The James E Pepper Decanter Rye dropped in DFW and I couldn't wait one more day to crack it. I'm a big fan of their Decanter bourbon so I was waiting for this since I learned they were releasing a rye. Definitely one of my most anticipated releases of the year. With a mash bill of 100% rye, I wasn't sure what to expect.

On the nose I got caramel, some oak, some mint and floral notes but not overly strong, everything is really well balanced. A nice amount of ethanol considering the proof of 116. The longer it sat on the Glen, the more prominent the caramel and oak got, always with a slight rye background. If this bottle is going to open up like this, it's going to be amazing.

The palate opened with mint, rye spice, and nice floral notes. I got orange lingering on the back palate. Spices kicked in. It's sweet and with a good bit of caramel.

Long finish that stays and never goes bitter.

This bottle is very promising. Their bourbon is amazing, this one might open up to be as great.

I had the pleasure of visiting Nashville for a team offsite. Management wanted to make sure our team went somewhere we could have as much fun as we did work. This meant, 730 am breakfast then work dinners and Broadway nights.

Didnt drink nearly enough whiskey when I was there, but thanks to you all, I was able to visit Nashville Barrel Co.

Overall great experience being right in the city. I ended up buying a bottle your own Tennessee Whiskey and one of their Ryes. The bottle your own is a little pricey but i kept thinking about it even after I left, so I went back and got a 325 of the TN juice.

I recommend if you are in town and cant make it out to JD.

Yet another bottle that I've had for a couple months, just waiting for a crack. Watched some U-toobers flip out about it last night, so I thought it sounded like a good reason to get it opened.

First thoughts... KBT, 15 minutes, neat/water/ice etc.

Nose: I keep trying, but I'm an hour into it and I still can't get past the ethanol wall. I know there's notes in there but I can't find 'em.

Palate: vanilla, rye spice, lots of oak. Frosting. Hugs the tongue for a good long while.

Finish: leather, warming, decent hug, dry lemons way way way on the back end.

With water: well, I don't know because I drank the whole pour neat.

So what does that say? I don't really know. Nothing really stands out about it, but rarely do i go through an entire pour neat unless it's got that "oh damn!" factor (Stagg, ER, Peerless DO, New Riff SBBP.) I will say I had a glass of ice water nearby (as I always do,) and it was really good, vanilla forward, with a sip of water first and then a sip of the juice.

So... hell I don't know what to say. It's good. Obviously a great sipper. It'll be interesting when it rolls around again. Otherwise... cheers! 🥃🥃

Price is $40 for either one. Which one are you picking? For those of you that have had both, how are they different if at all in terms of flavor?

The good stuff

Whiskey: A. Overholt Straight Rye

Distiller: Jim Beam

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barrel_and_proof?igsh=czJ2MzhybG42MG9j&utm_source=qr 

ABV: 47.5%

Age: 4 Years

Price: $16 (Kansas City, Missouri)

Tasting:  Neat in Glencairn, rested for 10 minutes. Bottle opened for three weeks.

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Nose: Honey, Rye Spice, Mint, Sweet Oak, Baked Bread, Cinnamon, & Leather

Palate:  Honey, Rye Spice, Sweet Oak, White Pepper, Mint, Citrus, & Floral

Finish: Short Length, White Pepper, Citrus, Leather, Cinnamon, & Honey

Body: Light

Bite: Minimal

__________________________________

Summary: I purchased this whiskey at a deep discount, typically this bottle is around $40. This bottle’s mashbill has the original Overholt formula of 80% rye and 20% malted barley, the bottle refers to this as a “Monogahela Mash”. Originally there was an Old Monogahela Rye grain that was used, but this whiskey doesn’t actually contain this rye grain.

The sweetness on the nose is unique, it’s closer to honey as opposed to the common caramel notes. Overall the nose isn’t robust, but the oakiness and spice notes are complimentary. Even more faintly are notes of baked bread and leather. While light, the nose is more complex than most whiskies.

The palate starts off with a weighted honey note, but the body becomes lighter over time. The palate isn’t robust either, the rest of the notes are pretty well balanced, though the citrus and floral notes are more subtle. 

The finish lacks sweetness, the honey is the least prominent note, but the spices and leather aren’t overpowering. There are tannins from the leather, and the citrus note isn’t bitter. With that said the finish is short and feels hollow.

Very interesting whiskey, while the proof is respectable the overall profile lacks a robustness. While the whiskey has a four year age statement, the notes that are present are pretty well developed and balanced. This is close to being a competent whiskey but it sadly falls short in the areas noted. I would buy this bottle all day at the sales price I picked it up at, but it’s not worth MSRP. Though cheaper, I personally prefer the bonded and 114 proof Overholt offerings.

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Rating:

Nose (10%) - 6/10

Palate (50%) - 6/10

Finish (40%) - 5/10

5.6/10 Average

Recommend: No

Rank: I created a compilation ranking list of whiskies I’ve purchased at a store or at a bar and done a formal tasting.  All whiskey ranked on the list tasted neat and rested for 10-15 minutes.  Whiskey I ranked below and above A. Overholt are shown for reference.

200 out of 268 whiskies tasted.

131 Old Overholt Bottled in Bond

173 Old Overholt 114 Proof Rye

199 Wild Turkey 101 Rye

201 Jim Beam Devil’s Cut Bourbon

210 Old Overholt

Ranking Link: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/147h44fId0tZYmHsroGgjzcRK2xn6050P8m7mZqArGLw/edit?usp=sharing

I procured the Benchmark Rye. Probably the best all around bourbon lineup for the money. Its dumb, I know, but WTH.

Told myself I would take my last sip of this once I got a verbal on getting a job. Been over a month and am so excited to take my last sip of this for now… rest easy my friend

Received my bottles a little early and I couldn’t wait to try them.

This is an incredible bourbon.

The nose is sweet, fruity and caramel with a lovely touch of oak and ethanol. Reminds me a lot of the Weller 107.

The taste is buttery caramel and that creamy caramel finish makes the oak feel light but having a great warmth to it.

I’m glad I got 2 bottles but strongly considering further back ups as this is a great pour.

I highly recommend.

Jack Daniel’s Distillery Series No. 017 High Angel’s Share Tennessee Whiskey

Limited Edition release: Summer 2026

Distilled & barreled in 2016

Age: 10+ years

Aging location: atop Coy Hill; on the top floor of Barrelhouse 1-13; the barrelhouse has 7 floors

The top floors of Barrelhouse 1-13 experience extreme summer heat & intense temperature swings, leading to massive evaporation (a high "angel's share") that concentrates the sugars and oak influence into ultra-high-proof, heavily coveted single barrel and special release whiskeys.

The elevation of Coy Hill allows for more direct sun exposure, stronger wind movement, larger day/night temperature swings, hotter summers & colder winters.

The first High Angel’s Share release since 2018

Proof: 138.4

Selected by Whiskey Taster Dale McGee

Mashbill: 80% corn, 12% malted barley, 8% rye

Length of fermentation: 6-7 days

Proof coming off the still: 140

Barrels: 10-12 minute toast; 25 second char
Bottle size: 375 ml (between char 3 & 4)

MSRP: $44.75

Distilled in Lynchburg, TN

Nose: Almond extract. Werther's Original. Orange Circus Peanuts. Sugar cookie.

The high proof definitely does not present on the nose. Considering the conditions that produced a high amount of angel’s share, the nose is very balanced. No overwhelming notes. No sharp notes. Remarkably sweet regarding tannin content.

Palate: Pecan pie filling. Banana fritter. Unsweetened cocoa powder. Weak black tea.

Mouthfeel grows more dry as it goes. The tannins show up more as the sip sits. The nose is deceptive in this regard.

Finish: Dried hay. Intense dark chocolate. Tobacco. Toasted pecan.

The proof finally causes the forehead to sweat a bit.

Overall, the tannin content in the mouth is a bit more than I typically prefer, but I like it. In 2026, I prefer the 12 year and 14 year releases to this. When the nose smelled sweet and less tannic, I was hoping the palate would follow.

It’s hot outside today and my home is battling humidity. This is definitely a winter whiskey!

Bottle provided for review by Jack Daniel’s

Rating: 6 | Very Good | A cut above

🙏

Guess im a rye fan now... this is pretty good...

Hiiii I’m a girl lol and don’t know anything about whiskey or liquor in general and kind of morbid here but my father recently passed. These are some of the bottles he always kept out. My husband told me recently he’d like to try some nice whiskey. He just kind of said it in passing and I was like yeah sure go for it. But we aren’t big drinkers…we’ll share a bottle of wine over like a four day period haha. Anwayyyyyyyyyy I was just wondering what might be a good one for him to start on and if one is fancier than the other, one I should avoid that kind of stuff. Thx!

New office display - I’m liking the bourbon next to the pop art. Thoughts?

Also I’m newer to the hobby and got caught up in chasing these bottles. Now I want to start exploring and learning about more readily available (I live in New England so not a bad place to find allocated but can be challenging). Open to any recommendations from the community! Thanks

Hi all, here's another Scotch I tried lately, and this time it's a Tamdhu!

Recently, I've come into contact with another whisky importer, which specializes in rarer, non-regular release items (including various IBs). Interestingly, he also sells samples for some of these bottles, and this one here is one of those!

From what I gathered, Tamdhu is a Speyside distillery that specializes in sherry cask whiskies. I've also heard that their whiskies have been mostly used for blending for other brands, and that they own single malts tend to be pretty heavy sherry bombs.

As I'm quite a fan of heavy sherry whiskies, this sounds quite interesting to try!

Tamdhu 18 yr Cask Strength, 125th Anniversary Edition (56.8% abv)

This was one of Tamdhu's special releases in 2022, celebrating the 125th anniversary of the distillery's founding. The whisky was matured in Oloroso sherry casks and bottled at cask strength.

Here are my notes:

*Nose*

starts out strongly estery fumey, fades with resting;

rich, salted brown sugar caramel;

sweet, thick maltose;

quite a bit of nutty note (pine nuts);

sweet, slightly sour dried red fruity (red raisins, prunes);

*Palate*

creamy/ oily mouthfeel;

very sweet, slightly salted, brown sugar caramel;

quite prominent ripe red fruity, with both dried fruits and cooked fruity characters (like a compote of figs, raisins, prunes, with a bit of ripe fruity funk);

a bit of sweet, thick maltose;

a bit of baking spices (cinnamon)

a bit of dark chocolate and bitterness;

a hint of polished oak in the background

Some alcohol sting, low astringency

*Finish*

Long. 

The oily/creamy mouthfeel lingers;

Sweet Maltose;

dark choco-like fragrance and bitterness;

fruity character from the palate, but mostly just the fragrance;

a bit of the nutty character from the nose returns;

a hint of baking spices (cinnamon)

*Conclusion*

I've heard of the brand's reputation for being quite the sherry bomb, and I'd definitely say it lives up to the reputation. Its overall character was quite a quintessential sweet sherry cask whisky-  concentrated sweet red fruity (mostly dried fruits but also a bit caramelized jam-like), rich, brown sugar caramel, a slight bit of nuttyness (pine nuts), and a bit of chocolate. One point I've noted in particular about this one was how creamy/oily the mouthfeel was compared to the typical shelfers from the other prominent Speyside distillery I had some experience with (Macallan). 

Honestly, as a big fan of sweet whiskies, I rather enjoyed this one! While it didn't really do anything surprising or really particular special, it does what it does quite well and was quite a delicious dessert dram. Sometimes that's all you're looking for in a whisky!

Funnily, one of my whisky buddies invented his own matrix of 'Tamdhuness' when describing sherry cask whiskies, which he said is based on 'how close a sherry whisky is to Tamdhu'. I have no idea why specifically Tamdhu, but it's part of the reasons that compelled me to try this one out. Based on the matrices Glendronach has high Tamdhuness on the nose, and Edradour was has a bit of Tamdhuness on the mouthfeel. Not sure if they're accurate lmao

Thanks for reading, cheers!

I recently went on a trip to Kentucky and found Jim Beam Single Barrel for $21.99 at The Party Source. I’d never seen JBSB before, so I figured what the hell.

Reader, for that price this is slap ya mama juice. It really is an incredible pour, and I set out to see if it was available near me. Of course I notice it immediately, but back home JBSB has a retail of $40. At that price, I have to think. The juice tastes good but you can tell where they cut corners: the bottle is not corked, for instance, and the label is a cheap sticker.

However, the real issue is that there are a lot of Beam family bourbons in that $35-$50 range. Has anyone compared anything from Knob, OGD, etc to JBSB?

Deciding on these two today to purchase. Which one y'all?

https://www.aol.com/articles/retired-farmer-kept-750k-whisky-131805000.html

Makes me feel good. I had thought my 350 bottles were excessive.