Review: Jefferson's Straight Rye - 10 Year

Jefferson's Rye Whiskey appears to be sourced from Canada, which when looking at other reviews appears to be a bit of a concern at first. However, I can nearly see Canada when I look out my window and have always been fond of our neighbors in the Great White North. So I decided to give it a shot anyways, eh? (If you want some detail on where this rye whiskey comes from there is a good write-ups about it at Whiskey Obsessive.)

So how did I come upon the Jefferson's Rye? Well I was recently in Maine, celebrating America's birthday with some friends and eating 4 lobsters in two days. (quick sidebar - I had NO IDEA how cheap lobsters are in Maine. Like, 2 cooked lobsters for $18 cheap... great stuff. Ok, back to business...) When we got into town, I wanted to check out a liquor shop to see if I could find any bottles that were tough to get in MI. I spotted an Evan Williams Single Barrel (barreled in 2001) and then noticed that Jefferson's Rye was on sale for $30. It's usually $35 in my state and my buddy and I both like whiskey enough that I figured we could get through the bottle (spoiler alert... we did). Let's see how it tasted...

Jefferson's Rye 10 Year Old - Tasting Notes

Jefferson's Straight Rye Whiskey
(apologies for the stock photo... drank it all
before I was able to take a photo)

Nose: A little sweet, a little spice and a lot pleasant. For some reason the overall scent that I got was pink bubble gum. I tried picking it apart a bit more, but then decided if I was getting pink bubble gum on the nose and I liked it, why keep digging?

Palate: The mouthfeel isn't thick or thin... sort of like the baby bear's porridge. The flavors here are vanilla, cinnamon, honey, rye (obvi) and of course that pink bubble gum flavor which I couldn't shake from my head. Sweeter than many other ryes but it still has plenty of spice in tow.

Finish: This is where you know the Jefferson's Rye is 100% rye in the mashbill. A little warming burn at first and the spice from the palate takes over. Flavors of mint & cinnamon linger quite pleasantly for a good couple of minutes once it's gone down the hatch.

Proof: 94 (47% ABV)
Price: ~$35

Well Mr. Jefferson, I'm sold. At a price under $40 for a 10-year rye, this is a great whiskey. I enjoyed it more than the bottle of Whistlepig that I had and it only cost me half as much. This can be used as a really good sipper, or if you're feeling cocktail-y you could use it to make something that would most likely wind up being delicious. Needless to say, I plan on picking up another bottle of this sooner than later.

Jefferson's Straight Rye Whiskey (10-Year) Rating: 8.9/10