Shady Mile High Rye Bourbon Review

By Douglas Fraser

Rating: A-

Shady Mile Rye Bourbon
(Credit: Shady Mile)

Shady Mile is said to be made (sourced) from the tenth oldest distillery in the state of Kentucky, and named after a point in the country roads where bootleggers met to conduct business and have a sip of whiskey. The whiskey is known to come from Owensboro, and Green River Distillery is licensed as DSP-KY-10, so that is probably where the “10th oldest” claim comes from. If that connection of the dots isn’t the right answer, then it would be very interesting to see what they mean by that.

The Bourbon
Although seeming a little young, the bourbon has plenty of depth and complexity along with keeping some of those smooth traditional bourbon notes. A few more years in a barrel would make this an absolute superior bourbon. The mashbill consists of 70% corn, 21% rye, and 9% malted barley. The rye bourbon is aged in new charred oak barrels, entering the barrel at 120 proof and bottled at 90 proof/45% ABV.

Color: Rich Amber

The nose begins with sweet brown sugar and cherry pie notes. This is balanced well with additional notes of rye spice, baking spices, and buttered bread. The palate begins the same with heavy baking spice notes. This then fades to a more cereal flavor with notes of cocoa, charred oak, vanilla, brown sugar, and red berries. The finish is long and welcoming with continuous charred oak notes as well as lingering cocoa and fading rye spice.

The Price
Shady Mile High Rye Bourbon can be found for $30 USD.

Editor’s Note: Although Shady Mile labels this a “High Rye” bourbon, we formally don’t regard anything with a flavoring grain of less than 25% as “high.”