- $50
- 95 Proof
- 3 Years
- Kentucky
I really do love free whiskey! Such was the case with this bottle, a gift from a friend who had borrowed my car to go to Louisville for Bourbon and Beyond. As a thank you, he brought me back a bottle of Rabbit Hole Boxergrail rye.
I've never had anything from Rabbit Hole. I've been to their distillery, or at least next to it. I've even peaked in the windows. But, I've never tasted anything they've made. I don't have any reason for it other than I just never got around to trying it. Luckily, thanks to this gift, I finally got a chance to give their three-year rye a chance.
On the nose it came across as soft and sweet. I got a sweeter cinnamon note, missing some of the expected spice. I also got a bit of mint. That seemed to pair with a sweet, soft vanilla that provided a sort of foundation for the other notes. It smelled great, but certainly wasn't pungent.
As for flavor, that sweet vanilla and mint was immediately noticeable up front. Unlike on the nose, however, these flavors were much more pronounced. They provided the backbone for everything else going on in my glass.
In addition to the vanilla, I got occasional notes of black pepper and maybe even root beer. That vanilla with the various spice notes I got form the rye created a flavor that was kind of a cream soda mixed with ginger beer. It was sweet and spicy, but not the typical spice I'm used to out of rye. I really liked that unique flavor.
On the finish the cinnamon notes really seemed to take hold. Once again, though, it wasn't a spicy cinnamon but rather a sweet cinnamon. It had a sort of cinnamon toast note to it.
I was ultimately very pleasantly impressed by this bottle. I find that ryes tend to fall into either the spicy or sweet category, and this is in that sweet category. I tend to enjoy both for different reasons, and albeit on the sweet end of the spectrum, I did enjoy this one as well.
Grade: B/B+
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