Iowa Legendary White Rye Whiskey Review

By Father John Rayls

Rating: B

The aged and unaged siblings from Iowa Legendary Rye
(Credit: Iowa Legendary Rye)

If you’ve ever listened to someone with passion trying to start a business, you’ve heard the tales of excitement, challenge and fulfillment. If you listened closely, you also heard the tales of fear, inadequacy and failure. Thomas Edison once said “I have not failed. I’ve found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  Edison’s message there is that you haven’t failed until you quit trying.

Few groups of entrepreneurs knows this better than those trying to start new distilleries. Even in the middle of whiskey boom years like we’re in now, it’s very difficult for the average person to secure sufficient funding and expertise. Being in a boom in some ways makes finding a market for your product harder, since there are now well over a thousand craft distillers operating in the U.S.

The Iowa Legendary Rye owners have passionately chosen a path of authenticity and grain to glass distilling, as well as selling some unaged product in the form of their white whiskey. There is some authenticity to that as well, since they are found in Carroll County, Iowa, a hotbed of Prohibition era Iowa moonshining and bootlegging.

The Whiskey
Iowa Legendary Rye uses 100% un-malted rye. The appearance was colorless, although the highlights take on the color of silver as light passes through the glass. The nose was readily available, and reminded me of the beer used for distillation with very similar aromas. At first, it had a strong presence of sweet cereal fermentation, but this was quickly replaced with aromas of sweet cherries, with very light leather.

On the palate, there was a light creamy mouthfeel, with a flavor filled with a light sweet fruitiness and minimal mouth action taking place at the rear. It was filled with cherries, floralness and very light leather.

However, the sweetness is limited and balanced. If the sweetness were heavier, you might be reminded of a chocolate covered cherry cordial. It was really an odd sensation, and yet it drew me in. The finish seemed almost nonexistent, very slightly peppery with the faint cherry cordial experience continuing.

This is a very easy sipping rye that is lightly sweet.  I’m not a consumer of White Dog generally.  However, this is the very best that I’ve tried.  It would also be very good as a mixer for sweeter cocktails.

The Price
You should find it around the $30.00 to $40.00 price point.