This one is an interesting one: 291 Single Barrel Colorado Rye Whiskey. It’s extremely young with only 1 year of proper aging in charred new oak and then an undisclosed finish(but less than 1 year) in toasted aspen. They use malted rye instead of the more traditional rye and also apparently mix IPA stillage with the mash because why not, it’s Colorado? I’d heard a lot about this whiskey and very much wanted to try it and my wonderful wife managed to snag a bottle on a trip to Colorado.
Review
Age: NAS but < 2 years
Abv: 101.7 proof (50.8% ABV)
Mashbill: 61% Malted Rye, 39% Corn
Color: A surprisingly dark gold
Neat
Nose: Sweet and floral with citrus and aspen in the background
Taste: Sticky and sweet with floral honey and oak and a hint of rye and spice
Finish: Short and sweet which left me wanting more
On a rock
Nose: More muted with notes of oak and honey
Taste: The rye spice comes to the forefront with floral honey and oak supporting
Finish: The already short finish is almost gone
2 Stars - Very good whiskey: I would want to have a bottle
Conclusion
This lived up to the hype for me. I was shocked that a medium proof young whiskey could be so flavorful and still smooth. This whiskey has an incredibly unique nose to me that reminded me of being up in the aspens in Utah. I definitely think a a longer aged variant of this definitely score higher. I’ll be trying to hunt down the current barrel proof and I’m looking forward to future releases from these folks. All that said this is a bit pricey and a bit hard to find so probably don’t go too far out of your way to find one but if you happen to be in Colorado it’s definitely worth popping into a liquor store or two.