This also is a delight on the palate: tingly, tropical-fruity (ripe pineapple/cooked pineapple and under-ripe banana), cherry and orange hard candy, light caramel, white chocolate with a subtle hints of dill and toasted oak.
The nose finds soft aromas of fresh plums and peaches before brighter aromatics such as citrus and cedar move in. The expected rye guys–dill and spearmint–arrive later.
But that’s not as fun as pointing to that classic nose of bubble gum, dried flowers and fruit pastries. The barrel has a say, of course, introducing spice and tannin sotto voce, while letting tropical fruit and bruleed sugar speak a bit louder.
Just look at that bottle. Leaning nonchalantly up against the wall of what appears to be a very nice Las Vegas bathroom. I can almost imagine it taking a long drag off a cigarette and telling me to lighten up. If an inanimate object could exude cool, it would be this one.
The 8-year-old starts off dark and deliciously grain-forward on the nose and remains dark with whiffs of molasses, sassafras, flat cola and charred oak. Hints of black pepper and baking spices follow and finish alongside rich notes of bitter chocolate.
This is probably the most unique offering in the Grain to Glass lineup, not least because it’s the only true cask strength expression.
If you’re expecting a ready-to-drink Manhattan, it’s not quite that. Wondering if it might be, I fridge-chilled it, poured it into a chilled glass and garnished it with an expressed orange peel.
Its aromas begin with bright citrus, ripe fruit, a whiff of mint and some a solid serving of baking spice. Unexpectedly, toffee joins the party alongside maple syrup and caramelized brown sugar.
I opened it immediately upon receipt and found it coiled up like a snake and needing to unwind before showing much of the character that would come with a bit of some space in the bottle. Several weeks later, it delivered.
This is rye whiskey that speaks beyond corn’s common caramel coating with a voice that goes deeper, all the way into the soil itself, to tell its own story, a story I find utterly intriguing because it reveals itself through taking new sips to turn a new page in the tale.
