SPIRITS WE LOVE! Spirits Experts Name Five Exceptional Ryes Worth Drinking Right Now!

Louisville’s Rabbit Hole Distillery is an architectural sight to behold, and this Boxergrail Kentucky Rye is a testament to its impressive capabilities. Boxergrail is made from a 95% rye recipe that’s matured in a combo of charred and toasted oak, then bottled sans chill-filtering. The result is “compelling from nose to finish,” featuring a “cherry, sponge cake, and vanilla nose” leading to a “fresh, herbal palate mixed with rye spice, green tea, and apple.” The whiskey concludes with a “clean, billowy, and round” finish.

To strike upon the “big, bold, and multi-layered” flavors of this Double Oak Rye, Sagamore ages this whiskey in heavily charred barrels for 5-years before transferring the juice into toasted, wave stave barrels for an additional 18 months. The result is a “lovely” whiskey with a “luscious mouthfeel” that “grows through malty, pecan flavors into deep dried fruit, vanilla and coconut.” The “killer finish” is “interesting and long” with “menthol notes mingling with the slightest hint of fudge.”

Justin and Cara King of King’s Family Distillery located at the foot of the Smoky Mountains have been crushing it on the competition circuit with an impressive lineup of whiskeys and moonshine since opening in 2018. And this double-gold rated Ryeconic was no exception at last spring’s Barleycorn Awards. One judge called Ryeconic “a lovely balance of sweet and spice with enough mature oak to lend it gravitas,” while another deemed it a “robust and powerful whiskey for a special-occasion whiskey.” Simply put, everyone agreed this stuff is “simply delicious.”

Released as a full-line whiskey last year, Smooth Ambler’s Contradiction is a blend of four straight ryes. This includes their own West Virginia made 88% rye recipe plus stocks of various mashbills from Indiana and Tennessee. The blend delivers aromas of “green apple, mint, thyme, and oregano,” leading to flavors of “cinnamon, honey and dark fruit mingling with caramel and oak, concluding with a “snappy, peppery finish.”

“To make this “dangerously easy sipper,” Hayner Distilling Company finishes a five-year-old rye in fresh charred oak barrels for an additional twelve months, thus doubling down on what new wood delivers. The result yields a “lovely, dry, grassy nose that I can sniff all day,” and that’s just the beginning. Expect flavors of “dark chocolate-covered cherries, candied rose petal, leathery oak with deeply integrated spice.” All of these flavors are “enveloped in a chewy, lush mouthfeel that extends into the finish.”