Woodinville Straight Rye is made from a 100% rye mashbill and uses no malted rye. Which means to kick off the conversion from starch to sugar for fermentation they use an external enzyme. They supposedly age it only in 53-gallon barrels, but like I noted on the Woodinville Straight Bourbon release they list used 8-gallon and used 53-gallon barrels on their site and one can’t help but wonder what happens to the whiskey aged in the 8-gallon barrels…

Woodinville Straight Rye Review: Details and Tasting Notes

In Woodinville’s Words: Woodinville Straight Rye

“This 100% rye starts with pure, traditionally-grown rye cultivated exclusively for us on the Omlin family farm in Quincy, Washington. The grain is mashed, distilled & barreled in our Woodinville distillery – then trucked back over the Cascade Mountains to our private barrel houses, where Central Washington’s extreme temperature cycles promote the extraction of natural flavors from the oak.
Prior to being coopered, the barrel wood is seasoned in open air, rain, wind, sun and snow for eighteen months softening the wood’s harsh tannins. They are then slowly toasted and heavily charred to further enrich the wood’s desirable flavors. The result of this meticulous process yields a truly hand-crafted whiskey with aromas of cinnamon, clove, and fruit leather, and notes of caramel, wood spice, and honey on the palate with a long, memorable finish that will leave you anticipating your next sip.”

Woodinville Straight Rye price, ABV, age and other details

Region: Washington, USA

Distiller: Woodinville
Mash Bill: 100% Rye
Cask: New Charred Oak
Age: NAS
ABV: 45%

Price: $55

Woodinville Straight Rye Tasting Notes

EYE
Caramel

NOSE
Spice, dusty candy, toffee, raw grain, raw wood / sawdust, citrus, honey and some fruit.

PALATE
Spice, grain, toffee, fruit, raw wood and some leather and honey.

FINISH
Med -> fruit, spice and oil.

BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Med, soft and smooth

Woodinville Straight Rye Review: OVERALL

Like the Woodinville Bourbon, the Woodinville Straight Rye carries that note of “raw wood” / sawdust essence that doesn’t quite scream maturity. There are a lot of great qualities to this whiskey and, again, I can see the promise it holds, but it needs a bit more maturity to strip out that character. Once it does I can see this as easily being a great whiskey and I hope LVMH is working with them to achieve that.

SCORE: 80-82/100 (B-, not consumed at home)

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