Michter's US*1 Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey, 70 cl, 42.4% ABV

Product Information

Palate: The taste leans into smoldering vanilla pods with a sense of old oak staves from a dusty old cellar next to sweet cinnamon and cherry over dried sage and sharp spearmint with a clove syrup base and a dash of toasted marshmallow sweetness. Palate: The sip really embraces the smoky dark fruit with hints of vanilla and cherry popping up next to winter spices and a touch of green savory herbs. Michter’s showpiece location, the “Fort Nelson Distillery,” is in downtown Louisville. Though this building has “a legendary historic distillation system,” the company’s Shively facility (DSP KY-20003) actually houses Michter’s processing and bottling operations. Two experimental pot stills were augmented by the addition of a 46-foot column still and doubler setup in 2014. Distilling appears to have commenced (judging by photos of the facility), but that doesn’t mean we’re yet tasting anything that Michter’s has produced itself. I guess the one point in favor of sourcing is if (and a big IF) the bottler truly does have a unique process or recipe. Like Old Elk, for example, who use a unique-to-them mash bill. Sure, it’s sourced by MGP, but you can’t just go out elsewhere and get a high-malt mash bill under another MGP label or brand name (not that I’m aware of, anyway). Still, why not be transparent about it (at least Old Elk appears to be fairly transparent in this)? Still Type: Copper column pot still and copper pot doubler, both made by Vendome Copper & Brass Works

OK, so: sourced whiskey is largely a rip-off and should be avoided. What makes it doubly annoying is that some of these brands actually seem to engender the type of passionate fandom typically reserved for real distilleries. A misplaced loyalty evolves, with benighted admirers convincing themselves that there’s something special and wonderful about this essentially transactional approach to selling whiskey. Finish: The end has a creamed honey vibe next to figs and prunes with fresh chewing tobacco and salted dark chocolate. Palate: The palate holds onto the sweetness as it leans towards a campfire roasted marshmallow, a touch of saffron and clove-stewed pears, a pile of sappy firewood, and creamy nuances of vanilla pudding all meander through your senses. On the palate, we are presented with a big, immediate rush of woody spice and baking spice, along with significant tobacco and toasted oak. The rye grain is there, with classical rye spice and pepper, along with more savory tobacco, along with milk chocolate and plum-like dark stone fruit. At the same time, however, it’s really the oak that steals the whole show, contributing complex spice box and marshmallow notes, along with significant tannin that leads to a fairly dry finish to what begins as a pretty sweet entry. This juice is Michter’s standard rye that’s finished in a second, toasted barrel. In this case, those barrels are air-dried for 24 long months before being lightly toasted and loaded with the rye. The juice then goes into the bottle at barrel strength.

13. Michter’s US*1 Barrel Strength Toasted Barrel Finish Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey

A Love Letter to I’m Sorry and a Tribute to Funny Moms in 3 Bits By Annie Berke September 6, 2023 | 11:48am I’ll say no more about my hopes or expectations. Rather, let’s let the whiskey do the talking… Michter’s Barrel Strength Rye – Review Finish: The end is full of dark cherry and woody spice with moist marzipan, burnt orange oils, and chewy fresh tobacco wrapped up in old leather and cedar bark with a hint more of that old cellar sneaking in. It also meant a lot to see a woman in this top position, being a very young woman just getting into whiskey. Palate: The palate is part Red Hot and part zesty orange marmalade with creamy vanilla pudding, sweet and spicy dried chili peppers with a hint of smoke and woodiness, and this fleeting whisper of celery salt.

s only Michter’s 10-Year release was an instant classic. The whiskey is made from a corn-rich rye whiskey mash bill with a good dose of barley in there. The absolute best barrels are chosen — with some up to 15 years old — for this release. Then each of those barrels is individually bottled as-is with a hint of proofing water. Either way, I’m not writing this for them. I’m writing this for the other segment of Malt’s readership, the ones who believe that production processes have a direct impact on the flavors of the resultant whiskey, and that maximum transparency about these processes allows us to make better-informed decisions about what whiskey is likely to taste better. To us, a great whiskey story is a story of making great whiskey, whether or not it features former presidents, heirloom recipes, infamous gangsters, Vikings, etc.

9. Michter’s US*1 Limited Release Barrel Strength Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey

Palate: The palate has a lightly smoked cherry vibe next to clove and allspice with a sense of lush and creamy eggnog and vanilla-cherry tobacco stuffed in a slightly pitchy pine box. This latter category doesn’t include Michter’s, and I doubt it ever will. I suspect they’ve been too commercially successful with the procure-and-pretend model to ever pivot to their own production, absent some seismic change in the availability of sourced whiskey. Michter’s diehard stans and those newer to the hobby will likely continue their tireless pursuit of bottles from this resurrected and repurposed brand. For my part, I’ll continue pounding the drum of truth and transparency so that others – should they decide to buy a bottle of Michter’s – know what they’re getting, or at least know what they don’t know about what they’re getting. Michter’s has a long and interesting history all on its own. It started in 1753 as Shenk’s (allegedly providing whiskey for George Washington and troops during the Revolution), then became Bomberger’s in the mid-nineteenth century. After re-opening post-prohibition, the name became Michter’s. All the while this distillery, located in Pennsylvania, was making whiskey in the Pennsylvania style – that is to say, rye whiskey. Goddamn, this bottle has no business being as good as it is for this price. It’s a legitimately first-rate single barrel rye that you can actually find pretty much everywhere and also afford. That’s a quasi-miracle on its own these days. Instead they have opted to expand production. They’ve added six large fermenters, extended hours on the main distillery so as to run 24/7, and added new and improved bottling equipment. However, we’re years from the true output of these additions, and will have to make do with less in the meantime.