REWCO Rye Returns After More Than 100 Years!

This is a real Kentucky whiskey story, brought back by a family name with more than two centuries of history behind it.
 
REWCO comes from Turner Wathen and Jordan Morris, the team behind Rolling Fork Spirits, Bourbon de Luxe, and Wayward Cask. If you’ve been with Seelbach’s for a while, you probably know their names from the incredible rum barrels they’ve supplied us over the years, a myriad of brandies, and most recently bringing a new wave of interest to their names via their Bourbon de Luxe bourbons. 

 We dig even further back than Bourbon de Luxe with today's release of REWCO rye. 
 
The REWCO name pays tribute to Richard E. Wathen, president of American Medicinal Spirits, whose Rolling Fork distillery was the first of the legendary Wathen family's operations, founded in 1788. This heritage brand bottled spirits during and after Prohibition, establishing a reputation for what they called "The Zenith of Possibility in Whiskey Quality." 
 
REWCO survived during Prohibition through A.M.S., the largest bottler of medicinal whiskey in the country, and in 1929, A.M.S. merged into a new entity called National Distillers. As a rye whiskey, REWCO took a backseat to National Distillers’ other famous brands, (the portfolio also included Bourbon de Luxe, Old Grand-Dad, Old Crow, and Old Taylor), and it eventually disappeared altogether.
 
Now after more than 100 years, REWCO has returned to the family name that started it all.
 
This first release is a 6-year-old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey bottled at cask strength, coming in at 109.4 proof. The batch is made from just five barrels, blending two different Kentucky rye profiles: three barrels come from a 74% rye, 11% corn, and 15% malted barley mash bill, and two barrels come from a 95% rye, 5% malted barley mash bill.
 
The result is a rye that feels both historic and modern. Sweet enough to stay approachable, spicy enough to stay true to the category. This is a fantastic sipper that I think you'll only continue hearing more people talk about as the year goes on.
 
The nose leads with melted vanilla sundae and butterscotch syrup, a surprisingly sweet start to this Kentucky rye.
 
The palate opens gently effervescent, with orange soda and coating brown sugar syrup, followed by more orange peel zip and a soft sweet oak finish kissed with pepper.
 
Balanced spice continues into the finish, still buttery from the palate and sweetened with granulated sugar and lightly toasted oak through a medium finish.