The Whiskey Reviewer A World of Whiskey, Poured Every Weekday
By Richard Thomas
Rating: B+
Back when croaking “craft whiskey sucks” was a thing in blogs and forums, I often found myself occupying a space between said croakers and the sometimes too-superlative coverage got in the major media. The latter often misunderstood who they were writing about and what made them special; the former regularly confused “different” or “not famous” with “bad.”
Much has changed since that time; what is usually meant by “craft whiskey” as sector is now at least 15 years old. Nothing puts the gaining maturity of the whiskey made by small distillers than the ever-growing list of bonded expressions those distillers are putting out. Some of them aren’t just releasing bonded whiskeys, but building on those bonded whiskeys by making them older.
The prime example is Colorado’s Laws Whiskey House. They followed the release of a Bonded Four Grain Bourbon by upping the age statement from the statutory minimum of four years to six years; now they have given their rye whiskey the same treatment.
The whiskey has a familiar 95% rye, 5% malted barley mash bill, and I can already hear the croakers cry “it’s sourced from MGP,” but that assumption is sometimes wrong nowadays. A handful of distilleries other than MGP have put their own particular stamp on that mash bill, and Laws is one of them. Some of them are replacing their sourced MGP products with in-house production, and want to stay close to their known flavor profile; others were advised by old MGP hands on how to make whiskey; and I suspect still others want their rye to be something like the familiar sourced ryes already out there, but better.
In any case, Laws Whiskey House made this stuff from Colorado-grown rye in full compliance with the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897, no slight of hand required. Making progressively older whiskeys, aged in standard 53-gallon barrels, has been part of their plan all along.
The Whiskey
Rye whiskeys often have a deep copper color, just not dark enough to be properly called amber, but this one is different. The look in the glass is a reddened amber to be sure, but not quite light enough to resemble the copper still it was made in.
The nose combines that malty-style pumpernickel with freshly cut grass, plus notes of musty wood and molasses. From there, the flavor turns much spicier. Instead of pumpernickel, it’s herbaceous with peppermint, anise and fennel. The sweet aspect turns from molasses to caramel, and the woody end goes from mustiness to charred. The finish jinks away from the spiciness, however, running to sweet leaf tobacco instead.
This is a lovely rye, and one that points to how whiskey is so much more than the sum of a mash bill at that, because it is so unlike any of the mature MGP-derived ryes I’ve had over the years. The grade received puts it in a class with a clutch of whiskeys that are two to four years older, making it a very good pour and actually a reasonable buy. This is especially true when you compare it around and recall that any older rye often costs more than a similar bourbon
The Price
Expect to pay $75 per 750ml bottle for Laws 6 Year Old San Luis Valley Bottled in Bond Rye.
There is a very particular – that I am best able to describe as plastic-y in their standard offering. I have smelled this in certain Ryes, e.g. low end High West, Woodinville, a bit in Stellum. However, none in Crown Royal 16y nor in Alberta Premium.
First, I would like to know how to characterize this dominate element. Second, I would like to know if it goes away….