Toffee | Butterscotch | Honey | Pear | Fresh baked bread | Marshmallow | Light malt

Honey Smacks cereal | Golden raisin | Nougat | Chardonnay

Sweet bread pastry | Touch of lemon | Light musty oak | Mild ramp up of heat & peppery spice

You may be unfamiliar with the Old Potrero brand, but they have been around since 1993. Their labels used to say “Single Malt” on them and combined with their design, they gave off the impression that they were a type of scotch. The brand has recently gone through a rebranding and it is now much more clear that it is a rye whiskey made with 100% malted rye.

What makes Old Potrero Bottled in Bond 16 Year Old Whiskey unique was that it was made when the original owner, Fritz Maytag (pioneers of the modern craft beer movement and great-grandson of Maytag Corporation founder Frederick Louis Maytag), owned the brand. During this time, their whiskey was aged in once-used, charred, fine-grain, American oak barrels.

The thing about old Old Potero releases is that they are very delicate sips. Even at 100 proof, this 16 year old rye barely comes across as a rye as one would typically know it by today’s standards. Malting the rye has a lot to do with this, but having been aged in used barrels for so long, there’s an underlying mellowness that most of today’s American drinkers aren’t used to. This is why the company likely switched over to aging in new oak, making their malt component much more forward-facing. As a result, this 16 year old, 432 bottle release is a time capsule of sorts. Having tasted and owned a wide range of the company’s whiskey aged between 11-17 years old, this slots right in with those, even having a bit more gusto than the brand’s 17 year old release that I tasted it against, if you can believe it.  

That said, Old Potrero releases are an acquired taste. Not because they feature oddball flavor combinations or their maltiness is so overpowering, but more so because there is nothing else like them on the market. Old Potrero Bottled in Bond 16 Year Old Whiskey is a soft and delicate whiskey. Its flavor profile is fairly tight but very well balanced and tempered to a T. Its asking price of $200 will be hard to justify with only one sip if you’re not already familiar with the brand. But given what the company’s older bottles in this age range typically go for and the limited number of bottles available, it's an extremely fair price. I’m not sure if I’d direct a newcomer to Old Potrero with this 16 year old release, but if you’re curious, their standard release is a fantastic place to start.