Ry3 Cask Strength Special Reserve

My rating: 9/23. I've heard good things about Ry3 and was eager to try another rum-finished rye, as I enjoyed Angel's Envy's funky and sweet offering. I've also heard Mission Wine & Spirits does a solid job picking barrels, so I was quite optimistic. The handwritten label indicates bottle 4 from batch 3, which is always a fun little detail. The nose, after a few minutes, offers rich, woody sawdust with a slight bitterness, balanced by a hint of chocolatey sweetness and leather. A musty vanilla undertone is present, along with a surprising amount of fruit, suggesting the rum cask's influence. I detect peculiar fruits like starfruit and lime, with orange and a touch of cherry, plus a layer of mint. There's a slight youthful roughness, but it's manageable, mingling with minerality and moderated herbaceousness in an appealing way. This funky nose, after some thought, reminds me of Willet's 4-year rye with its fruitiness and hint of chocolate. However, there's much more barrel influence here, which I hope benefits Ry3, but I worry about potential over-oaking, similar to a single barrel Old Scout Rye I had. The palate leads with a big, rich, fairly full, and sweet woodiness, followed by an explosion of spicy burn, almost scorching with spice everywhere. Further tasting reveals a bit of maple syrup in the background. It requires effort to discern flavors beyond the spice. It's not the overwhelming woodiness I anticipated, but rather a pure spicy burn, a mix of pepper, chilies, ginger, and cinnamon with most of the flavor removed, leaving only the heat. It's a shame, as nice flavors are hidden beneath; the rye barrel helped, but the base spirit is highly questionable. Adding water helps reveal some flavors, but it doesn't sufficiently reduce the spice. It's not quite 'dare' territory for a regular cask strength drinker but likely is for those who stick to 40% ABV. Its 61.5% ABV doesn't reflect how much it burns. The finish is just so much spicy burn. Conclusion: This is very unfortunate. I expected to be underwhelmed, not actively dislike it. I'm bewildered as to who decided to bottle this as a craft spirit and why Mission thought this was a pick worth acquiring. Despite the difficulty of drinking this neat, I think it could work well in a cocktail. Its potent spicy punch might be a nice addition in small amounts or could bolster a weak cocktail without just increasing the alcohol. I love Booker's Shiny Barrel, but it can sometimes be a bit young and hot. Not now. Side-by-side, it's rich with big peanut butter and chocolate flavors, like biting into a Reese's cup – pure heaven compared to this. As much as it pains me to say, Ry3 just isn't very good. I don't understand why anyone thought it was one to watch. The only positive is that other drams taste much better after a half pour of this, but that won't factor into my rating. I'm placing this in the $11-$14 range. A truly sad outcome. I won't trust Mission picks in the future. I used to think Russell's Reserve Single Barrel was just cinnamon, but how wrong I was. Side-by-side with this, it's loaded with rich, decadent peanuts, giving me real peanut butter vibes. I'm sorry, Ry3, but I can't find a comparison to save you. You're a challenging, one-dimensional, unenjoyable whiskey. The best thing about this is that it makes good bourbon taste even better by comparison. I don't know of other ryes that do that. It's an accomplishment. It can even make decent bourbon taste better, serving as an excellent palate cleanser. Unless I find that small sips function excellently for palate cleansing before hedonistic tastings, this is tremendously overpriced. As a whiskey on its own, I wouldn't pay $20 for it. Most bourbons develop a peanut or peanut butter flavor in comparison, which is decadent and sadly highlights the lack of decadence here. I truly expected a rum-barrel-aged whiskey to be decadent. I don't recall ever finding a whiskey so far off the mark. What were the producers thinking? And it's not like they got a bad batch, as their whole thing is blending three different mash bills. My impression is that this isn't quite on the level of my Old Scout bottle (14/23). Frankly, that's devastating, as I really thought this would be at least as good. That was a chore to get through, and I fear this may be worse, though not significantly. Consider this me taking one for the team. I've had worse, but let me spare you the curiosity: don't buy Ry3. I love supporting craft distillers, even when the value isn't quite there, but the value here is sadly far off. However, I'm enjoying my dwindling Booker's side-by-side. There's no way this can even be a 14. Old Scout and Evan Williams Single Barrel (14/23) are clearly better, as is Buffalo Trace (13/23). Buffalo Trace has less fullness but is much less challenging and more complex. How about Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star (12/23)? I'd probably still take that over this. I have a strange feeling this isn't actually bad, but it's painful to drink. Taking a step back, there's remarkably little flavor. It pains me how much this reminds me of my Compass Box Hedonism (12/23) tasting, where I kept searching for richness and nuance that wasn't there. Sadly, this is likely not even going to be a 12. That's a separate issue, though, because I have very few bottles below a 12. I'm struggling with this. Flavor-wise, it's pretty underwhelming, but when I factor in the pain, I could see going as low as a 7. I'll give it a 10 for now. I'm very, very disappointed. I was prepared for mediocrity but absolutely wasn't expecting it to be so painful. One final side-by-side with Russell's Reserve Single Barrel (delightfully peanutty by comparison). I used to think that Russell's was spicy? It still has spice, but this is so much spicier and way less full. I'm not surprised Russell's is better, but the spiciness here, especially on the finish, at the back of my tongue, is much greater. I'm dropping this to a 9. I may go lower later. Ugh, I wish I'd spent $10 more on the Angel's Envy rye. Not that I was choosing between them, but this is a huge let-down for a rum finish. Aside from some nose notes, the rum finish is barely noticeable. And I wish that were my biggest complaint. I did try a couple of cocktails with this, but they weren't very good. Not much redeems this (besides making bourbons seem more decadent side-by-side), it seems. Most unfortunate.

Selected by Bull City Bourbon Club; designated "Sweet Heat" Batch No. 3 60.4% abv; 120.8 proof Opened 5 months ago Nose - Black pepper, dill, eucalyptus, caramel, allspice, clove, vanilla, light oak, and intense ethanol. This presents as a classic spicy rye aroma. Palate - Spicy black pepper and baking spices dominate initially, followed by caramel, light vanilla, significantly less dill and eucalyptus than on the nose, and a strong ethanol bite. The finish is medium-long with drier rye baking spices, a noticeable absence of sweetness, and spicy black pepper. This selection by BCBC represents a typical barrel-proof high-rye offering from a newer blender in Virginia. (They also produced the Ron Izalco 10Y Rum Cask Strength selection for BCBC.) The precise mashbill is unknown due to it being a blend, but it's likely at least 80% rye, predominantly 95/5 MGP rye. Within this category, some budget cask strengths are one-dimensional or too spicy for enjoyable neat sipping over multiple servings (James E. Pepper and Stellum). This expression is superior to those two but doesn't reach the level of MGP excellence. I would prefer Templeton or Old Scout cask strength in this mashbill/proof range. However, this shouldn't discourage you from RY3; there have been favorably reviewed rum-finished cask strengths from various groups circulating in NC. I somewhat wish BCBC had chosen a rum-finished selection instead of this one.

Neat. First pour from the bottle. This was an exclusive bottling for the Mash and Journey Whiskey Club. The nose initially appeared bright, with lemon zest, vanilla, and a hint of pine. It was very clean and fresh, with pepper starting to show. A little clove was present. After some exploration, I detected a rye toast aroma, like rye toast covered in unsweetened orange marmalade. Mouthfeel was great, exceptionally creamy. The glass felt oily and it coated my entire mouth, slowly trickling down my throat. The taste initially presented a blend of lemon, pepper, and clove. The mid-palate quickly brightened, introducing sweetness. It tasted like orange marmalade. Perhaps lemon meringue pie is a better comparison, as the finish included the crust – a buttery, crumbly pie crust. The finish then brought back sweetness, lemon, and vanilla in a second wave. This is an intriguing cask strength rye. At around 124 proof, it's deceptive for a rye because neither the proof nor the typical rye flavors are aggressive for cask strength. It's also sweeter than the nose suggested. I'm eager to taste this again after some time on the shelf.

The nose offered rum notes and little else. This turned out to be the highlight of the dram. Wow! The palate delivered a burst of spice and heat, with some typical young rye characteristics. The finish was rather short but packed with spice and heat, plus a touch of bitterness. Adding a generous amount of water reduced the heat and brought out some general sweetness on the palate, but it wasn't a real improvement overall. Thanks to a friend for the sample.

Aromatic profile is fruity. It's not intense considering it's cask strength. Pleasant peppery rye character with a finish of dark fruit and dark chocolate. The rum finish isn't really noticeable to me.

This bottle, labeled #PR004 and at 58.1%, presents notes of tea leaves in a metal container, with mild citrus and a touch of cinnamon spice. Hints of rum finish emerge towards the end, and it has a mouth-coating texture.