Photo courtesy of http://baconfestchicago.com/
A while back, we found a fantastic assortment of little tiny bottles on G-LO’s front step. In the care package, were sample bottles of Four Roses (Yellow Label, Small Batch, and Single Barrel), Carpano Antica, Punt E Mes, and Templeton Rye.
When it comes to rye whiskey, I am always a little confused as most, if not all, seems to come from the old Lawrenceburg Distillers facility in Indiana that is now owned by MGP Ingredients. The Indiana facility produces the 95% rye whiskey bottled under the brand names of Bulleit, High West, Filibuster, James E. Pepper, Redemption, and Smooth Ambler. Still other rye whiskey is produced in Indiana and then trucked to distillers for filtering and bottling (i.e., George Dickel Rye). So, when rye whiskey comes to the table, let’s just say that I am a little suspicious that the liquid isn’t coming from the same spigot as all of the other rye, and that the only difference between them is the ABV and shape of the bottle. With that in mind, we poured out a healthy sample of the Templeton Rye, which not surprisingly is produced at the LDI facility and then tankered to Iowa for bottling.
Here is what Templeton has to say about their Rye:
Much like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, at Templeton Rye, we believe taste depends on the taster. So while we focus our on making consistently superior rye whiskey, we prefer to let you determine what flavors you detect in our product.
And now for our impressions of this whiskey…
- Appearance: Pale copper color with great lacing.
- Aroma
- Limpd: Alcohol, furniture polish, citrus, and menthol (like the vapor action effect of a Hall’s).
- G-LO: Light and fragrant with hints of orange zest, coca, peppermint, vanilla, allspice, and black pepper.
- Taste
- Limpd: Spicy (more black pepper than cinnamon) and sweet (more minty than syrupy) with a bit of citrus (orange, lemon, lime) and just the slightest, warming finish.
- G-LO: Very light bodied with just a bit of alcohol burn. Lightly sweet with a solid herbal, minty backbone. Very short finish.
- ABV: 40%
The Verdict
I would say the Templeton is too low in ABV to distinguish itself from all of the other rye whiskies. There just wasn’t enough in the flavor profile to generate the complexity of some other ryes. G-LO felt that this one of those times when he wished we were doing a side-by-side with some of the other LDI/MGP ryes to really see how Templeton differs from the rest.
Ultimately, we agreed that while we liked the Templeton Rye, it might not be worth the couple of extra bucks. G-LO thought that given the price point ($35+) and relatively low ABV, he would go for the Bulleit Rye (higher octane, lower price, and richer flavor), or even better, he would spend $20 and pick up the Wild Turkey 81 Rye.
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Many thanks to The Baddish Group for providing us with these very generous samples!
Categories: Booze Review, Templeton Rye
AMKrouse
The Alemonger
G-LO
limpd
The Wookie
The ROK
Sarah -BeautifulTangibleThings
The Astounding Prism
It's just the booze dancing... 
This makes the best manhattans, though. With carpano Antica or punt e mes, YUM!
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And, who doesn’t like a good Manhattan. I just expected it to be a little better alone.
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I’ve never tried it alone. I should. I do like rye.
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Interestingly enough, after reviewing this Rye, we moved onto Manhattans but decided to go with the Bulleit thanks to it’s higher octane. But that’s the subject of another post…
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I like Bulleit, and have had it in Manhattans as well. But I prefer the Templeton because it’s smoother and slightly lower octane. I’m already drinking a multi shot cocktail. I like some portion control.
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Totally understand. I used to be the same way, ie didn’t like my drinks to taste TOO boozy. Things change though (palates evolve). I guess we booze dancing guys might have a few problems. 😉
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Well, it’s just like beer. There used to be one beer, called “beer,” now there are legions of variety!
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Ain’t it wonderful? It has allowed us to do what we do: spread the word to anyone that will listen or at least drink with us.
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Randomish, question, do you get Full Sail Brewing out there?
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I believe we do. Have only tried one so far. Tried their Christmas Ale many years ago. Is there one you highly recommend?
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One of our local whisky experts, Stuart Ramsey, has been doing his pairings with the Full Sail LTD Black Bock. That’s their newer winter lager. That beer is great on it’s own, but fantastic as a “beer back.”
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Sounds interesting. I trust your opinion. I’ll keep an eye out for it!
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Spot on review.
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Thanks. Every once in a while, I guess we get one right.
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Oh come on. We have exceptional taste!
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I have visited many Temples. In fact, I have visited more than ten; however, I have yet to attend services at the correct ten temples because the only rye occasionally encountered at any is of the bread variety (often in company of some offensive cold, flat, flabby meat). Not to be confused, mind you, with similar ryes perched atop a glorious mound of hot pastrami at a very different sort of temple – Katz’s Deli.
Given your review of this liquid rye, I’ll probably stick to Angel’s Envy or, perhaps, R1.
And now for the flatbed of green EZ-GO golf carts…..
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And, at some of the temples they give you a neat little hat.
For the money, I can’t disagree with your choices (and, you know how I really want to disagree with you).
Make sure you lock the brake on that golf cart. Trust me you only make that mistake once.
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Interestingly enough, I’ve only been to Temple twice. Once for a wedding and once for a funeral. You would have approved of the wedding! Happy Hour before the ceremony which had a plethora of food, i.e. hand carved turkey, stir fry, sushi, and so much more. And here’s the kicker, your people brought their drinks into the wedding ceremony! Respect!
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Much respect, however, I’m not sure there’s all that much difference between weddings and funerals..
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Last week I was having some with peanut butter fudge and it reminded me of a glass full of Christmas trees without the music that usually accompanies them. It was quite pleasant actually.
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Whiskey and fudge! Not a bad way to pass the time.
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The Templeton wasn’t awful, it just wasn’t special. Since it’s the same juice that goes into other similar products but at a lower proof and at a much higher price, I can’t recommend the purchase as there are better options at a lower price.
As far as the Rye and chocolate combo, I too have tried this. My combo was Wild Turkey 81 Rye ($20 per bottle FYI) and Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa Intense Dark. Delicious!
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right
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If you can get your hands on some of the original couple of bottlings of Templeton Rye, you’d be much more impressed. But demand got the better of them and they shifted to LDI. Definitely a difference in a side-by-side taste test.
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Thanks for the tip! We’ll keep our eyes open.
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