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Tuesday, February 4, 2014

High West Rye Taste Off! Rendezvous Rye versus Double Rye

And now back to your regularly scheduled whisk(e)y reviews...

This week I'm going to rye it up a little bit.  All of these ryes should be easily available, despite some retailer outcries of scarcity.  Their prices can range between $20 and $50, so none of them should bust a budget too badly.  My palate prefers rye over bourbon probably 80% of the time, but I know that other palates feel otherwise, so I'll try to remember that in my reviews and ratings.

Today it's a Taste Off!

HIGH WEST RENDEZVOUS RYE
vs.
HIGH WEST DOUBLE RYE

I reviewed Rendezvous Rye last year (last February actually) from my own bottle and was very pleased by it.  Before that one was emptied, I stashed away a Taste Off Only sample for further studies like this one.

Then in July, while doing my usual snooping around Costco's liquor shelves, I found to my great surprise bottles of Double Rye selling at an excellent price.  So I availed myself of one.  In November, I stashed away a Taste Off Only sample of this one too.  Like the Rendezvous, the sample comes from mid-bottle.


To be clear, High West Distillery did not distill these ryes.  These are created from barrels David Perkins purchased as his distillery was being built.  Selling these bottles, Perkins picks up some revenue to help finance his company's distilling future.  Right now their stills are up and running.  High West has released some white whiskies, perhaps we'll see some aged ones before too long.  Here's the makeup of today's two ryes:

Rendezvous Rye -- 16yo (80% rye mashbill) Barton Distillery + 6yo (95% rye mashbill) LDI
Double Rye -- 16yo (53% rye mashbill) Barton Distillery + 2yo (95% rye mashbill) LDI

So technically Rendezvous is the older brother with a higher rye content.  Let's see how this turns out.



RENDEZVOUS RYE

Product: Rendezvous Rye
Distillery: Barton/Tom Moore and LDI distilleries
Producer: High West
Type: Straight Rye Whisky
Region: Utah (High West), Indiana (LDI), Barton (Kentucky)
Age / Mashbill: 16 years, 80% rye 10% corn 10% malted barley (Barton) + 6 years, 95% rye 5% malted barley (LDI)
Maturation: charred white oak barrels
Batch: 12E03
Bottle: 4024
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(many thanks to LA Whisk(e)y Society for the distillery and mashbill data)

NEAT
The color is a medium gold, though slightly darker than the Double.  Four Ps on the nose: Pears, (nail) Polish, (black) Pepper, and Pickle brine.  Then fresh cut wood, vanilla beans, coriander, and heated oregano.  The palate has less of the Ps, but is instead very rich and sugary.  Brown sugar, rum, vanilla, and lots of caramel.  Some pipe tobacco as well, along with a little salt and a mild green leafy note.  It's warm in a pepper sauce sort of fashion.  It finishes sweetly too, and much bigger than Double's finale.  Rum and tobacco.  Baking spices, cream, and mild cheese, along with that peppery heat.

WITH WATER
Some tropical fruit notes arise in the nose.  The water also brings out more charred oak weight, more sawdust, and more sugars.  A curious note of smoked celery too.  The palate gets drier and blander.  Some toasted grains, white and black pepper, and green leafy veg are up front.  Sweet rum and caramel in the rear.  Pepper in the finish, some more oaky residue, caramel, and a hint of raisins.

I really recommend this one neat.  You can add water if you wish, but I think it kills the best parts of the Rendezvous.  I'm glad Perkins released it at 46% ABV.




DOUBLE RYE

Product: Double Rye
Distillery: Barton/Tom Moore and LDI distilleries
Producer: High West
Type: Straight Rye Whisky
Region: Utah (High West), Indiana (LDI), Barton (Kentucky)
Age / Mashbill: 16 years, 53% rye 37% corn 10% malted barley (Barton) + 2 years, 95% rye 5% malted barley (LDI)
Maturation: charred white oak barrels
Batch: 13C07
Bottle: 2309
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(thanks again to LA Whisk(e)y Society for the distillery and mashbill data)

NEAT
Gold again, color-wise.  On the nose, it has a similar Four P (pears, polish, pepper, and pickle) pop but it's infused inside vodka.  Good rye vodka, but vodka nonetheless.  Then there's applesauce, tapioca pudding, mango, and corn whiskey.  These latter notes are nice, but sometimes the new make note overwhelms the rest.  There are more fruits in the palate, but they're very brief.  Some citrus, some tropical.  Makes me wish they'd develop more.  Some earthy molasses.  It's sharp on the tongue in a youthful way.  The fruits carryover into the finish, briefer, brighter, and lighter.  But I'm still getting a lot of sharp vodka stuff.

WITH WATER
Oak recedes almost entirely on the nose, leaving behind, well, rye vodka again.  Some vanilla and baking spice from time to time.  The palate is nice and sweet.  Edges dulled.  Sugary baked pears, cinnamon, mild cheese, and fresh grass.  The finish is short, sweet, and spicy.

Water plays better with the palate than the nose but, overall, a few drops won't hurt it.



I was surprised by the significant difference between the two: much more age and richness in the Rendezvous, and a hell of a lot more spirit in the Double.  In fact, it felt like they went very easy on the old stuff in the Double.  Apologies for my repeated use of the word "sharp" but that's the one word that kept running through my mind every time I had a pour from the Double bottle.

There are some folks out there who like the Double Rye more.  And I'm wondering if there might be some batch variation involved here.  A question arises: If you're a smaller whisky producer sending an entire batch to be sold at Costco, are you giving them a great batch or a lesser batch?  Would you save your best stuff for well-respected specialty liquor retailers that may buy at a higher price then turn around and sell your product to bigger spenders?  Or do you send a great batch to a bulk buyer like Costco, sacrificing price for winning over a different demographic?

Okay, maybe that was three questions.  Because my bottle of Double Rye was decent but not at all impressive, I've been wondering if a lower quality batch was sent to Costco (who can underbid but sell in bulk).  At $27.99, it was a good deal, but I haven't seen the return of a single High West product to Costco since then.

Now back to the Rendezvous, you may notice my notes vary a little bit from last year's review.  That may be due to the sample bottle decanting or perhaps my senses read it a little differently.  Either way, I still recommend it just as highly.  I will caution that there may be some batch variation in this rye as well, but I haven't had a less than good experience with the Rendezvous yet.

A final note on pricing.  Rendezvous used to be easily available at $45 around here.  Recently, I've noticed the price heading towards $50-$55.  As good as it is, I don't think I'd buy it at $55 or higher.  Double Rye can still be found in the low $30s.  I hope it doesn't go up into the $40s because I don't think it can compete at that price level.

RENDEZVOUS RYE
Availability - Most liquor specialists
Pricing - $45-$60
Rating - 88 (but neat only!)

DOUBLE RYE
Availability - Most liquor specialists
Pricing - $30-$40
Rating - 79