Rittenhouse Rye

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Rittenhouse Rye

Unread postby Brewer » Thu Jul 14, 2005 5:12 pm

Tim, I enjoyed your review of this very, very good, and extremely affordable rye. I'd have to say its the best of the "under $30" ryes, and it might even hold up well against some of its pricier competition. I will look forward to tasting it side by side with some of those one of these days.
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Unread postby TNbourbon » Thu Jul 14, 2005 5:42 pm

I agree, Bob -- it's a very fine drink. On the one hand, I wish I hadn't started on the upper end, with the hard-to-get 10yo; but, then again, it just makes me want to find it in any version whatsoever. I've never seen it here in Tennessee, except on my bar (although that's a very suitable place :D ).
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Unread postby bourbonv » Thu Jul 14, 2005 5:45 pm

Tim,
That was a great review - Keep up the good work!

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Unread postby gillmang » Sat Jul 16, 2005 4:24 pm

I agree, great review, Tim. For those lucky enough to have both the regular and 10 year old versions of Rittenhouse, an adroit vatting of those two produces a very good rye whiskey, this is doing something along the lines of Tim's vatting of original (Penn) Michters and Hirsch 16.

Recently I added to 2 parts 10 year old Rittenhouse, 1 part of Blanton's Barrel Strength (not generally available in the U.S. but Blanton's Original would do fine). This produced a very fine straight whiskey. Some of the very edgy flavours of the Rittenhouse (what Tim calls the garden mint) are softened and correlatively the Blanton gains a lot in depth, complexity and length. A tremendous drink that surely must taste like the best of pre-Prohibition whiskey. In the mouth after the dram is a persistent flavour of wood, smoke and spice with some punky edges that the Blanton sometimes gets. Just stupendous. So sweet and complete, too, that all thoughts of Manhattans or Sazeracs are dispelled. Not that I do not like a good cocktail (I do very much) but sometimes a drink presents an all-encompassing experience that precludes thoughts of cocktail treatment.

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Unread postby EllenJ » Sat Nov 25, 2006 1:51 am

Heads up!!!

Let me tip everyone here off to a rare tasting-comparison opportunity, and also a buying opportunity.

Last week we had the pleasure of hosting a visit from The VatMan himself, Gary Gillman. During his visit we went shopping at my favorite Kentucky liquor store, the Party Source in Bellevue. While we were there, Gary noticed that, while they had Rittenhouse 100 BIB on the shelf, it was not the normal DSP#1 (made at the Bernheim distillery) that one would expect. Nor was it the DSP#31, that has been Rittenhouse Rye since Heaven Hill bought the brand.

For those of you who have entered the world of Bourbon whiskey since then, one of the most important distilleries in Kentucky suffered a devastating loss when, on Novemeber 7th 1996, a fire broke out in a bourbon warehouse at Heaven Hill, and that fire -- prodded by nearly record-breaking winds (hurricane-like gusts of nearly 75 mph were recorded) -- became the hottest fire ever recorded in world history. The affected warehouse (probably the victim of a lightning strike), along with six other warehouses and the distillery itself, were completely destroyed. The flames reached as high as 35 stories. The flaming barrels of alcohol flowed down the hill and across the highway, actually melting the macadam pavement. Typical of the Kentucky whiskey-making community (and totally alien to nearly any other kind of business) competitors immediately began offering the use of their facilities to help Heaven Hill fulfill their production committments. Jim Beam and Early Times (Brown-Forman) were especially helpful at this time. This sort of reaction is one (a very important one, in our opinion) of many reasons why we feel the Kentucky bourbon whiskey industry is markedly different (and superior) to most other industries in America.

Although HH's other, non-Bonded, whiskeys don't need to make a statement of origin, and therefore we don't know which may have been distilled at other distilleries, Rittenhouse Rye, since it's Bottled-in-Bond, has to identify its origin. Which is does, on the back label. We have examples of Rittenhouse BIB labeled "Distilled at DSP 31, KY", and of course since 1999, the BIB bottles have been labeled, "Distilled at DSP 1, KY", meaning the Bernheim facility in Louisville. But the bottles on the Party Source shelf were distilled at DSP 354, Kentucky. And that's the Early Times Distillery (now called the Old Forrester Distillery, although it's operated by the same people).

Folks, you need to know two things...

(1) This version of what may well be the best regular-priced (or lower) rye available only existed for 2 1/2 years.
(2) This particular version is very noticeably different from the others.

If you get a chance to buy this version (look for "DSP 354" on the back label) grab up as many as you can. A tasting that compares this with either the DSP1 or the DSP31 version is a perfect example of the role of yeast in bourbon production. Heaven Hill's yeast flavor is an integral part of their flavor profile. The same is true of Old Forester. The difference can be easily illustrated by comparing these two versons of Rittenhouse Rye BIB.
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Unread postby bunghole » Sat Nov 25, 2006 2:56 pm

Interesting observation, John!

I believe it was Mike Veach that paraphrased Parker Beam as saying something to the effect that Heaven Hill was able to satisfy their annual rye whiskey needs with a single days distillation.

I wonder if Heaven just bought some generic rye whiskey in a bulk purchase from Brown-Forman, or did Parker and Craig actively participate in the distilling of the rye. If so is there any reason that they would not bring their own strain of yeast? Do you know for sure that it was a Brown-Forman yeast strain that was used?

:arrow: ima :?:
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Unread postby gillmang » Sat Nov 25, 2006 3:47 pm

Thanks, John, it was great spending time with you and Linda too. From what I've read and heard, HH used its own yeast and mashbill when using the borrowed facilities and HH staff directly supervised the distilling.

However I agree that the taste of the one made at Early Times distillery, Shively, seems different than the previous ones (both #1 and #31). I would not say radically different, but to my taste the #354 one is better, softer, less feisty. Part of this may be due to where it was aged, but I think also the Early Times still may have imparted something of a different character, even if it is subtle.

I don't know of course how exactly it was made, only HH could really say if it was so-minded.

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Re: Rittenhouse Rye

Unread postby LogicalFrank » Sat Feb 24, 2007 5:44 pm

Brewer wrote:Tim, I enjoyed your review of this very, very good, and extremely affordable rye. I'd have to say its the best of the "under $30" ryes, and it might even hold up well against some of its pricier competition. I will look forward to tasting it side by side with some of those one of these days.


I was just about to start a thread on this but you beat me to the punch by a long stretch... I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Comparing it to others in the price range, I honestly can't say that I enjoy it any less than the other two ryes I have around, Wild Turkey and Sazerac six year, though they all bring their own charms to the table. Can you think of a better whiskey--bourbon, rye, or otherwise--that's as good or better for under fifteen dollars? I don't think I can.

Very interesting info in this thread, by the way. This is why I love this site.
Howdy Doody's past the House of Aquarius. Bring me more whiskey and rye!
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