88
Score
Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select Rye, 45.2%
Price: $38 ● Issue: Summer 2015 ● Reviewer: Lew Bryson
Distilled from a relatively low-rye mash of 53% rye, 33% corn, 14% malt; true to Woodford Reserve form, a mingling of whiskeys distilled at Woodford and at Brown-Forman in Louisville. Nose of leather, cinnamon, rye snappiness, and hints of red raspberry. Hot and lean on the palate, spicy/sweet until rye's bitter layering floats in, making for a dry finish as the oak comes on stronger. Balances drinkable and elegant quite nicely, and it's real Woodford.