Templeton Rye Review Archives – Whiskey for the Ages

Brian’s Templeton 4 Year Old Rye Review:

reviewed 11-January-2022

TEMPLETON 4 YEAR OLD RYE REVIEW:

Templeton 4 Year Old Rye (Templeton Rye) is the most gentle and quite possibly the simplest whiskey I’ve ever enjoyed, and yet enjoy I did. For someone with a beginners interest in whiskey, Templeton Rye would fit the bill as it is so mellow. This whiskey would lend itself to nearly any summer cocktail one might care to mix or invent. Templeton is not something I would reach for as frequent pour, but I look forward to a sip over ice while sitting on the porch this summer on a hot and sticky evening — maybe with a drizzle of honey and a dash of powdered ginger or some mashed blackberries and crushed mint.

TEMPLETON 4 YEAR OLD RYE VITAL STATS:

Category: Rye Whiskey
Region: Templeton, Iowa
Distillery: MPG Inc.
Producer: Templeton Rye Spirits, LLC
Mash Bill: undisclosed, believed to be 95% rye and 5% barley
Barrel Char: undisclosed
Barrel entry proof: undisclosed
Age: 4 Year Old
ABV: 40% (80 Proof)
Price: $29.95 (Idaho, January 2022)
NABCA CSC #: 27102

Learn more at www.templetonrye.com.

TEMPLETON RYE BACKSTORY:

I must admit I am a sucker for a good story and Templeton Rye has both history and mystique. During prohibition, the area around Templeton, IA produced high quality rye whiskey. Speakeasies in and around Chicago, Kansas City and Omaha created the demand. Al Capone allegedly preferred Templeton Rye.

Years later, Templeton “re-introduced” Rye Whiskey with the claim its mash was “based on a prohibition-era recipe”. Now when one thinks rationally, it is unlikely there was a single distillate or process for making whiskey back in the 1920s. Other omissions got Templeton Rye Spirits in trouble as well. Labeling omitted the origin of the distillate. So in 2015, as a result of a class action settlement, the words “distilled in Indiana” replaced “Prohibition Era Recipe” and “small batch” on the label.

Templeton Rye is currently distilled and aged by MGP of Indiana. While the recipe may be shared with other brands, Templeton employs an “alcohol flavoring formulation” with the goal to make its whiskies taste like prohibition era rye. Later this year (2022) Templeton Rye Spirits, LLC hopes to begin bottling their own distillate.

ENJOYMENT METHOD FOR THE REVIEW:

Alternate pours, equaling about four ounces, were added into two Glencairns. Hannah and I enjoyed the rye neat for this review.

Check out her review for this rye here!

TEMPLETON 4 YEAR OLD RYE NOSE:

Templeton Rye seems dry and dusty as I bring it to my nose. There is no alcohol with which to contend, even with heavy draws. I sense the presence of rye, but sweetness is the most dominant trait. Brown sugared pastry, yellow cake, light vanilla, butterscotch candy, caramel and toffee are in nearly every sniff. At times I also sense some faint pecans and maybe a trace of light oak but in the end this is a sweet simple rye.

TEMPLETON 4 YEAR OLD RYE PALATE:

As on the nose, the first sip of Templeton Rye is dry. I sense (more than taste) nectarines with the warmth of ginger and white pepper. Most of the sweets noted earlier are gone but light vanilla and now honey come forward. There is still a little light oak but it seems a bit bitter. Like the nose, Templeton Rye is a simple tasting whiskey with little complexity.

Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
Templeton Rye is mellow, smooth and easy to hold as I get no tickle on the tongue. After each sip the dregs fall quickly in thin broken legs back to the russet colored pool. Left behind is an irregularly spaced inverted crown.

TEMPLETON 4 YEAR OLD RYE FINISH:

Templeton 4 Year Old Rye has a short finish and offers only a little warmth of ginger in the throat. As each sip fades, I sense the nectarines, a bit of citrus and some soft honey which I feel coats any notes of oak which may remain. And when the last dram is downed, the sweetness of honey and a little oak are easy to draw from the empty Glencairn.

MY RATING: 80/100

Will I buy this whiskey again? NO
_{Click to read Brian’s scoring process.}

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WHISKEY TRAITS, FLAVOR NOTES AND PROFILE GRAPH:

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Hannah’s Templeton Rye 4YR Review

Original review written January 11, 2022

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

A simple whiskey, with plenty of possibilities for mixing and experimenting with, this one is just a fun, little pour. Honey, nectarines, and plenty of summery tones make this tasty for anyone. 80/100

VITALS:

– Made In: Templeton, Iowa, USA
– Distillery: MGP Inc., Templeton Rye Spirits LLC
– Classification: Rye Whiskey
– Age: 4 yrs.
– Mash Bill: undisclosed, believed to be 95% rye and 5% barley
– Casks: undisclosed char
– Barrel Entry Proof: undisclosed
– ABV: 40% (80 proof)
– Price: $29.95 USD in Idaho in 2021

Visit templetondistillery.com for more information

ENJOYMENT METHOD:

I enjoyed the spirit neat from a Glencairn glass with father and fellow Whiskey for the Ages reviewer, Brian.

Check out his review for this rye here!

SETTING:

This one makes me want to sit on a porch swing in the middle of summer, looking out onto a lake. I’d love Templeton 4YR with some sort of mix, over some ice to help me keep cool in the heat. Everything is simple and refreshing and perfectly good. Bonus points if I’m drinking it out of big, Mason jar.

Photo by Aditya Vyas on Unsplash

NOSE:

This smells very sweet on the initial nosing, with peanut brittle, caramel, and butterscotch being the first aromas I catch. Not far behind these flavors is rye, a peppery freshness. It’s not aggressive, and I find that it pairs well with the sweetness offered first. There is a subtle fruit preserve that follows them all, bright and full of natural sugars. It seems most like a light stone fruit. With it, a distinct honey flavor that turns floral arrives and deepens with each inhale. Overall, it smells warm and inviting, if not also unique and original with its strong honey aromas.

The alcohol is nonexistent and certainly very approachable.

PALATE:

– Mouth Feel: Syrupy. I feel like I could drizzle this over pancakes and not be able to tell the textural difference between it and maple syrup. (Though the flavors would be different, obviously).
– Balance: Simple. It doesn’t have much of an explosive palate with one flavor or another, but it balances out well enough. There aren’t any flavors sticking out particularly odd.
– Visual: Russet in color, this leaves an uneven crown with some clinging droplets and the occasional, fast-dropping leg.

– Taste: The honey sweetness from the nose is still apparent here on the palate, and it has adopted an earthy, almost tea-like quality. There is even ginger to complete the ring, making it taste slightly medicinal (in a good way?). It’s even a bit reminiscent of sweet tea, making me want to throw this Templeton on the rocks just to see what would happen. There is still some of the stone fruit around as well, decidedly more on the nectarine side of things. This pour, so far, isn’t anything overly complex (though certainly different and original); however, there are a lot of ideas for mixing that come to mind.

I can’t find wood or char to speak of, aside from a twinge of bitterness that could stem from wood. It doesn’t seem oaky, but the wood is quite fresh – even tasting green. It’s not unlike an apple stem that I occasionally chew after finishing the fruit.

The alcohol is still impossible to detect, and when I partake in a Kentucky chew, it rears its head only slightly. Nectarines and now apples come to the forefront, chased still by the potent honey and tea flavors.

FINISH:

– Lasting Power: Short. There is a bit of flavor that remains at the end of the sip, but there is not much warmth.
– Between Sips: Sweet tea and apple sit between sips, and while this is good, it leaves me wanting something more from the palate. It feels like something is missing (likely whiskey warmth).

– No More: This stays consistent the further into the glass I get. An argument could be made for the tea essence growing in potency, but as someone who doesn’t drink tea, it still is not off-putting. I’d hoped some warmth would continue to grow, but unfortunately, it just has not.

The empty Glencairn is just as sweet and honey-like as the rest of the pour. There’s some brown sugar and baked goods, like waffles with maybe just a touch of cinnamon as well. I do wish the whole glass had been this spicy and deep.

WORTH THE PRICE?

$30 USD for this I think is a very fair price. I would not pay $40 for something quite this simple. However, if it were only $20, I’d think it a steal for the number of possibilities and ideas Templeton 4YR generates. Appropriately priced, and I could be convinced to buy it again.

TEMPLETON RYE 4YR REVIEW RATING: 80/100

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