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Rittenhouse and Redemption Rye are always dueling in my mind for dominance of the lower end of the rye market. Rittenhouse Bottled-In-Bond is a well loved and long-of-tooth brand that is a mellow entry point into the rye whiskey genre.
📚Background: Debuting shortly after Prohibition's end, Rittenhouse Square Straight Rye Whiskey was launched by Continental Distilling Corporation in Philadelphia, it's name paying homage to Philadelphia's famed Rittenhouse Square, long a fashionable district with sprawling mansions and art institutions. During WWII, shortages forced production stoppages and changes to plant, so Continental Distilling reintroduced the spirit in 1948 as simply "Rittenhouse," a 4-year-old Bottled-in-Bond rye and it remained a cheap and reliable iteration of the format. Heaven Hill acquired the Rittenhouse brand in 1993, a time when rye whiskies were not particularly popular. Heaven Hill stuck to their instincts, keeping Rittenhouse afloat in the face of market headwinds. This patience was well rewarded during the Cocktail Renaissance of the 2000s. One of the few remaining ryes on the market, Rittenhouse became a staple of mixologists referencing 1800s recipes that often preferred rye to bourbon.
🛒Sourced: $28.99 Tower, GA 750ml
🧪Proof: 100 proof, 50% ABV
🎨Color: R5 - A growing to strong intensity per the Castle & Cairn Color Scale, a smattering of red and brown. Clear not cloudy.
🥔Mash Bill: 51% rye grain, 35% corn, and 14% malted barley. Bottled-in-Bond guarantees us four years in the wood aging. This is the minimum required rye content to quality as a "Rye Whiskey" and serves to balance out the whiskey with a bit of sweetness. I have seen a couple of different mash bills mentioned at points in time, but this is from the distributor text on one of my local's website. Seems to be +/-2% between the corn and barley mentioned elsewhere.
👃Nose: Woody at first, the second nose gives way to a surprising bouquet of herbs. Thyme, Basil, fresh peppers - green, and mint mingle and grow. I am most struck by the green pepper which smells amazingly clean, freshy chopped about to go into the skillet.
😜Palate: A mouthfeel I can describe as "full". The creaminess of the mash bill's corn component definitely reflects favorably. A flash of honey subsides into black pepper, followed by the herbal medley. Smooth and easy drinking. I can see how this would be a lovely cocktail ingredient, though myself will tend towards higher proof offerings for mixing.
💦Finish: Long and dry with a bit of the rye pop on the back of the throat. Mildly warm. I have a bit of trouble picking out the herb and vegetable flavors present earlier. Side note: I did burp and, believe it or not, there they were again: thyme, mint, and green pepper for sure - magnificent.
🏆 Overall: 7/10 - Great - I really can't find much to quibble with in this bottle. It's fairly easy to drink, has a variety of flavors, and is light on the pocket book. There are definitely better ryes out there with more unique and interesting character, but for the money, I'm finding myself impressed by this time honored brand. It's a flavor 5.5 with a budget score of 9. Based on the vegetable flavor and sweetness of this bottle, I would imagine it will be a bit polarizing person-to-person but potentially more appealing to bourbon drinkers than other ryes. Drinking this one neat for the rest of the bottle I think. For this price, it'll always be on my shelf. Rittenhouse keeps blowing up on X.com/Twitter as the best possible option for an old fashioned, and I think I agree!
💵Would buy again? Absolutely
⚖️Rating Scale:
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume it by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but many things I'd rather have.
5 | Good | Good, an agreeable dram indeed
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.
10 | Perfect | Perfect.