Kentucky Owl Rye (Batch 1)

Kentucky Owl Rye is a blend of rye whiskies older than 11 years, all from undisclosed origins. It has been proofed slightly down before bottling, and it’s sold at a rather premium MSRP of about $130. Lets see how that stacks up when I have no idea what I’m drinking.

This is a blind review that was done in a set of 21 blind bourbon (and rye) reviews, tasted in sets of 3 (on different days). None of the whiskies were revealed until all 21 were drunk. More information about this setup in the first review of the series. --- **Distiller:** Undisclosed **ABV:** 55.3% **Age:** 11 years **Setting:** Blind, in a trio with Weller Antique 107 and Rowan’s Creek

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Nose: Cinnamon, pecan pie, some mild acetone, cookie dough, rye spice, dark chocolate (in no way did I pick up that this was a rye. I think I had begun to forget that I put ryes in this blind set at all)
Palate: Rye spice explosion—dill pickle and aniseed, and a fair bit of mouth coating booziness, while not being all that hot.
Finish: Clove and cinnamon, mulled wine, a spicy funk, and good punch of heat. It sits for a good long while with delicious caramel and pecan notes.
Overall: Absolutely delicious. I loved the lurking rye notes on the nose that are kind of unassuming, but explode on the palate. I want to drink more of this, it was great.
Guess: Well, I’m going to have to assume high rye, and with that amount of heat, between 100 and 120 proof. Four Roses’s yeast to me is a bit fruitier than what I got here, so I’m going to guess SAOS7, despite it being right on the low end my proof. (Yep, definitely had forgotten that I put ryes in)
Rank: 7
Reveal: Well, shit. Drinking KO Rye now it doesn’t seem to me to be particularly bourbony, but I didn’t question it at all in this blind tasting. Partially because I guess at this point my brain was expecting only bourbons. Regardless of this, this was a great whiskey that I will be happy to finish my bottle of. Is it worth $130? Probably not. Is it worth $200? Not to me.