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Woodford Reserve Straight Kentucky Rye Whiskey

Woodford Reserve Straight Kentucky Rye Whiskey
American distilleries are rarely open about how the process works when they decide to make changes to their brands.  Therefore, it’s up to us to fill in the blanks.  This is how I think one such story had went.  Sometime around 2010/2011, Brown Forman’s Leadership Board called for an “All Hands” group meeting to discuss the future of each brand in their portfolio.  Representatives from Old Forester, Jack Daniel’s and Woodford Reserve were all present.  I imagine that this is how the conversation went:
 
Brown Forman Overlord: The tides are shifting in our favor and whiskey sales are exploding.  Now is the time to think of ways we can cash in on this.  Throw out some ideas on what we can do to increase profits.  
 
Jack Daniel’s Representative: We could create a Holiday Select version of our Tennessee Whiskey?  It’ll basically be regular Jack Daniel’s, but in a fancy bottle.
 
Woodford Reserve Representative: We could charge more for people to take our tours?
 
Old Forester Representative: We could stop heat cycling Warehouses G and H, cutting our gas bill by 20%?
 
Random Janitor emptying the board room’s trash can: How making some different whiskies like rye, malt, wheat and using double barrel finishes?
 
Brown Forman Overlord: Where did this guy come from?  That’s a great idea!  Go tell HR that I’m promoting you to assistant vice president of the janitorial department.  As for the rest of you, go back to your distilleries and tell them to get started on some new whiskies. Also, go ahead and do all of the changes you suggested, they sound reasonable enough.
 
 
So began the trend of each Brown Forman brand developing new products.  Old Forester would eventually develop the Whiskey Row Series as well as 2 different rye whiskey products.  Jack Daniel’s would begin development of their Special Release program, Tennessee Tasters line and also a new rye whiskey and malt whiskey.  And finally, Woodford Reserve began a multi-part program where they would roll out with new products starting in 2015 with the release of “Woodford Reserve Double Oaked.”  That was immediately followed by their first new permanent mash bill creation: Woodford Reserve Straight Rye Whiskey.
 
Woodford Reserve Straight Rye Whiskey starts with a mash bill of 53% Rye, 33% Corn and 14% Malted Barley in an attempt to create a traditional Kentucky rye whiskey profile (i.e. it contained lots of corn).  Actually, we don’t know that this rye whiskey mash bill was developed specifically for Woodford (or even made at Woodford’s distillery).  This is because a large percentage of the bourbon that ultimately goes into every batch of Woodford Reserve is made at the Brown Forman plant in Shively.  So it’s possible that all or most of it was made there instead of Versailles.  
 
Rye whiskey was not an uncommon sight to see fermenting at The Early Times Distillery (now called the Brown Forman Distillery).  They had produced rye whiskey in the past for brands like Rittenhouse Rye (under contract for Heaven Hill while they were still getting New Bernheim situated) and Michter’s up until 2015.  Perhaps this WR rye whiskey recipe came from one of those products?  
 
 
Woodford Straight Rye Whiskey was released in 2015 but carries no age statement (we know it’s at least 4 years old though).  It was bottled at 90.4 proof, like virtually all Woodford products are.  It was joined by a Malt Whiskey in 2018 and a Wheat Whiskey in 2019.  Woodford now produces 4 of the 5 major types of whiskey common to America.  Could we see Woodford Reserve Corn Whiskey in the future to make it 5 for 5? I hope not!
 
So how does Woodford’s rye whiskey taste?  I didn’t expect much more than a mixer, but Woodford usually prides themselves on being a more premium version of Old Forester, so I hoped that it would hold some sort of surprise.  Now that I’ve had a chance to taste this bottle on several occasions, let’s see what I found.  I sampled this neat in a glencairn.
 
 

Tasting Notes

 
Nose: Sweet and light notes of creme brulee, cherry blossoms, vanilla and light floral scents show up first.  There are additional aromas of mint, cinnamon stick and orange rind which really hint to its rye nature.  Even melted toffee can be found, adding an extra layer of depth.
 
Palate: Light spice and even lighter oak notes.  This seems to be somewhat similar to a standard bottle of Woodford Reserve bourbon except it has additional floral and spice notes.  A small hint of chocolate as well as sweet grass flavors and bitter citrus rind are easy to find.  Lemon oil, baker’s chocolate, dandelion greens and a slight graininess are all present. 
 
Finish: An excellent finish that lingers for a moderately long time.  There are delicious flavors of caramel, barrel char, herbs and wildflowers.  I even find a bit of tobacco and leather which is impressive in a rye whiskey that is likely not much over 5 years old.  The finish even retains a certain amount of sweetness which I love.
 
 

Score: 6.1/10

 
 
Overall, this is a really nice rye whiskey that I’ve been passing up on shelves for years.  The amount of flavors it contained impressed me.  But after every session ended, I came back to the same conclusion: it’s good but it needs more proof.  If they came out with a standard release of this at, say, 105 proof (so that it wouldn’t step on the toes of Old Forester’s 100 Proof Rye) then I think they’d have a winner on their hands.  As it stands, this is a “good enough” entry level rye whiskey that I’d put it in my top 5 ryes under $40.  But ryes like that typically make their way into cocktails or get passed off to friends who are starting to get into whiskey, not friends who have graduated to the stronger stuff.
 
 

Final Thoughts

 
It’s sad, in a way, that a rye whiskey this competent will be passed over by many drinkers.  Brown Forman has such a great track record of well-made rye whiskies and yet they let them languish on the shelves in bottles of non-age stated (NAS), low-proof offerings like this.  Since Woodford Reserve and Old Forester often copy each other, maybe we’ll see the coming of a barrel strength version of this rye in the coming years (Batch Proof Rye Whiskey anyone?).  But until that day happens, it’s worth your time to at least buy a bottle, pour yourself a dram and sit back and imagine what it would be like at a higher proof.  We all have dreams and this is one I’d like to see come true.

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