Michter's Distillery 10 Year Old Rye is the brainchild of master distiller Willie Pratt. Pratt, a maturation perfectionist with over forty years of distilling experience, is known as "Dr. No"since he often refuses to bottle aging barrels of whiskey. According to Pratt, whiskey that is aged for over a decade hits a "fork in the road,"and can either become incredible or unpalatable. "One of the barrels we sampled was unbelievably woody," Magliocco says. "And we reject that, we literally sewer it. Willie had another barrel that tasted delicious, but the consistency was like molasses, and we obviously couldn't sell that."
Michter's Distillery 10 Year Old Single Barrel Rye is a sourced whiskey that Pratt realized had hit its peak. The single barrel rye has a dark caramel color, along with an aroma of vanilla, mocha and melted butter. The aroma gives way to notes of thick caramel, herbs, botanicals, thyme and black pepper, and finishes with a touch of cloves.
One of their most limited production items, Michter's 10 Year Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Rye continues the legacy of America's first whiskey variety (rye) from America's first whiskey company (Michter's, originally known as Shenk's). After a nearly three year absence from the market, Master Distiller Willie Pratt finally gave the green light for the re-release of Michter's 10 Year Straight Rye in April 2014.
Tasting Notes:
Deep notes of vanilla and toffee, toasted almonds and cinnamon with an ample dose of crushed pepper and a hint of orange citrus.
