Rye grain | Peppercorn spice | Light caramel | Hints of buttercream frosting | Pleasing opening

Rye spice | Spiced caramel | Aged oak | Baking spices | Cloves | Light cream undertone | Pepper spice | Full of dominant spices

Blast of spice | Touch of vanilla | Hint of aged oak | Faint caramel | Lingering prickly rye spice

Blue Run Emerald Rye is the second release in the company’s rye whiskey series and is the follow-up to Blue Run Golden Rye. According to the company’s press release, “this marks the first Blue Run Rye Whiskey to be contract distilled by Blue Run Liquid Advisor Jim Rutledge at Castle & Key Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky and the first Blue Run Rye to be bottled at barrel proof.” The whiskey is composed of 189 barrels, with several barrels aged at different locations more than fifty miles apart in Bardstown and Frankfort. The company states that “the difference in aging environments helped contribute to the blend’s approachability at this high of proof.”

The sip’s opening is pleasing if not on the mild side with sweeter undertones. Moving to the midpoint of the sip - if you like spicy rye - the palate delivers in spades, almost to a fault. The finish is incredibly long offering a warming prickly spice that seems to never end. Blue Run Emerald Rye is a rye lover’s whiskey in the sense that if you really like spicy rye this one will be for you. It’s a nice first run of the company’s new distillate being made at Castle & Key, however, for the price being charged, I expect a bit more from Blue Run’s rye line in the future.

The bottle being reviewed is 06342 of 10290. It carries a date of 10/25/2022.