Michter’s Barrel Strength Rye. You know as a consumer I wouldn’t find it on the shelf in New Hampshire thanks to the state mafia that runs the liquor outlets. Thankfully, I love to pair my bourbon, rum, or rye with a cigar. In the winter months that can provide to be quite difficult in New Hampshire as it is just too cold. Thankfully I live near the best cigar shop and cigar bar in New Hampshire, Twins Smoke Shop which had this on the shelf back earlier this year.
Today’s bottle you won’t find anywhere unless you were sitting on it at home as it was release in March of 2022. If your liquor store still has these either they are price gouging store owners or you live in an area that people just don’t know what is sitting on the shelf.
In a press release Michter’s once wrote, “We recognize the frustration of some of our supporters as they encounter challenges in finding certain Michter’s releases on the shelf. We want our loyal Michter’s drinkers to know we are trying to continue to invest in the growth of the brand while maintaining the exceptional level of our whiskeys,” commented Andrea Wilson, Master of Maturation. “We have an over 30-year planning horizon for our whiskeys and use models to plan sales and work hard to focus on staying true to the quality of our whiskeys,” she added.
Depending when that plan was started I’ll be dead when the distribution/supply issues plaguing American sprits are resolved…
Rye Review: Michter’s Barrel Strength Rye
ABV: 56.2 (112.4 Proof)
Age: At Least 4 Years (NAS)
Mash Bill: Not Disclosed
Barrel No.: 22B701
Distillery: Michter’s Distillery LLC
Location: Louisville, Kentucky (USA)
The Nose: Not what I was expecting. There is a wonderful bouquet of cinnamon and sweet butterscotch wafting up from the glass that also sees a wonderful black cherry component. Subsequent aromas saw a subtle oak with leather tannins but they were so far in the background you needed binoculars to see them.
The Taste: The initial sip sees some toasted rye spice with a sweet molasses in the background. A secondary more robust sip sees the rye open up with orange rind, oak and vanilla before it is joined by some butterscotch on the finish where it is joined by a lingering oak and toasted rye.
Conclusion: The more I drink rye, the more I find myself enjoying it. While it will never be my go to, I am beginning to feel more and more comfortable venturing into the catalog of rye. With the Michter’s Barrel Strength Rye, I wanted to keep drinking it and had to force myself to slow down to enjoy the wonderful experience in front of me. It was nicely complex, rich and flavorful making it an outstanding rye that I need to track down future releases when I see it at an out of state liquor store.
Score: 95
Price: $99.99 (750ml at time of release)
