We all have our preferences. When it comes to American Whiskey, one of us prefers rye and rye-forward Bourbon, while one of us prefers wheat and wheat-forward Bourbon. A week or so ago we reviewed a wheat whiskey and we both walked (crawled?) away having enjoyed it. Will the same thing happen when we discuss a rye whiskey? Let’s find out!

Today’s video features a single barrel rye whiskey from Purcellville, Virginia’s Catoctin Creek Distillery which G-LO purchased during a visit to the actual distillery. This whiskey was purchased as part of a sample pack that featured three different Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye expressions which were bottled at three different ABVs. The expression we’ll be discussing is the Distiller’s Edition which clocks in at 46% ABV. We call this the Goldilocks Edition because it wedges in between the base Roundstone Rye (40% ABV) and the Cask Proof (58.9% ABV) expressions.

Here are more than a few words about the Distiller’s Edition taken directly from the Catoctin Creek website:

Only one in every ten barrels gets selected to be in the Roundstone Rye “92 Proof” whisky.

This whisky is the culmination of several years of planning. “For a few years now, we’ve been putting whisky away for storage,” remarked Becky Harris, Chief Distiller and President of Catoctin Creek Distilling Company. “We pulled some of the more interesting barrels from the back of the warehouse and decided to release these at a higher proof: a whisky specially curated for flavor, while still being remarkably smooth, as is our existing 80 proof Roundstone.”

“We are very excited about this new product,” said Scott Harris, Founder and General Manager of Catoctin Creek. “We discussed this new product with customers like Jack Rose Whisky Saloon, The Passenger, and our distributors, and all agreed that this would be a great new product for the distillery. And what’s cool, since we’re a small distillery, we can be responsive to this kind of market input.”

To find out what we thought of what sounds like a VERY carefully crafted rye whiskey, click play on the following video:

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