes it more cohesive in general. And there's definitely a
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lot of oak happening here. I mean, like I said, six to eight years old is what this is expected
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to be. I would guess maybe this initial release is potentially older just because that oak is
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showing up in such a strong way on the palate. I didn't get it on the nose, but on the palate,
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it is there. It is rich. And it's definitely, um, competing with some of those sweeter notes
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because it has that tannic element to it. The more and more I drink it, the more spicy it is
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on the palate, but it's like a spiced fruit. You know, on my live stream last week, I was
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reviewing a rum that had a very specific Christmas or like holiday spice to it.
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This is almost in that territory. And I said, that was very much clove or cardamom.
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Um, this is definitely leading towards cinnamon and clove, um, which are rare to me on a rye
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whiskey. I think honestly, this is one of the more unique tasting rye whiskeys I've ever had.
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And there's definitely a little bit of fruitiness here. If there's anything I can relate it to,
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I would say a little bit of like a plum. And I think that kind of compliments that cinnamon and
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clove flavor that I'm getting. That kind of reminds me of a bit of a holiday spice finish
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is of course, nice and long leans back in towards that herbal element, a little bit menthol on the
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very end of the finish, which I was getting on the nose. So it kind of makes sense to kind of
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round out that way as well. I mean, overall, this is a very unique whiskey. It definitely
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doesn't taste like I remember it tasting, but of course I first had it about seven years ago
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and this release is from 10 years ago. So things change. This is obviously some of their source
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distillate. I'm not exactly sure where it's from. Um, but this is definitely different than I
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remember it tasting. That being said, it's still very good and it's very much unlike most
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cask strength rye whiskeys you can get today. Now retail on this was $75 when it first came out.
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I think more recently retail has been closer to $120. I think that's a very fair price. Listen,
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it's always weird revisiting these older whiskeys for review because it's going to be a bit different
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than your experience if you pick up a bottle today. But if you do see a vintage bottle of this
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from 2015 or 2016, I want to let you know how I think about it in 2026. Is it worth paying the
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secondary for a vintage bottle? Well, let's go ahead and get into our rating because we rate
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everything out of a one to 10 scale here. We don't complicate it with different scores of nose, palate,
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finish, anything like that. It's just a single score for a single whiskey. And while this is
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incredibly unique, it's a little bit different from what I'm used to with some of their more
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releases. But that being said, it's really cool to try something from 10 years ago, especially
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one of their first releases of barrel strength rye. It's interesting to see how it's evolved.
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I personally think it's better now than it was back then, but I'm still going to give this a solid
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seven out of 10. Definitely nowhere near as good as some of the ones I've loved. Of course,
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I love their Toasted Rye at barrel strength even more than the barrel strength rye, but I've given
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the barrel strength rye from 2019 that I had. I think I gave that a 10 out of 10 when I reviewed
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it on my YouTube channel. So this one is not quite up there in terms of what I remember,
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but you know, memory fades, things change. Maybe this is just a specific bottling of it that just
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wasn't quite my jam, but seven out of 10 is a solid score for a barrel strength rye. Personally,
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I would have loved if the nose was a little bit more rich. I would have loved if the palate
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was a little bit brighter and finish. I wouldn't actually change anything about the finish. The
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finish is great, but I just think they're a little bit mismatched in terms of nose and palate. I
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wish they would have kind of been a little bit more similar because they're great things in both
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of them, but competing, they're a little odd. So if you get a chance to try an older release of
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this, definitely give it a try. I just personally have preferred the later releases and will
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continue to seek them out. If there's any other whiskeys that you'd like me to re-review or revisit
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since starting my YouTube channel, please let me know. I mean, I've been doing videos on there
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since 2018. I've been doing whiskey reviews. So there's definitely, my palate has changed
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quite a bit, I'm sure. And there's definitely some whiskeys that have changed as well. So
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would be really fun to revisit some of my previous favorites or some of my previous
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not so favorites and see how I feel about them today. Let me know if that's something you want
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to see. You can join our discord server at bourbonbytes.com. Leave any feedback or suggestions
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you want. I'm always happy to have them. You can also email me, contact@bourbonbytes.com.
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Until next time, this has been the Bourbon Bytes podcast, a whiskey podcast with a gaming twist.
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I'm your host Clifton. Cheers, and I will talk to you next week. Bye.
