Category: Rye

My wife and I have birthdays this week and it has gotten me to thinking: relationships are hard. My wife and I have been married almost 25 years and it still takes work. When people find out how long I’ve been married, they inevitably all ask the same question: “what’s the secret?” And honestly, I used to have a hard time answering it. I’d joke that we were just both too stubborn to walk away when things got tough. And in fact, that is kinda true. We are both competitive by nature and when we were young, neither of us wanted to let the other “win” by being the one to walk away from an argument. Instead we’d fight until we were exhausted and then be forced to talk.

But that isn’t the answer that people are looking for. And it isn’t the real one anyway. After 20+ years, I’ve learned there is a simple answer. And it is twofold. The first part is to actually like each other. The old Boomer joke of “take my wife, please” is more than a bit upsetting to me. When I worked in an office and heard people at lunch saying things like “road trip? no thank you, I could never be around my husband (or wife) that long” I couldn’t understand them. I really like being around my wife. She is my best friend. I’d take an evening with her over any number of nights out with “the guys.”

The second part of the answer is empathy. I don’t cheat, never have, and never will. I can’t imagine the hurt on her face if she found out. Even though I am very competitive, I try to think about what “winning” will cost. When I’m angry, I try very hard to think about how much whatever it is that I’m about to say or do will hurt my friend. And she does the same. And because of that, we’ve both realized that there are some battles that just do not need to be fought.

That of course doesn’t mean we don’t get into arguments. We do. More than either of us would like. But because deep down we really like one another and because of empathy, and trying to see things from the other person’s perspective, we get through them. This really has nothing to do with whiskey, but it has been on my mind this week as I prepare for our first “real” vacation with just each other that we’ve had since before Covid.

So with that out of the way, let’s take a look at tonight’s whiskey. Not too much to say about this one. I was wandering through my local corner liquor store and I noticed that they had a barrel pick of Woodford Reserve Rye. As I’d never run across one of those before, I decided to pick it up. And so here we are.

Woodford Reserve Rye, Liquor Barrel-MN Selection

Purchase Info: $34.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel in Prior Lake, MN.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.33

Details: 45.2% ABV. Selection date: 5-28-21

Nose: Brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and herbal mint.

Mouth: Spicy. More tingle than I'd normally expect from Woodford. Follows the nose with brown sugar, honey, molasses, clove, cinnamon, and herbal mint.

Finish: Gentle and on the shorter side of medium. Notes of clove, cinnamon, and herbal mint.

Thoughts: These guys usually do a pretty good job with their barrel picks, but I'm not tasting that much difference here between this and the standard Woodford Rye release. It's good, just nothing to write home about. I like it though. Happy with the pick-up. I’ll probably try a pick by someone else just to see if my store just wanted a bottle that tasted like the standard or if they are all that way and that profile was all they were offered.

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