B.R Distilling Company is located in Memphis, Tennessee, and its Blue Note brand is meant to “honor the rich blues music that is synonymous with Memphis.” They currently source much of their whiskey from Green River Distilling and were some of the first non-distiller producers to do so. Blue Note Honey Cask Rye is a new annual limited release from the company and further expands on the company’s finished whiskey portfolio. Previous releases, such as Blue Note Las Notas and Blue Note Special Reserve Cask Finish Series, both showcased Blue Note’s rapidly growing skill at finishing whiskey in new and creative ways.

Right from the initial whiff of the glass, you get the sense that this finished rye has a lot going on. A warm and heavy scent of rich honey immediately commands attention. Its sweetness is deep and lush, yet it is careful not to go overboard. This is quickly complimented by a potent layer of caramel that works quite well with the honey. As the rest of the aroma unfolds, notes of toasted oak come through, providing balance and additional depth. A subtle hint of vanilla wafer adds a soft sweetness, rounding out the experience. The aroma’s potency is key, as it keeps it captivating, yet it has just enough nuance to keep it complex throughout.

The palate opens with flavorful notes of clover honey, creating a rich and sweet base. But before the sweetness gets carried away, rye spice flows in, bringing a warming kick that contrasts beautifully with the initial sweetness. Caramel then emerges and, when combined with the honey, highlights the palate’s buttery mouthfeel as it coats your tongue. From there, wildflower honey enters, introducing fruity and floral notes to the sip. The result is a surprisingly cohesive sip with complimentary flavors that nicely balance the sweet and spice notes.

The conclusion of the pour unfolds with savory aged leather and toasted oak grounding the entire sip, starkly contrasting the honey notes found in the palate. The finish is also nicely balanced with a thin layer of sweet oak emerging, but before it can overtake it with its sweetness, allspice with its layered complexity nicely contrasts it. On the far backend, a lingering orange blossom honey note can be tasted, adding a last-minute orange note that wraps up the sip in a great way.

With the increasing number of honey finished whiskeys on the market, it’s easy to feel that Blue Note Honey Cask Rye is yet another one. Like with any finished whiskey, there is a lot of nuance in getting the finishing barrel to exert its influence in a controlled manner and not overpower the base whiskey, where it ends up tasting like a flavored liqueur. As a result, many honey finished whiskeys have been a mixed bag. It’s very easy to go overboard with the inherent sweetness that the honey finishing barrel will give off. But if you go too light, you end up with a whiskey that just doesn’t taste right or doesn't exhibit any honey influence at all.

It’s worth pointing out that the majority of honey finished whiskeys available are usually bourbons, with a few corn or blended American whiskeys thrown in. Rye is much more uncommon and in our experience, we’ve found it works quite well like it did with Starlight Carl T. Huber’s Single Barrel Rye Finished in Honey Barrels. A lot of it has to do with the spiciness that rye typically brings with it. With the overt sweetness of the honey, contrast is key. Bourbon is usually sweeter than rye, and finishing bourbon in a honey barrel can be done right, but it's hard to argue against the benefits of contrast and balance. That’s where Blue Note Honey Cask Rye shines.

Because Blue Note Honey Cask Rye is such a rich and flavorful honey-finished rye, there needs to be a contrasting agent. Every chance where it seems like the honey might become too overpowering, rye spice on the palate and all spice on the finish rear their heads. This contrast and resulting balance is why Blue Note Honey Cask Rye works as well as it does. Though it seems simple, it’s not an easy task, and why, after countless honey-finished whiskeys, this one stands out as much as it does.

Like with many finished whiskeys, price point varies greatly for honey-finished whiskey. Surprisingly, bourbon finished in honey barrels are, on average, more expensive than their rye counterparts. Perhaps producers are skeptical that rye won’t sell as well, so they price them lower. Of the few honey finished ryes, Dad’s Hat Finish Rye Whiskey is the least expensive at $44, Catskill Provisions is $46, Starlight Distillery is $75, Nulu and Nashville Barrel Co. vary, but are found over $100. Though not an exhaustive list, it seems the smaller the producer, the lower the price.

Blue Note’s company size and recognition falls somewhere in between, and their price is set accordingly. At $65, it's a respectable price point in itself, but add in everything this release does right, and the value begins to really add up for the consumer. If you expand and include honey finished bourbons, $65 further proves to be an attractive price that makes this release a no-brainer for honey finished whiskey lovers.

Though you can’t call honey finished whiskey new any longer, they still trail behind wine finished whiskey in sheer numbers and, perhaps more notably, availability. There still isn’t a true, always available, widely-available, honey finished whiskey on the market. So it’s important when one hits, and it's good, you take note.

Blue Note Honey Cask Rye isn’t just good, it's great. Planned as an annual release, this first edition gets so much right. Honey can be an overpowering flavoring agent in a whiskey, so it's important to find the right balance. Blue Note did this by finishing a rye in honey barrels, so the rye’s inherent spiciness can contrast the honey sweetness. Thanks to additional notes of toasted oak, caramel, vanilla wafers, aged leather, allspice and a fruity and floral note akin to wildflower honey, the result is a flavorful and dialed in flavor profile with a good deal of complexity. There is an overabundance of finished whiskeys on the market, and while some offer good flavor, they don’t always get the rest of it right. Combined with a great price point, Blue Note Honey Cask Rye is easily one of the best finished whiskeys of the year.