Distiller: Michter’s

Release: 2020

Bourbon: Toasted Barrel Rye

Region: Louisville, Kentucky

Price: $50.00

Proof: 106.8

Age:  No age Statement

The Barrel Cellar Score:  91 Points

Review Date: 12/28/2020

About the Bourbon: Toasted Barrel Finish Rye is a special release from Michter’s Distillery. The rye whisky was left to fully mature in white oak barrels before being finished in a new toasted (but un-charred) barrel. Michter’s toasted barrel sour mash was one of my favorite releases last year, so I was ecstatic to to get my hands on this one. Would it live up to my expectations?

I enjoyed the whiskey for this review using a set of Prestige diamond whiskey glasses.

Color: Maple Syrup

Nose:  Graham cracker, cherry pie filling, honey, and oak

Taste: Cinnamon, dark roast coffee, brown sugar, Golden Graham cereal, molasses, pie crust, black pepper, and a slight hint of carrot. Drop a couple of ice cubes and notes of cocoa, peanut brittle, and burnt sugar emerge.

Finish:  Sustained with vanilla, leather, butter cream , black pepper, oak, and honey.

Assessment: In my experience rye whiskey, when aged in a second barrel, tends to soften both in spiciness and heat. While this is a great whiskey from start to end, the finish is definitive strong point, so let’s start there; the finish is fantastically dry and full of perfectly integrated oak tannins. It’s also sustained with a touch of honey being the flavor note lasting the longest on my palate.

The whiskey as a whole, is well rounded with equal notes of sweet (from the barrels) and spicy (from the rye). It is medium bodied, has a slightly oily mouthfeel, and is considerably smoother than other rye whiskies in its price range. This is absolutely a bottle I would recommend to rye and bourbon drinkers alike.

Michter’s Toasted barrel Finish Rye is a very good whiskey. 91 points.

Special Offer

Prestige Decanters is offering our readers an 8% discount on all their products, including the diamond whiskey glasses used in my review of this whiskey as well as a wide variety of beautiful decanters.  Use promo code “BarrelCellar” at checkout. Prestige’s products really are beautiful, they will make great conversation pieces for visiting friends and family, or a great gift.  Read my review on a couple of the items here.

I’d like to offer a special thank you to Binny’s Beverage Depot for selling me this hard-to-find bottle of Rye!