Booker’s Rye Big Time Batch

Thanks to /u/devoz for this sample.

When Booker’s Rye Big Time Batch came out, I sadly couldn’t obtain some. Changing careers, not having children to sell, various other things that came up like needing food to live all got in the way.

However, through some swaps, I was eventually able to get it. The idea behind it? Back in 2003, Booker Noe laid down barrels of rye before he passed in 2004. His son Fred aged them in one of Booker’s favourite rack houses, which hurt the other rack houses to find out.

The release came out with all of the proceeds donated to charity. It’s the first time a rye has been brought out under Booker’s name, bottled without any meddling with it.

Oh, and MSRP was $300 USD. So not a lot of people were able to pick it up. The secondary has since reacted in a calm and fine way.

That’s sarcasm.

So let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

That’s sarcasm.

So let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Price: Are you part of the landed gentry? No? Oof, this is gonna hurt then.

Region: Kentucky

Cask Number 2016-LE

Cask Type: New American Oak Barrels

Stated Age: 13 years old, 6 months, 12 days

Bottled 2016

Abv: 68.1%

Colour: 10R 4/10

Nose: Lilacs, butterscotch, spiced carrot cake, banana bread, cherry

Okay, take a second to think about a spicy floral, slightly funky rye. Then take 5 litres of that, and smash it at your face going 50 km/h.

I specifically used metric there to annoy you.

That’s the nose on this whiskey. Nothing subtle here. Big, massive complex flavours. Immediately I’m cursing the secondary on this. Or the primary. Or the fact that the person who made it sadly has passed.

Taste: Banoffee, dry yeasty bread, lemon custard, cinnamon bread, chocolate

Banoffee is the holy union of toffee and banana in a cake served in the UK. This has that as it’s initial sweet core but then goes dry with yeast, citrus and all of it playing together. I’d say in harmony but it’s more like a mosh pit, and since I grew up in the 90s that’s amazing to me.

Finish: Apple jelly, custard, cumin, rye bread, molasses, cinnamon candy, white chocolate

More surprises. There’s some spice by itself here, and some earth, but it’s hot in all the right ways, like that physically pleasing hedge you’ve been dreaming about.

Even the initial apple here is strong as hell. If anything the finish is where some of the myriads of flavours break down into simpler areas.

Conclusion: Dammit I didn’t want this to be so good. I didn’t want the nose to remind me of so many complex flavours. The taste to hit me with unique great combinations, none of which are out of place. Or the finish to have the sheer amount of flavours, if simpler than the rest.

But it did. Yeah, I’m not happy I have to sell various body parts to try this again. But holy hell this was good. Extremely complex.

So if you can try this without selling most of your children, you may want to. I certainly won’t miss the ones I gave up.

91/100

Bourbon review #245, Kentucky review #156, Whiskey Network review #1604