~$30 for 750mL bottle- Purchased at Total Wine
Background
Prior to Prohibition, rye whiskey was the #1 whiskey type in America. Fast forward almost a century and Bourbon is now the American whiskey of choice…and Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey is the #1 selling American whiskey in the world. So in 2010, Redemption Whiskey set their sites on claiming back some of the market share for rye whiskey. Redemption Rye did claim a very devoted following, however Bourbon is still king, so eventually Redemption started making a couple varieties of that whiskey, one of which I decided to pick up recently.
Redemption’s High Rye Bourbon uses a mash bill that consists of 60% corn and 36% rye, along with 4% barley, to make a “rye-forward” Bourbon. I opted to go with the “regular” Redemption Bourbon, which uses 75% corn and 21% rye in the recipe. It is barreled and aged for at least 2 years before being bottled at 84 proof.
Happily, most of this information is printed right on the front of the bottle, which is different from most whiskey makers. They also let you know what batch your bottle is from…mine is from Batch 016.
Even though this is not the rye whiskey that the company was founded on, they are still in the business of “pre-prohibition whiskey revival” and that is noted a few places on the bottle and label.
Notes
The bottle is shaped like a giant flask, with the back having a large indent that is easy to hold onto with the four fingers of your hand, with the thumb wrapped around the front. I’m not sure if this shape of bottle really is “vintage” any more than the fairly plain “medicine bottle” shape used by Charred Oak, Russell’s Reserve, and Chattanooga Whiskey, but it does at least seem like an old style.
The Redemption Bourbon is slightly lighter in the glass than most other Bourbons that I enjoy, though still not as light in color as the last whiskey I reviewed—Charred Oak Rye. The aroma is big, though…vanilla and caramel…oak and corn…classic Bourbon.
It’s an approachable Bourbon, though, with no real up-front burn on the lips and tongue. I took a large sip and held it for 20 or more seconds before I started really feeling the prickly, numbing effects of the alcohol content. It was honey-sweet, with plenty of vanilla in the mix, along with afterthoughts of wood and grain, and just enough spice on the finish to remind you that this has a higher rye content than most Bourbons (though not nearly as high as the “High Rye Bourbon” version).
I opted for Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust’s Sobremesa Short Churchill to pair with the Redemption Bourbon. I felt that its medium-plus body and complex flavor profile would pair well with such a “wide spectrum” Bourbon.
The rye spice built up as I went along and I think the Sobremesa helped bring it out a little more. Neither cigar nor whiskey overpowered the other, though.
I have to say I really enjoyed this Redemption Bourbon. It has the Bourbon sweetness that I like so much with just a little edge to it. I wouldn’t be opposed to trying the High Rye version at some point, but I doubt I would end up enjoying it as much as this one.
At the end of the day, I have to say this rates as a “great” $30 Bourbon for me, right up there with Russell’s Reserve and Elijah Craig in the same general price range.
