Rye is booming and it seems everyone is trying to take advantage, so there are a lot of hastily produced Rye Whiskeys flooding the market. The makers of Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey, Brown-Forman, state that is not the case with their product. According to the company it has been in the works for close to 10 years. It is just now hitting the market.
Woodford Rye comes in the same shaped corked bottle of the hugely popular Woodford Reserve Bourbon and the Double Oaked. It is bottled at 90.4 proof and sells for around $38. It is pretty easy to get around here, Indianapolis, but we are not sure about the rest of the country. The bottle has no age statement but by saying that it is a Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey, it has to be at least 4 years old.
NOSE
Todd: Beautiful aroma of spicy Rye, leather, anise, a fruit that I couldn’t identify, and a slight bit of clove.
Ron: I agree, great nose of spicy Rye and leather. Instead of clove, I get a little cinnamon. Also get a touch of sherry.
TASTE
Todd: Very smooth neat. Tasted the spicy Rye and leather I got on the nose along with a little tobacco, and cedar.
Ron: Like Todd, I could taste the spicy Rye and leather. I also could taste the sherry I got on the nose along with a little clove that Todd got on the nose.
FINISH
Todd: Sweet medium to medium long with more Rye.
Ron: Rye still prominent along with a latent slight salty taste.
Todd: Funny, I also got the saltiness, but figured my taste buds were off. Not sure if I ever detected that in the taste or finish of a Bourbon/Rye.
OVERALL
Todd: I really liked Woodford Rye even though I didn’t get a lot of individual flavors. The Rye was the most prominent smell, taste and finish. But hey, having said that, it is a Rye.
Ron: Great Rye! I agree that it is not overly complex, but complexity is not everything. In fact I would probably put this as one of my favorite Whiskeys under $40.
Nose 4.5 out of 5
Taste 8.5 out of 10
Finish 4 out of 5
Total Score 17 out of 20 Barrels
Sometimes we think we should make a category called Enjoyability. Yes, we made that term up, but Woodford Reserve Rye Whiskey would rank very high with just the sheer pleasure of drinking.
While we aren’t exactly crazy about for Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select Bourbon, we love their Double Oaked and now we can add their Rye to our list of Whiskey that we recommend. Enjoy.