Square 6 High Rye Rye Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B

Heaven Hill was the pioneer of “urban bourbon” destinations in downtown Louisville. Although it is often forgotten, before they opened the Evan Williams Experience on Main Street, there were no destination distilleries in the city. Although Louisville was a center for the industry, what was there (in Shively) was very industrial in nature and not open to the public. Angel’s Envy, Peerless, Michter’s, Jim Beam and Old Forester would all come later.

As a legitimate distillery working on a craft scale, the intent from the beginning was to use the facility to tinker and experiment. Many big distillers have embraced the notion of having a separate craft-scale distillery on their premises for this purpose, so what Heaven Hill did was simply put theirs in a building in downtown Louisville and design it from the ground up as a tourist destination.

The first release from Evan Williams Experience was Square 6, Batch 1 in Spring 2021. Its release was the first bourbon event I was able to attend after the lifting of the Pandemic lockdown. Note this is not the same thing as the current High Rye Bourbon (which we will review soon), although the two come from the same mash bill. The first batch was five years old, while the current version is eight!

Following Batch 1 was Square Six High Rye Rye Whiskey, which uses a 63% rye mash bill. That is a high rye for a Kentucky distiller; Kentucky-style ryes are known for being high corn, having often having 51 to 53% rye content. More broadly, not so much: liquor and bar shelves have plenty of whiskeys made with 95% rye. Even so, it makes for an interesting contrast against Rittenhouse and Pikesville. Square 6 High Rye Rye doesn’t have an age statement.

The Whiskey
One thing is different straight off the bat: the color. Typically ryes have a coloring that I don’t even describe as copper, being too light for amber, but not here. This is a middle ambered rye.

The nose has some qualities I usually associate with malted ryes, although no malted rye was used here. It smacks of savory herbs, like a loaf of Jewish rye bread. Rosemary, thyme, sage and dill loom large as the spiced elements, but there are also currents of toasted grains and molasses. The palate follows identically, providing the what you smell is what you taste experience. The finish, however, leads with toasty, dry wood. As that oak fades, it is replaced a rising tide of savory herbs and molasses, and this is what lingers.

The Price
As one might expect, as Square 6 isn’t a mass produced product, a bottle isn’t cheap. This one will set you back $90.