Treaty Oak Red Handed 10 Year Old Rye Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B-

Treaty Oak of Texas is following a very well-traveled path of mixing in-house products with sourced brands, as it builds its stock of aged spirits and its reputation. This is such a staple of small distilling in America that I find myself scoffing at the croakers who continue to gripe about it, especially when a distillery clearly says “this is sourced. Treaty Oak not only does that, they even make a little sarcastic humor: their sourced whiskeys are called “Red Handed” as a snarky jibe at being caught sourcing whiskey.

What makes Red Handed stand out a bit from the sourced rye whiskey pack is that it is not from MGP in Indiana. This 10 year old whiskey, bottled at 100 proof, has a mashbill of 53% rye, 39% corn, 8% barley, in some ways in keeping with the Kentucky style of rye whiskey. Don’t let that throw you, though: the whiskey comes from the old Schenley Distillery in Quebec. Seeing as how it’s a Canadian import, it’s an open question whether all the stock was aged in new white oak or not, that not being required in Canada. So, think of it as a Texas spin on what WhistlePig and Masterson’s did: go up north and find a stock of aged rye whiskey to work with.

The Whiskey
A pour of Red Handed Rye is pale and straw-like, looking a lot like white wine. Coating the inside of the glass leaves behind a curtain of tears.

The scent is built on a foundation of graham crackers with wads of clay and a modest current of dry pepper. A taste is quite a different experience, however. It’s much sweeter on the tongue, mixing ginger cookies and graham crackers now, this tinged with hot cinnamon on the back end. Add to that a very light note of dill and you’ve got the whole picture. The finish is light, a little peppery and dry, and after that fades away one is left with a lingering oily feeling on the tongue.

The Price
Red Handed Rye is officially listed at $65, but I’ve seen it with online retailers for down at $56.