Review #354 - Winchester Kentucky Rye
Winchester is a brand that has seen a number of different releases - different ages, different sources, both bourbon and rye. While Terressentia, out of South Carolina, is the source of much of the spirit, they have also bottled this Kentucky Rye. After some digging, it seems to have been produced at the OZ Tyler distillery, which has since changed its name to one most will be familiar with - Green River Distilling.
Some versions of this Winchester brand use experimental aging techniques and come with age statements as low as 6 months - not the case here. For this Kentucky rye, we get a more generous 1 year age statement, meaning the spirit is still unable to be labeled as 'straight.' Our bottling strength is 90 proof.
Winchester Kentucky Rye
USA - Rye
Current Locally Available Price: USD 20 (2024)
Age Statement: 1 Year
Strength: 45% ABV
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times over 1 month; bottles at 100% and 50% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Very sweet, overly sweet, and candied, lots of caramel and hard creme candies. There's some cherry candy and butterscotch as well; not a lot of rye character, but we get soft earthy notes and some spice - barrel spice and licorice.
Palate: More spicy and herbal now, with a medium-thin mouthfeel. Eucalyptus and hints of pepper mingle, and then a heavy-handed dose of sweet candy arrives, both butterscotch and sweet cherry candies. Not much oak to speak of, quite young.
Finish: Medium-short, with more caramel and hard candies. The rye notes are just background flavors - dill, a bit of peppermint. There are some chemical overtones, and in the aftertaste, cinnamon red hots.
Final Note: Quite young, and somehow with such a short time in the barrel, the sweet notes are overwhelming, almost synthetic. There isn't a lot of actual rye character - overly sweet and candied, for the most part; the chemical alcohol notes at the end of the palate and into the finish didn't help too much.
For the money, there are a lot of other ryes we prefer in the sub $30 category.
Our Average Rating: 3.3 / 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: 4.79
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
