Coppercraft Rye Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B-

Coppercraft Rye
(Credit: Coppercraft Distillery

One of the things I like to warn folks about is just because someone has a blog does not mean she knows what she’s blogging about. Even some who work as journalists and produce paid work for mainstream publications sometimes have a depressing inability to separate their opinions from fact or distinguish what they actually know from what they think they know when writing for themselves.

That is pertinent for this particular review because of the mash bill of Coppercraft Rye: 95% rye, 5% malted barley. Someone with just a little bit of knowledge would seize on that and say “Aha! That is sourced from Indiana!” But as they say, a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. A lot of distilleries are making 95% rye nowadays, and they’re doing it so they can have an in-house spirit similar to the sourced whiskey they did indeed buy from MGP in Indiana. Others make that kind of rye because they hired a consultant who used to work at MGP.

Coppercraft Rye is an example of a growing category in craft whiskey: a blend of in-house and sourced whiskeys. Once we get past what the mash bill statement really means, there isn’t a lot of information except that it’s bottled at 90 proof.

The Whiskey
The look on Coppercraft Rye is golden, between white wine and apple juice. Coating the glass with a swish left a sprinkle of decent legs all around it.

A sniff gave me gingerbread, root beer and cedar, so it’s a rye that is as spicy as it is sweet, and the woody side has some character. The flavor was pumpernickel rye bread, but giving way to a toasted and more general kind of cereals character as it went on. The finish pushed on past that and into all-toast.

The Price
This Michigan rye goes for $43 a bottle.