Spirited News 02/2021: 1776 Rye
The topic of the second Spirited News in 2021 is rye whiskey. In this case both whiskies come from James E. Pepper. While one bottle is a fairly-regular but not less interesting barrel proof rye the other one tests out the limit of what is allowed to be called rye. Apart form that, the 1776 Sherry Cask also follows the trend of finishing American Whiskey in other types of barrels.
While the traditional James E. Pepper Distillery was rebuilt and opened in 2017, the 1776 Rye is a sourced whiskey. The rye comes from MGP of Indiana and with over 90 % rye has a high rye mash-bill. Furthermore, the rye calls itself a “Straight Rye” which means that it is at least two-years-old and not coloured. In the case of the 1776 Barrel Proof Rye, James E. Pepper bottles the whiskey at 57,3 % ABV.
A lot of rye bread
The 1776 Barrel Proof Rye has typical rye notes. It has a combination of rye, cereals and rye bread notes. Apart from that, you can also find some toffee and buttery notes. The aftertaste carries additional spices in the form of cloves, nutmeg and allspice. In conclusion, I can imagine the rye enhancing typical whiskey cocktails like the Manhattan.
Sherry fruits and rye
For the 1776 Sherry Cask Rye James E. Pepper finish their regular 1776 Straight Rye in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. There is no information on how long the whiskey spends in the sherry casks. Since, I can not tell you much more about the whiskey,so I am jumping straight to my tasting notes. On the one hand, the rye has the obvious flavour combination of rye and cereal notes with dried fruits as well as plums. On the other hand, you can find interesting black walnut notes.
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The whiskey was provided by Sierra Madre.
