Copper & Cask SavWay Fine Wine & Spirits Single Barrel Selection Straight Rye Whiskey

VITALS:

- $45

- 109.2 Proof

- 6 Years

- Indiana

Prior to buying this bottle, I hadn't had anything from Copper & Cask out of Rhode Island. A few buddies of mine have picked up bottles and, while they might not necessarily have raved about them, certainly indicated it was good stuff, at least the rye anyway.  Admittedly, I haven't heard much about their bourbons.

And when I say "their" rye, I mean their sourced rye. This is, of course, MGP rye, with the traditional 95/5 rye mashbill.  What made this an easy buy, though, was the fact that this is cask strength, single barrel 6 year MGP rye. Other distilleries are bottling this stuff and putting it on the shelves for close to twice the price. So, this was an easy grab for me off the shelf.

On the nose I got a light oak note along with some sweet caramel notes right away. That gave way to vanilla, with a black pepper spice to follow.  I did get a bit of a dill note, as well as a touch of mint, both of which I've come to expect from MGP ryes. But, they certainly weren't strong notes, and it was that vanilla and black pepper that took center stage.

When I took my first sip, though, it seemed the first things I noticed were that dill and mint. There was no question that this was MGP rye right away. It also had a spicy cinnamon note, rather than black pepper.  And the caramel note seemed a bit darker and richer, more like a toffee note.

This rye had something odd to it, however. There was a distinct coppery note to it. Kind of like that flavor left over after having pennies in your mouth.  I'm pretty sure this is more relatable than it sounds, right?  I also got a lot of vanilla coinciding with that copper note, and there was also something funky, almost like pine resin. This whiskey got a little weird in the middle.

The finish was dominated by a long-lasting vanilla note, as well as a bit of spearmint. This was particularly pronounced in the last few pours I enjoyed, and both flavors stuck around for quite a while. Meanwhile, that coppery note was luckily nowhere to be found on the finish.

All in all a decent whiskey, but it just had something weird going on with that copper note, and it was one of those things that once you noticed it, it was all you could notice.

Grade: B-