Porridge | Oak | Grain | Faint cocoa powder| Ocean air | Incredibly youthful

Light vanilla | Light rye spice | New oak | White peppercorn | Thin mouthfeel

Rye spice | Dry chewy oak | Faint leather | White peppercorn | Dab of vanilla | Lingering chewy spiced oak

Located in Vista, California, 117º West Spirits is a craft distillery that is a Golden State product through and through. Founded by Justin McCabe in 2017, the company uses 100% California-grown ingredients in all of its spirits. The distillery utilizes 15-30 gallon barrels to age their spirits as “it is McCabe’s strong belief, particularly with the 30 gallon ones, that the flavor profiles for his type of whiskeys do extremely well with the increased wood surface area the distillate is exposed to, driving a greater reaction rate.”

As one might expect based on this whiskey’s stats, youth is a key theme of its flavor profile. The rye opens with an aroma of incredibly youthful scents, focused on grain and oak, with a slight ocean air note. The midpoint is thin, focusing on light traditional flavors before moving on to a finish that adds a slight hint of intrigue thanks to a dry, chewy oak note.

Being aged for less than a year, even with a smaller barrel being utilized, this whiskey was always going to be at a disadvantage compared to more established ryes on the market. While it’s often unfair to compare a craft distillery to established brands, 117º West Spirits has also been distilling for 9 years now. For $60, consumers, even those who love supporting local, deserve more. The distillate isn’t bad, and could potentially do well with age; however, that would require 117º West Spirits to be willing to be patient and let their whiskey age. In the meantime, this is a hard asking price for anyone except those specifically seeking out a youthful whiskey.

The rye in review is from batch #33.