Review: Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Rye
Review: Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Rye
My math pegs this about 3 1/2 years old. The mash hasn’t changed — 70 percent rye, 18 percent corn and 12 percent malted barley — and the rye undergoes the same charcoal filtration as all expressions of JD (and other Tennessee-based whiskies). It is worth noting that this final release has a significantly higher abv than either of the preview bottlings — and it is, curiously, a single barrel product.
Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Rye Review
On the nose, the new rye offers nutty, roasted grains at first, backed up with sweet caramel, some chocolate, menthol, and a little red pepper. Over time, a bit of that characteristic JD charcoal emerges. The big baking spice aromas of a typical rye aren’t immediately evident, but the nose isn’t atypical, at least, of a younger, rye-heavy bourbon.
The palate paints a somewhat different picture, offering a nutty character at first, fading into more grain with a fairly heavy toast. Dark caramel, licorice, some barrel char — elements of a fairly young but relatively indistinct whiskey — are all strong on the somewhat racy body. But the whiskey, at this age, remains a bit shapeless, offering a variety of muddled, barrel-driven flavor components but little to distinguish it from a young bourbon or blended whiskey.
That said, I found the spirit enjoyable and worth a look, though it adds little to the growing universe of rye. It’s clearly a young product — and probably still quite a bit ahead of its time — that will fare best as a mixer in a more intense cocktail.
Fans of Old No. 7 will wonder what the fuss is about.
94 proof.
B / $50 [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Rye
USD50
“My math pegs this at about 3 1/2 years old.” Being that it has no age statement, that means it’s a minimum 4 years, as anything less needs an age statement. Mind you, it’s probably not more than a day over four years, but that’s probably what it is.
@Dave Zanko — Wrong. They DON’T need to put an age statement on it if it is less than four years old. You are thinking of a rule that applies only to American whiskey labeled as “straight.”
The rules are quite complex and have changed of late: https://www.ttb.gov/spirits/bam/chapter8.pdf — discuss amongst yourselves.
I found this to be a bit better than what the review said, maybe they are releasing some that has a bit more age to it. Usually I’ll only spend this much on a Scotch but the release of the new standard Jack Daniels Rye had me interested in this one. I get a nice complexity with some black tea and brown sugar on the finish. B+ at least