Whiskey Advent Calendar Tasting: Michter's US*1 Rye Whiskey

This is part of my series on tasting notes from the 2021 Drinks By The Dram Bourbon Advent Calendar.

Whiskey for December 14th, 2021: Michter's US*1 Rye Whiskey

The distillery

[We've already talked about Michter's]/post/2021_12_07_01_whiskey_tasting/)

The whiskey

Similar to the US*1 Bourbon there's not a lot of information about the rye on their website. We do get some tasting notes:

Spice with peppery notes, citrus, butterscotch, oak

As always, it's Michter's, I'm sure it will be good.

Look

A lovely golden brown with reddish hints. It swirls well and makes lovely sheets on the sides of the glass. After a long while it runs to thick, slow legs.

Nose

It smells like citrus, butterscotch, and vanilla. There's a little bit of oak at the very end as well. There's very little alcohol on the nose. It's all very pleasant and delicious smelling.

Taste

The beginning is thick and sweet and syrupy with hints of brown sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla. The middle of the taste is a little citrus-y, a little minty and has a strong hit of rye spice that finishes, a little faster than I expected with a mildly lingering black pepper.

After water

After a little water the nose shows off the butterscotch and vanilla but acquires a lovely bit of toasted grains. The water cuts the syrupy sweetness, which I really liked, and bring out more rye through the entire taste. The end finishes more minty than peppery now.

Summary

This is a lovely rye. A baseline rye. I would set this down in front of someone and say, "This is what a rye should taste like". I think there are better ryes and more interesting ryes, but this is a Good Rye(tm). I like a lot. Everyone will like it. It's delicious.