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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.

I hear ya my brotha! The anti-Beam bias grows old and cold, but it does seem to be popular.

I, myself haven't had any ri(1), nor have I ever seen any.

The only Handy rye whiskey that I have ever had was generously afforded to me through the good graces of John and Linda Lipman when I last visited them in Cincinnatti, Ohio. I must say that I enjoyed the Handy more than any other rye whiskey.

So, from your post I take it that both you and Barleycorn enjoyed the vatting of the two.

I'd love a blind taste of ri(1) - no bias.

Saint Linn

Sinners agin Saints (me being the Sinner).

As it is in my power to provide you with a suitable measure of all both of these frisky whiskies, t'would be my delight and pleasure to see that you are given the opportunity to exercise your considerable skills at whiskey evaluation with Handy and (ri)1.

Lest anybodyone, who does not know you, think otherwise, you and I have a history together that precludes our opinions being beholding to what the other stinks............er ah, I mean thinks.

Linn thinks and acts as he will (that is why he is a Saint)............as for me, I am bewitched by a dog.........he has way too mucho influence over me.

It is as you say. Send away!

Saint Linn

"Rye Whisperer"

Come on Mozilla, Beam just came out with that new cherry flavored stuff. They are trying real hard. Can't you cut them some slack? Seriously, Beam has a few good products like OGD BIB, and OGD 114. On the other hand they sell some real bottom shelf swill that they try to pass off as mid shelf. These would be JB white label, JB rye, Old Crow, and others.

I'm not a Beam hater, I like KC, OGD BIB, Baker's is pretty good but not for the price KC in my market has gotten there too. BH sucks, Booker's is good. The problem with JB is they're all hype and advertising which leads to high prices. Most of their products are too high priced for what you get, it's not that they're bad products most of them anyway they want you to pay out the A$$ for them. Bring the quality up a little and the price down and you'll do more business, at least with me. I've read good reviews on r(1) but I wouldn't buy it if I could which I can't. For two reason 1 from everything I've heard their other two ryes suck, 2 the price. JB special stuff isn't THAT special.

I don't think the current version of Old Overholt sucks. It's just a young 80 proof whiskey. I agree the JB rye was off tasting.

I tried this at whiskyfest last year, I was not impressed in the least. In fact it tasted like JB rye, off the still at a higher proof. Then they charge more for it.

PaulO wrote:I don't think the current version of Old Overholt sucks. It's just a young 80 proof whiskey. I agree the JB rye was off tasting.

The only person I know personally who bought it poured it down the sink and I've read bad reviews on line.

First let me say that I am no expert on straight rye whiskey. I do enjoy rye from time to time, but never do I actually spend my own money on its purchase. I would rather drink bourbon. ri(1) is not in the review database, so I will post my initial impressions on this thread.

Mike Bowers from Georgia was kind enough to send me a very generous sample. He thought well enough of my tasting abilities, and of the merit of the new ri(1) to go out of his way to see that I was afforded a taste, and I do thank him profusely.

The color of ri(1) is a solid amber, and looks to be 5 to 6 years of age. If this is anything like todays bourbon industry, it is a marriage of young 4 year old whiskey and a small number of older barrels added in for additional color and flavor.

There is good viscosity in the glass. A bit thin, but still with good long legs.

The nose is quite sweet, and malty. The low corn content seems to allow the malted barley to shine on through. The relative youth of this whiskey allows for the different grains in the mashbill to each have their say in the overall nose and flavor. That's a good thing in my book. A nice firm vanilla with light charred oak topnotes. And as one would expect from a straight rye whiskey some goodly spice notes midstage. I pick up on some ginger that is both novel and exciting along with some nice sweet nutmeg. Further nosing reveals some rosemary. So here we have a nicely complex and intriging noseful of sweet aromas.

The palate is not nearly as complex, but is all good. I get the tingle of the malt, the grainyness of the oakwood, and both the general sweetness of the corn and the spicyness of rye. Tastes good with no off components even if a bit ephemeral.

The finish is a bit quick. White pepper; nutmeg, and ginger fade to a sweet oaken decay. A tad bit of mint hangs out at the back of the throat.

Overall ri(1) is a good solid All American straight rye whiskey. It tastes good and is easy to drink. At $45 to $50 per 750ml bottle it is too spendy for most folks, but Beam didn't bottle ri(1) for most folks. They bottled it for those that can easily afford conspicous consumption. As for the rest of us - Let them drink cake!

Elitist? Sure!

Any of our French Bourbon Enthusiasts (do we even have any French Bourbon Enthusiasts?) have a good used guilotine?

Off with their heads!

Saint Linn