Brian’s Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whiskey Review:
20-April-2021
RITTENHOUSE STRAIGHT RYE WHISKEY REVIEW:
Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond Straight Rye (Rittenhouse Rye) is a simple whiskey. There are not many aroma or flavors yet it is solid in what it is; but for me it is not something I’d seek for the bunker as I’m a sipper. I suspect this Whiskey would be fine as a mixer – in fact I am tempted to make an Old Fashioned and give it a try. I feel this could give any whiskey based mixed drink a solid backbone.
RITTENHOUSE STRAIGHT RYE WHISKEY VITAL STATS:
Category: Bottled-in-Bond Straight Rye Whiskey
Region: Bardstown, KY
Distillery: Heaven Hill Distillery
Mash Bill: 35% corn, 51% rye, 14% malted barley
Barrel Char: #3
Barrel entry proof: unpublished
Age: 4 years old
ABV: 50% (100 Proof)
No batch or bottle number identifiers
Price: $24.95 USD (2021 in Idaho)
Learn more at Rittenhouse Rye.
ENJOYMENT METHOD:
I drank this spirit neat, from a Glencairn glass with my daughter and fellow Whiskey for the Ages reviewer Hannah.
Check out her review for this rye here!
RITTENHOUSE BOTTLED-IN-BOND STRAIGHT RYE NOSE:
Rittenhouse Rye noses with lots of dryness: dusty grain, drying hay, and a piney sweetness. While nosing, a lone apple slice would peek in but hide just as quickly. Cinnamon and allspice waft on each draw as does pepper, but the rye presents more as bread than a spice. The sweets are subdued as well … maybe graham crackers mixed with light vanilla and simple syrup but there’s just not much to note. There may be a few toasted pinenuts to go with musty pine sawdust, but again there’s little to entertain the nose.
RITTENHOUSE STRAIGHT RYE WHISKEY PALATE:
Like sensed on the nose, Rittenhouse Rye offers little for the palate. It is warm and does offer a little bite and there is an element of tobacco blended with dusty grain. Fresh spices of green pepper and ginger add depth to the rye. Again, there is little sweetness, maybe a trace of bittersweet chocolate. And the wood I get on the palate is similar to the nose: dry toasted pineyness.
Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
Rittenhouse Rye is a simple whiskey, but what aromas and flavors can be detected are well balanced. In the mouth it is quite oily, yet grainy – almost gritty as if it needs chewing. As each sip is taken, long evenly spaced legs return the remaining liquid to the honey colored pool, leaving a nice inverted crown.
RITTENHOUSE STRAIGHT RYE WHISKEY FINISH:
Rittenhouse Rye offers a medium finish with an essence of throat warming apricot compote. As sensed on the nose and in the mouth there is little to detect but traces of dusty grain and maybe a little peppered tobacco and dry toasted wood. In the empty Glencairn I sense an empty woodshop at the end of a busy workday.
MY RITTENHOUSE STRAIGHT RYE WHISKEY RATING: 82/100
Will I buy this whiskey again? NO
I feel this could give any whiskey based mixed drink a solid backbone, but as I typically drink my whiskey neat, Rittenhouse Rye isn’t for me.
Click to read Brian’s scoring process.
Click 82/100 to access other whiskies with this score.
RITTENHOUSE STRAIGHT RYE WHISKEY TRAITS AND FLAVOR NOTES AND PROFILE GRAPH:
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