Review #: 99
Description: Driftless Glenn Single Barrel Rye: t8ke.review
Spirit: Rye
Background: Driftless Glen is a craft distillery up in Wisconsin producing a range of products, but their bourbon and rye have started to show some real promise. Jay (better known on the internet as t8ke) selected this cask alongside a bourbon cask that was bottled and then sold through Seelbachs. t8ke has been a major reason why I started reviewing and he has been a huge influence in my spirits journey. You can check out his whiskey reviews on his new site: Whiskey Raiders. This rye whiskey is comprised of 75% Rye, 12.5% Distiller’s Malt, 12.5% Caramel Malt and aged in 30 gallon barrels (standard bourbon barrels are 53). It was distilled on February 3rd, 2016, barreled February 4th, 2016, and bottled January 20th, 2020. Let’s see how it tastes!
This was done as a short flight of craft rye whiskies around the 4 year mark, cask strength, and around $50. The also included a Willet Family Estate Small Batch and a New Riff Single Barrel.
Distillery – Driftless Glen
Bottler – Driftless Glen
Brand – Driftless Glen
Selection – t8ke.review
ABV – 51.5%
Age – 3 Years 11 Months
Nose – Very herbal, basil, rosemary, savory focaccia bread, fresh tobacco leaf
Taste – Sweeter than the nose, honey on toast, caramel, sweet bread, cinnamon sugar
Finish – Rye spice quickly turns to heat that gets more bitter as it lingers
Score: 5
Would I buy a bottle? No, but I’m glad I got a sample
Thoughts: The nose on this was crazy with the herbs and savoriness on it. It was everything that I would want in a rye whisky while kind of being unique. The taste kind of brought it back to earth and was a bit of a 180 with how sweet it was compared to the nose. The biggest disappointment though was the finish as it was more heat than complexity. With all that said, this is still very impressive from a craft distillery using smaller barrels. With a bit more age on this, I think they could have something really special.