*Sincere thanks to Rabbit Hole Distilling for the sample.

Rabbit Hole Distilling’s Kentucky Straight Rye, like their Kentucky Straight Bourbon, was contract distilled reportedly by New Riff Distilling. Sure, sure, that in and of itself isn’t super exciting, but what if I told you the mashbill for this rye was 95% rye and 5% malted barley. Nothing too interesting there either, right? There are a great many rye whiskeys on the shelves that use that same mashbill: Bulleit Rye, George Dickel Rye, Redemption Rye…probably three or 15 others. They all use that same 95% rye recipe whiskey produced at MGP Ingredients in Indiana. But wait, you say, I thought you said New Riff in Kentucky made the Rabbit Hole Rye, not MGP Ingredients in Indiana. Well, I can’t slip anything by you, now, can I? Sharp as a tack and it’s not even Friday yet.

MGP’s somewhat ubiquitous 95% rye recipe did serve as Rabbit Hole’s inspiration for this whiskey. To produce the stuff at New Riff, they turned to someone who knew that recipe pretty well, Larry Ebersold, who served as Master Distiller at MGP back when it was called LDI and before that when it was known as the Seagram Lawrenceburg Plant. Ebersold is not the only industry veteran Rabbit Hole has turned to for consulting help. They’ve also enlisted Dave Scheurich, who, up until his retirement in 2011, was the master distiller and leading force behind Woodford Reserve, and Randy Allender, a production veteran who spent over two decades with Jim Beam. Leading the production at the new Rabbit Hole distillery will be Cameron Talley, who previously served in production manager and supervisor roles with Brown-Forman and Gruppo Campari.

So, it looks like this new company has wisely enlisted a lot of experienced help to get their brand off the ground. They’ve also wisely decided, with this rye and their straight bourbon, to start with younger spirits that are bit off the beaten path. When the Rabbit Hole Distillery is up and running towards the end of 2017, it will be far easier to have their own spirit catch up to their young contracted stuff than it would’ve been to try to replicate the success of some older, more familiar, sourced stuff. Like their bourbon, the Rabbit Hole Rye is two years old and has been aged in new American Oak barrels made by the Kelvin Cooperage. It’s worth noting that both this rye and the straight bourbon have been bottled at a generous 47.5% ABV.

The Nose:  Raw-ish stuff, with quite a bit of alcoholic heat. There’s some sweetness at first, cinnamon infused honey and crème brûlée, and a bit of fruit in the form of orange peel and slightly underripe bananas, but this is pretty darn grain forward. And that grain would be, not surprisingly, rye. Here, it’s crackling and green, herbal, a little minty, and slightly peppery with hints of dried prairie grass. There’s a bit of that familiar MGP 95% rye dill pickle note, but that’s less present than it is in, say, the Bulleit Rye. While there’s not too much wood, there is ragged cinnamon, clove, and burnt sugar behind all that rye.

The Palate:  While still youngish and hot, this is vaguely reminiscent of the Thomas Handy Ryes – robust and grain forward. Initially, there’s a very nice, creamy mouthfeel that has more burnt sugars, fresh orange peel, and red currant jam. After that, raw vanilla bean and dark chocolate. The strongish rye, while still somewhat raw and grassy, now also gains complexity and brings some nice toasted notes. A little tannic oak shows up towards the end with more cinnamon, clove, and Tellicherry peppercorns.

The Finish:  Somewhat lengthy with surprising bit of marshmallow early, and more herbal, toasted rye, tannic wood spice and clove towards the end.

Thoughts:  Pretty good. The nose was okay here, but didn’t impress me overly much. I really enjoyed the palate, which gained some depth and somehow managed to make it all seem a little older than it is. There was just a bit too much youth to the nose, it did show off the mashbill nicely, but I found it a bit too jarring. The palate follows the adage that very young ryes can be very good – it’s complex, balanced and progresses nicely all the way to the end. While the nose kept me from liking this more, and the ~$50 price tag seems steep, the impressive palate hints at a lot of potential down the road.

Rabbit Hole Distilling Kentucky Straight Rye, +/-2016

47.5% ABV

Score:  80

Sources:

• “1st Release Out of Rabbit Hole Distilling Includes 2 Bourbons and a Rye.” Distillery Trail. Distillery Trail, 27 Oct. 2016. Web. Apr. 2017.
• “Rabbit Hole Distilling Announces First Release of Bourbon and Rye Whiskey.” WhiskyIntelligence.com. N.p., 29 Nov. 2016. Web. May 2017.
• “Rabbit Hole Distilling line – now in stores in KY • r/bourbon.” Reddit. N.p., 23 Oct. 2016. Web. March & april 2017.
• “Spirits.” Rabbit Hole Distilling. N.p., n.d. Web. Apr. 2017.