Review #17 - Angel's Envy Finished Rye

Rum Cask Finish Mini-Series: Part 1 of 3

This series is all about finishing - we'll look at a few categories of whisky, an example of each which has spent some time aging in rum casks. Our first entry comes in the form of a rye whisky, specifically a product from Angel's Envy. We were first intrigued by AE when we found their port-finished bourbon, and it seems the brand wasn't finished there with their unique whisky cask finishes.

Similar to the rum-finished bottle of peated Speyside scotch we looked at a couple of weeks ago, we're expecting to find some serious sweet notes on these upcoming bottles, along with potential exotic notes as well. According to the brand's website, this bottling can spend up to 18 months in the finishing rum casks, which is longer than many finishing casks are employed - those flavors might be quite heavy here.

Angel's Envy Finished Rye

USA - Rye

Current Locally Available Price: USD 85 (2023)

Age Statement: NAS

Strength: 50% ABV

Cask Makeup: New charred oak, finished in Caribbean rum casks

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times over 9 months; bottles at 50% and 30% fill level at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes

Nose: There's a sweet cereal note here, not oatmeal, but like a sugary boxed breakfast cereal from a US grocery. Hard to place exactly... no, this is EXACTLY like Golden Grahams. You know, that cheaper version of Cinnamon Toast Crunch? Yeah, it's just like that. Anyways, we're finding a lot of notes you might expect, then: strong sweet baking spices, brown sugar, bready cookies. There's maple syrup, icing sugar, and a touch of cream; maybe a bit of clove as well, and it's slightly exotic. Later, a bit grainy, and a touch of young rye - maybe herbal eucalyptus?

Palate: Brown sugar and rum, lots of molasses sugars and just plenty of sweetness overall. There is a kick of spice on the palate as well, a bit of nutmeg, but mostly other baking spices. Decent oiliness and plenty of flavor, and the medium mouthfeel is complemented by some gentle warmth from mild or moderate oak influence. Lots of the same notes from the nose such as cereal or oatmeal, semi-sweet sugar cookies, and cinnamon, but there is a bit of a more exotic spice, followed by that hint of eucalyptus. Coconut, cream and sugar in an old coffee, and a bit of pepper finish it off, before a subtle hint of... cactus?

Finish: Finish is medium length, bordering on long, with plenty of brown sugar, grainy spirit notes, and oily wood tannins. It's still mostly sweet flavors, with exotic fruit juice, cream, maple syrup and molasses, but there it a tiny bit more balance on this finish with those oak flavors added.

Final Note: We're not entirely sure we would call this refined, because it's anything but subtle, but it has a certain unique character that we're finding pretty interesting. One big trick here is the price - we can find it around USD 85 right now, but there have been some fluctuations in the last couple of years, and often we've seen it for sale closer to USD 100. At that level, we're expecting some pretty serious whisky, and while this one is fun to explore and has a decent ABV presentation at 50%, the value might not quite be there yet - this feels a little bit steep.

Our Average Rating: 7.5 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 6.52