Review: Woodford Reserve Rye

woodford reserve ryeRye has long been the Next Big Thing in whiskeydom, and now it’s Woodford Reserve’s turn to get into the game. (When Maker’s Mark Rye eventually comes out, we can finally be assured that we’ve hit Peak Rye.)

Woodford Reserve Straight Rye uses a mash of 53% rye, 14% malted barley, and 33% corn, and, like most American rye, it is bottled without an age statement in a package quite similar to the iconic Woodford Bourbon bottle.

And here’s what it tastes like.

A glorious aroma of cinnamon toast hits the nose as you crack open the bottle. In the glass, it presents a rich, bourbon-like character on the nose, all vanilla and baking spice, with an undercurrent of caramel-driven wood notes. The body is where the rye starts to shine, offering chewy notes of gingerbread, cherries, and lots of clove-cinnamon apple pie spices. Wait for the finish to start to settle and back down and you’ll find a delightful chocolate malt character bubbling up — a perfect fade-out to lead you into that vanilla rush that starts things off on your next sip. All in all, it’s a really enchanting rye that’s hard to put down.

90.4 proof.

A / $38 / woodfordreserve.com  [BUY IT NOW FROM CASKERS] [BUY IT NOW FROM TOTAL WINE]

Woodford Reserve Rye

$38
9.5

Rating

9.5/10

Christopher Null is the founder and editor in chief of Drinkhacker. A veteran writer and journalist, he also operates Null Media, a bespoke content creation company.

4 Comments

  1. Sam Komlenic on February 7, 2015 at 7:22 am

    Any idea where this is distilled, and on what type of still setup? With Woodford you never know…

  2. Christopher Null on February 7, 2015 at 10:17 am

    Sam – according to the company it is produced at the Woodford Distillery. As far as I know they only have their standard brigade of three pot stills, which are used for Woodford’s Bourbon production.

  3. r3d on March 1, 2015 at 7:56 pm

    Yeah what exactly do you mean by “With Woodford you never know”?

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