re: Whiskey/Bourbon/Scotch Volume III

There are a few ongoing conversations about ryes, and I wanted to chime in. I've done numerous blind tasting rounds with ryes recently and in terms of the Stellum Rye, I found some similar notes with Willett Rye (which has always been one of my favorites). If you like one of those, then you should make a point to try the other one.

I am a little disappointed by the new Rendezvous Rye. In general, I'm a huge fan of High West and realize they have slowly shifted from sourced to their own juice over the past several years so changes were expected. The youthfulness is apparent with the 2021 RR and it's simply not elevated enough to justify doubling the price of Double Rye.

Unlike some others, I don't get much caramel or vanilla. It has an herbal taste to me, with clear notes of pine and some hay. The sweet element is honey. There's some nice cinnamon on the finish, but it's not as long or impactful as others in a similar range. I'd classify it merely as "pretty good." The uniqueness compared to other ryes makes it worth trying, but this is not something I'll be buying a backup of, especially with multiple Double Rye finishes and a MWND in my bar already.