Bespoken Spirits Rye Whiskey Batch 1 Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B

For ten years now, coinciding with the whiskey boom, a constant theme in the industry has been new entrants looking for ways to shortcut Father Time. The classic way of producing a mature American whiskey requires between four and ten years in the barrel, and although some new distillers have taken that route, many more have chosen to work around it.

Unlike some purists, who somehow became purists without knowing their history, I don’t automatically scoff at the idea that these shortcuts exist. The Lincoln County Process that stands as the signature of Tennessee Whiskey is a short cut that is more than a century and a half old, testament to the plain fact that it works, at least in some respects. I like to describe maturation as a dance between time, climate and wood, but the name of that dance is chemistry. I have never lost sight of the fact that there is more than one way to control chemistry, so I judge these laboratory shortcuts on their results.

Started in 2018, Bespoken Spirits is another company trying to use science to work around Father Time. With $2.6 million in funding from baseballer Derek Jeter and semiconductor industrialist T.J. Rodgers, the company uses “proprietary ACTivation technology [which] makes it possible to extract the key elements of the barrel that enhance aroma, color, and taste but with precision, control, and speed.” They claim this allows them to produce a mature whiskey in a matter of days, with far less resource consumption and loss to evaporation.

The Whiskey
That is a tall claim, but I think the folks at Bespoken Spirits may be onto something. Bottled at 100 proof, this first batch of Bespoken Rye that I was able to sample had a scent of caramel candy apples, with a hint of bard-dried tobacco. Sipping on the whiskey followed in that caramel apple vein, with a spicy current of hot cinnamon and a light fruity note of cherries. The finish was more indistinct, being a touch sweet and a touch peppery.

I doubt anyone will describe this rye with terms like complex, subtle or sophisticated (at least not from an independent standing). To be sure, it’s a simple whiskey, but one that is lovely and flavorful. Most important, it has none of the drawbacks that have come with any of the other shortcut-to-aging whiskeys I have tried. To repeat from  the above paragraph, I think these folks are onto something.

The Price
The 375 ml half bottles of Bespoken Rye are available for between $35 and $40 with online retailers.