By Richard Thomas
Rating: B
Redwood Empire is a distillery in Sonoma County, California’s Russian River Valley, and they draw their name from an old apple company in whose buildings they are operating from. Running with their namesake, the distillery follows a theme of naming their whiskeys after prominent trees, and they also pledge to plant a tree for every bottle of whiskey they sell (presumably from seeds; buying a tree from a nursery would make that a severe loss-making proposition — they have planted over 347,000 to date).
Rocket Top, their bottled in bond (BiB) rye, is a distinct bottling from their flagship rye, Emerald Giant. It is named for a 365-foot tall, 2,000 year old tree in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. This bonded rye was released this past summer, from a 26-barrel dump. It’s a very Pennsylvania-style rye whiskey, being 87% rye, 7% malted barley and 6% wheat, with no corn whatsoever. They aged it for 5 years, and being a bonded whiskey, it is 100 proof.
The Whiskey
A pour of this whiskey takes on a light amber look in the glass. The nose leads with sandalwood and ginger, trailed by a note of dry pine needles. The taste is a good deal less spicy and forested, however. Building on a sweet base of malty honey, there is a little black pepper and pine in there, but this is moderated by an earthy clay note. The finish, however, jinks right back on that distinctly spicy tract the experience started with.
Redwood Empire’s BiB rye is another strong example of the gaining maturity of craft whiskey, as well as a great example of how a very rye-driven whiskey doesn’t necessarily translate into bold and ultra-spicy. For a merely mature (5 years old) whiskey, it is surprisingly sophisticated and makes for a lovely, everyday kind of sipper.
The Price
This whiskey is widely listed with retailers for $99.