Sonoma Distilling Co Cherrywood Straight Rye Whiskey Single Barrel Reserve

I'll admit I'm not a fan of their bourbon; I've even written about it, so feel free to look that up. However, this rye is enjoyable, and the cherrywood expression is my preferred choice. This particular bottling marks the sole occasion they've produced a cask strength selection of the cherrywood rye via a restaurant close to San Jose, CA. It goes without saying that considerable effort was involved in obtaining this bottle. The malted barley component of the mash bill was smoked with cherrywood in a custom-built smoker, which the distiller characterized as "a half-size cargo container converted into a smoker." Quite inventive. Nose: Predominantly herbaceous, with mint and tarragon leading the way. Hints of sweet sugar and citrus zest are also present. A touch astringent, with cedar undertones. It presents as youthful. Palate: Sweet and herbaceous, featuring pine notes I often detect in whiskies that require additional barrel aging. Faint maraschino cherry notes in the background, but predominantly piney. Finish: Quite extended, with some oak and subtle spice. Barrel spices are evident, but an overpowering solvent cleaner note persists longer than desired. I genuinely wished to appreciate this one, given my liking for the standard bottling. However, the immaturity is much more pronounced in the cask strength version and does not benefit it. Far too much pine and lemon polish. Disappointing.

A generous taste courtesy of a friend. This bottle is a store pick and is cask strength. To start off, I like the nose, but the taste and finish were underwhelming. The nose is short and strongly laced with fresh berries and light perfume. The taste is very grainy. There is a strong note of wood shavings and a citrus cleaner (lemon pledge?). It's also a bit salty which I don't find works with the sweet citrus note. The finish takes an odd 180 leaving behind a peppery note of being kicked in the teeth by an old wooden clog.

The nose has grassy and green grape notes, accompanied by a taste of ginger, grass, and slight spice. The finish is long with toasted bark.