True Story Vol. 2 Rye Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas

When the Hendersons, the founding family of Angel’s Envy Bourbon, announced the launch of their new whiskey company in September 2024, the word came with two new expressions. The company is called True Story, and the first expression was dubbed “Volume One,” a bourbon in an opaque black bottle. That was accompanied by Volume Two, in an opaque white bottle.

Like their start at Angel’s Envy, the Henderson’s have based these inaugural releases on sourced whiskey and cask finishing. This white bottle contains a batching of five to eight year old sourced rye, with secondary maturation of two to twelve months in Brazilian Amburana hardwood and Pedro Ximenez (PX) Sherry casks. Note that by and, I do not mean some from one cask type and some from another. I mean all the whiskey was finished in both cask types.

Brazilian Amburana, colloquially known as Brazilian oak, is noted for its essential oils. In terms of spirits, it’s most often used to age that fiery cachaca, but it has an made appearance in the American whiskey scene once before. RD1 Spirits has a bourbon finished in Amburana casks. So, this is the second time around generally and the first time around for a rye. True Story Rye is bottled at 100 proof.

The Whiskey
True Story Rye has a coloring that sits on my boundary between copper and light amber, so definitely very orange. The nose is fruitcake through and through: earthy chocolate; dried fruits and especially a handful of juicy, booze-soaked raisins; cake spices. The flavor turns sharply back into staple rye territory: earthy, dry, spicy, with some citrus zest. The finish ran earthy, dry and spicy as well, before fading back to that boozy raisin note from the nose.

This is one of those whiskeys that would do well enough for sipping, but where I think it would really shine (insofar as neat pours are concerned) is as a dessert whiskey. At 100 proof, it’s got the heft for a digestif as well. In that role, it would be superb.

The Price
Expect to pay $70 for a bottle.