Caleb’s Crossing - A Blend of Straight Bourbon and Rye Whiskey Review

If you’ve read my reviews over the past year, I’ve mentioned my friend Mike over at Mostly Peaceful Bourbon and his generosity for sharing various whiskies with me. Without him, a lot of my reviews simply wouldn’t have happened. He’s knowledgeable about what he buys and drinks and I encouraged him to start his own website to post reviews. Until he does that, I told him he was more than welcome to post on here. Much to my surprise, he took me up on the offer! He asked for my input as well, so the following review is mostly his with with me adding a few extra tasting notes in here and there. We also found a common ground on the score. So without further ado, I present his review of the Caleb’s Crossing bourye!

For those who love Wild Turkey, one of the beacons (pardon the “Masters Keep” pun) of that fandom and enthusiastic following around the legendary distillery is spirits author David Jennings, aka Rare Bird 101. While his love for all things Turkey will remain true, Mr. Jennings is an increasingly active bottler of spirits he blends or finishes, from Raconteur Rye (his first creation, an ongoing partnership with Woodwork Collective, focused on Mizunara finishing casks) to his newer 2025 label, Caleb’s Crossing, in partnership with his father and honoring his family heritage dating to the 18^th century.

For the Caleb’s Crossing label, Mr. Jennings and his father, a lifelong French wine and brandy enthusiast, started with two finished whiskeys: a bourbon and a rye. The rye is straight, aged in American oak and finished in Pineau des Charentes (PDC) casks, a fortified wine from western France, while the straight bourbon is finished in the same PDC cask as well as Armagnac. I can personally attest to the quality of both bottles, enjoying both on my home bar.

That brings us to the third installment of the Caleb’s Crossing label: a blend of straight bourbon and rye whiskeys (a “bourye” to whiskey fans, although legally, that term is trademarked by High West) that aims to innovate the philosophy behind the blend. More on that in a minute.

Some personal “bourye” inspiration for Mr. Jennings comes from at least one unsurprising place given his affections for all things Turkey: Wild Turkey’s “Unforgotten” edition of the Master’s Keep line from 2022. That release was inspired from a previous release around 2010 called Forgiven which saw an accidental mingling of bourbon and rye barrels. Inspiration was likely drawn from High West’s OG Bourye – the one that first brought the concept to the masses.

Caleb’s Crossing blends two whiskies that haven’t previously been blended before

As for the innovation sought with this project, the usual playbook in bourye is to utilize mature bourbon and younger rye. For the new Caleb’s Crossing bourye, Mr. Jennings, a devout fan of high-quality 95/5 rye, decided to flip that script on its head, and instead used high-aged 95/5 straight rye whiskey as the key backbone for the blend. He married 12 year rye whiskey from MGP with a younger Kentucky bourbon aged 7 years and 10 months.

The bourbon is from Green River (70/21/9), which is exciting to me, as I’ve been constantly impressed with the quality of the liquid produced at the Owensboro, Ky. Distillery for some time. A note on the Green River bourbon in this blend: it was less than 40 days away from turning 8 years old. Along with a fantastic 7 year pick by Binder’s Stash (for the End Alz charity), these older bourbons from Green River have been some of my favorite examples coming from DSP-KY-10.

In addition to using an older rye, this Caleb’s bourye diverts from norms by using that 95/5 rye, instead of a “barely legal” rye that can sometimes be used (but not in the case of the 2015 era High West). These decisions give the Caleb’s bourye a chance to have a bit of a unique profile in the category. Speaking about that Bourye from High West, we can see that most Bourye’s on this list are from producers using a bourbon and a rye made at the same distillery. Caleb’s Crossing blends straight rye and bourbon from two different states which should make it that much more unique.

This bottle carries a barrel proof of114.6 proof. There are 683 bottles of this blend, which is more than the prior two releases combined (bourbon: 346 bottles; rye: 153 bottles).

Let’s see how the Caleb’s Crossing bourbon/rye blends stands up! I’m excited to try this given my affection for the bourbon and rye preceding it. Thanks to David Jennings providing a sample to Mike and me just ahead of the release, we get to find out. I tasted this neat out of a glencairn.

Tasting Notes

Nose: The nose is inviting with no overly dominant notes. It’s…plush and subtle. I get a faint but enticing cherry, and somewhat surprisingly, I don’t get any kind of spice-dominant notes on the nose from the rye present in the blend. Nor are there dill or herbal type notes that can sometimes make you aware of their presence with 95/5 rye. There are hints of oak that, combined with the faint cherry, make you excited to take a sip. There is limited ethanol on the nose, which is a plus to me. There are hints of citrus, like an orange peel. Overall, the nose is not striking, but it is nonetheless quite inviting, especially knowing the quality of the blend in the glass. I’d say the nose is a tad mysterious as to what is to come.

Palate: Right up front, there is a rush of bold flavors that makes you try to capture them as they whizz by, one by one, lighting up the taste buds, before reaching the midpalate and then slowing down to transition to the long finish. I get candied fruit right up front, a sweet combination of orange, some cherry, and a delicious subtly sweet baked good, like an apple fritter. There is some traditional 95/5 herbal notes more midpalate, which roll out the red carpet for the spice calvary you know has to be coming, based on the specs, after the barrage of citrus, sweet, and then a bit of herbal.

Finish: The finish is a monster and is a distance runner, not a sprinter like the front palate. The spices one might expect with a heavy influence of 95/5 rye (and a 21% rye entry on the bourbon portion’s mashbill) show up from midpalate to finish, like your friend that shows up fashionably late, because, well, that’s what the cool kids do! The spice makes an appearance and then sticks around to close down the party.

Score: 7.9/10

Caleb’s Crossing Blend of Straight Bourbon and Rye whiskeys is an exciting new bourye from a promising new label orchestrated by a trustworthy name in the whiskey world. This bourye tries to flip some bourye conventions on their head to showcase what a high-aged 95/5 rye can impart on such a blend. Overall, the pour is a fun ride with some unexpected twists and turns, it’s like fruit/sweets up front, and all the spice business in the back. The sprinting at the front palate to then distance running at the finish brings one back for more. Overall, this seems to be a worthy third entry in the Caleb’s Crossing bottling list.

Final Thoughts

It seems that many American whiskey fans prefer either bourbon or rye, and that bouryes tend to not get as much attention as one might expect they should. This is somewhat surprising given 1) the iconic nature of some older Bourye releases, including the High West Bourye and 2) even thinking to some of the true unicorns (Unicorns, with a capital “U”) in whiskey, which are (or believed to be) blends of various types of whiskey, including both bourbon and rye: Mister Sam, and Michter’s Celebration.

In that context, the Caleb’s bourye bottling is a nice follow-on to a successful debut with the inaugural releases and tackles a category that probably should get both more love from enthusiasts. For the suggested price of $121.99, fans of both bourbon and rye will likely enjoy the liquid in the bottle as well as appreciate the thought process that went into creating this blend.