By Richard Thomas
Rating: B
Barrell Craft Spirits is best known for their Barrell Bourbon series and its various spin-offs, a series now pushing at 30 individual batches. The character of those releases is handsomely sourced and blended, then bottled uncut and offered at a price on par with Booker’s. However, each batch has been its own unique limited edition; later releases have sometimes been similar, but no individual batch has ever been repeated.
This year, Barrell Craft Spirits tried their hand at creating a consistent, regular release series by introducing a new brand, Stellum, with a bourbon and a rye. The principal difference between Stellum and Barrell is that consistent, regular release part. The handsomely sourced and blended and uncut aspects remain exactly the same. So, this Stellum Rye is 116.2 proof (future releases will no doubt vary, in the way all cask/batch strength whiskeys do), and “rooted in a tried and true 95% Rye Indiana mash bill,” blended with additional barrels made in Kentucky and Tennessee.
The Whiskey
A pour has that typically rye-style, coppered look to it. Even with the splash of water I put in, I found the nose a touch hot. The scent has a base of musty stout and butterscotch, enhanced by a whiff of mint. The flavor, on the other hand, drew sweetness from candy corn, with a thick coating of spices in the form of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Unlike the nose, the palate wasn’t hot at all. The finish rolled off that spiciness, growing a touch woody as it lingered.
The Price
You should pay about $55 a bottle for Stellum Rye.