After a few holiday weeks of not reviewing whiskey, Talking Bourbon is back. We still got together and drank over this period, just didn’t do any tastings. We are not crazy, you know. Up today is Jack Daniels Bonded Rye, which is a Tennessee Rye Whiskey, meaning it is charcoal filtered. The Bonded in the name refers to the fact that this rye is Bottled in Bond. We have gone over what this means many times in the past, so we won’t dwell on it here. This is a very new expression from JD, coming out in 2023. They have other ryes that have been around longer, and they have the same mash bill, but this is their first BiB rye. We believe all Tennessee whiskeys have to be charcoal-filtered in what is called the Lincoln County Process. While most whiskies that go through this process are filtered through 10 feet of hard maple charcoal, this rye only goes through 3 feet. We assume the 10 feet was a bit much of the charcoal and distracted from the rye.
Even nondrinkers are familiar with Jack Daniels iconic Old Number 7 Brand, which can be found everywhere, the BiB rye is a little harder to get. It sells for $30, is 100 proof, and comes in a corked bottle reminiscent of most of the other JD bottles. The mash bill is 70% rye, 18% corn, and 12% malted barley. Their site does not mention the age, but since it is Bottled in Bond it has to be at least 4 years old. There are various sites that claim this rye to be between 4 and 7 years old.
Full disclosure, we are not fans of the Old Number 7 Brand, maybe 40 years ago when we were first getting into whiskey and the bottle looked cool, but now it just seems to get too much of its taste from the charcoal mellowing. Having said that, we have never had the Jack Daniels Bottled in Bond rye, so maybe it will change our opinion of Mr. Jack. One thing, if the age is closer to 7 than 4, $30 is a pretty good price for that old of a whiskey.
NOSE
TB: Definitely rye upfront and some earthy scents, pepper, and bread. There is something sweet here in the background, almost a marshmallow-like scent. Also, get a bit of wood. Ice brought out a little more sweetness, maybe brown sugar.
TASTE
TB: A touch hot neat with a lot of rye and pepper. Secondary flavors include milk chocolate, wood, leather, that earthiness that we got on the nose, and a bit of fruit, even though we could not isolate which fruit. Ice brought out more rye and muted the pepper.
FINISH
TB: Medium with more rye and just a touch of cinnamon.
OVERALL
TB: A decent buy at $30, but not our fav even at that price, think Bulleit, Rittenhouse, or even Knob Creek Rye we believe is around that price.
Nose 3.25 out of 5
Taste 6 out of 10
Finish 3.5 out of 5
Total score 12.75 out of 20 barrels.
There was something about this rye that was a little off. Maybe it was the charcoal filtering. Don’t get us wrong, this was not a bad drink, just not necessarily what we look for in a rye. While you could definitely taste the rye, there were not a lot of other things going on. Mostly just sweetness.
In the end, Jack Daniels Bonded Rye is a pretty good buy but lacks the complexity that we have got from other ryes, even at this price point. Although at $30, we would recommend getting a bottle to try for yourself, maybe our bias towards JD had an effect on our taste buds. It does make for a decent old fashion, and as you can tell from the picture above, we had no problem finishing the bottle.