Thomas Handy is a wonderful rye whiskey.............thick, intense, rich, and potent.
(ri)1 is a Beam product, maligned by many BE posters both for its cost and for its being Beam. Few seem to have actually taken a sip of same.
I find (ri)1 to be a nice whiskey, albeit a bit too expensive and the victim of marketing 'hype' that makes an objective evaluation difficult..........I myself indulge in this inability to make an objective eval on another Beam product...........Basil Hayden. The first time ever I had a sip of BH it pissed me off (strange, strange, since it is the 80 proof bastard grandchild of Old Granddad BIB, a favorite of mine), still, when it comes near to me I get me a case of the St Vitus Dance and go into Hayden apoplexy. So I ain't claiming to be holier than thou about no nothing. I got my biases just like most everybodyone else. Took me a good spell to get over being negative about JD Single Barrel, but with Saint Bunghole's interference, I saw the light. The other JD stuff still leaves me cold and wet in the dead of winter. But, who knows, a JD spring may yet arrive.
Be that all as it may, I still like (ri)1 and drinks and enjoys it once in a while, but my bottle still contains more than a mite.
Handy, on t'other hand, is rye whiskey at its near best (IMO). But, at 130 +- proof it is intimidating and requires a bit of taming for this fellow.
So, me and Barleycorn, while discussing most serious matters, thought that mayhap we should dilute the Handy with about 30% (ri)1. The (ri)1 is a soft and fairly sweet rye, so me and the dog figgered it can't hurt Handy, certainly not more than cutting Handy with water.
As expected the vatting made the Handy a more manageable (118 proof) tipple and a tad sweeter. I can handle 118 proof in small batches and am of the opinion that Handy ain't hurt some atall by the addition of about 30% (ri)1, in fact, 'tis my claim that it may be improved ever so slightly.