It’s Monday; drink some whiskey. Tonight we’re drinking Widow Jane Rye, a new sensation from the Cacao Prieto Distillery in Brooklyn. This sucker has generated a lot of buzz in the past few months, and for good reason. It’s the first batch of rye the distillery has tried/released, and since it was somewhat experimental it was distilled and bottled in fairly small quantities.
I appreciate the nice personalized touches on the label: in handwriting, or some pretty convincing printed ink, we’re told that this bottle is 2 years old, comes from barrel #21 (whatever that means) and is the 60th bottle from said barrel. I’ve had glasses from a few other bottles of the good Widow, both of them much lower in the bottle count than 60, and noticed a weird difference – my bottle has sediment sitting at the bottom, where the others don’t. Think I got a bit of extra oak char from the cask.
The rich caramel color gives you a good sense for what’s next: super sweet rye notes on the nose, very malt-forward. Some sugars show up after that, and there’s even a little tartness: brine/vinegar comes through the malts in a pretty cool/refreshing way. Nice sharp counterpoint to the sweetness.
On the tongue – all rye malts to start, big malt backbone with spicing following it through. This has the fundamental sweetness befitting a rye, but youth and 45.5% alcohol bring a peppery bite.
Finish is medium-full and very warming. Leathery, charred oak at the end. This is my new favorite rye – go get some if you can still find it. 91 points.
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