Montgomery Distillery Ancient Wisdom 10-Year Single Barrel 140.2 Proof Cask Strength Rye Whiskey - Selected by Seelbach's

Age: 10 years

Proof: 140.2 proof

Mash bill: 100% estate-grown rye

Tasting Notes: The nose is thick, luxurious, and boozy, leaning toward caramel syrup and almost molasses. There are rich, vibrant spices to boot, but they remain fragrant and crisp. Stewed apples, maple candy, coffee cake, and root beer float round it out.

Sweeter than you’d expect given the stats of the bottle. The palate leans into buttery caramel apple pie, packed with a punch of proof, but not necessarily a punch of spice, all things considered. Brown sugar crumble, an underlying note of overcooked blueberry pastry, and gobs of sweet, balanced oak with fragrant cinnamon. You also get an effervescent kick of birch beer before spiced vanilla carries through.

The finish brings in more antique oak, joining the sweeter oak and a strand of baker’s chocolate. It continues with deeper notes of purple and blue fruits in a long, warming, semi-dry finish.

About Montgomery: It starts with grain—starch wrapped in a protective husk. After it is milled, it exposes the yummy sugar inside to yeast, which produces alcohol as a byproduct during fermentation. We then transfer the resulting “mash” to our combination pot-column artisan still—a curvaceous, 450-liter beauty made by Christian Carl, Germany’s oldest distillery fabricator. When making whiskey, it functions as an old-fashioned pot, or batch, still.  The addition of a rafter-piercing, 21-plate column allows us to achieve vapor alcohol content pure enough to produce world-class vodka, gin, and aquavit.