Smooth Ambler Founder’s Cask Strength Rye Review (Batch 2, 2021)

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B

Like so many other well-established small whiskey companies, West Virginia’s Smooth Ambler is in the midst of transitioning from being a bottler of sourced whiskeys to a fully independent distillery. Their current line-up reflects this, with a foot in all three types of products such a company might produce. Old Scout is their entirely sourced brand, reflecting the company’s past, while Contradiction is a blend of in-house and sourced whiskey. Founder’s Cask Strength is entirely in-house, as implied by the name.

Smooth Ambler made their in-house rye in a very not-Kentucky style and more in the vein of neighboring Pennsylvania, utilizing a mash bill of 88% rye and 12% malted barley, with no corn at all. They also used what they call “infusion cooking,” which is to cook their mash slower and at a lower temperature than is the industry norm. The maturation in the middle Appalachian mountains is just as much a part of the process, perhaps more, than mashing and cooking. It’s milder, than whiskeys made in surrounding, lowland areas, but also not as dry a climate as the whiskeys from the western Rocky Mountain regions. The bottle covered here is from 2021’s Batch 2, and is a 5 year old, 61.6% ABV whiskey.

The Whiskey
A pour of the pure Smooth Ambler rye has that orange, coppered bent of amber that so many rye whiskeys do. The nose was spicy in a herbaceous, evergreen way, with a dollop of black treacle. The flavor evolves from there, bringing peppermint, clove and caramel. The finish is short, but leans hard on the candied aspect of the whiskey.

This is a simple rye, so anyone looking for something sophisticated should look elsewhere… but why anyone would go to a 5 year old, cask strength rye with a bold mash bill like this one for sophistication is beyond me. Instead, it’s virtues are in its robust, straightforward flavor. I think it will prove perfect for summertime drinking on the rocks, and seeing how I wrote this in late summer, have set that bottle in the picture aside for next year. I’m looking forward to bringing it back out come July 2023.

The Price
Officially, this item goes for $65 a bottle.