Allspice | Cinnamon | Pear | Apricot | Fig

Dried apricot | Tropical fruits | Orange zest | Medium body

Tapering tropical fruits | Graham cracker | Caramel | Smooth all-around

Redwood Empire built its distillery in an old apple canning and processing plant located in the small town of Graton in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County, California. For every bottle sold, the company plants a tree, which according to their website, is at 1,744,165 trees at the time of this writing. The whiskey’s name pays homage to a tree - “Rocket Top” is a 2,000 year old redwood located in the Patriarch Forest in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which is 365 feet tall and gets its name from the fact that its shape is reminiscent of a bottle rocket.

The whiskey in review is from batch 004, which totals 68 barrels and was distilled in the spring season of 2019 and bottled in June of 2024. The exact mashbill used for each batch varies, and as Redwood Empire notes, this batch’s mashbill includes some malted wheat which is similar to batch 001.

The whiskey is surprisingly sweet for a rye, and approachable all around. I don’t like to use the word “smooth” to describe a whiskey, but sometimes it’s the best descriptor as is the case here. Despite the high rye mashbill, the whiskey trades spice for fruit, with ample dried apricot and tropical fruit notes from start to finish. This feature makes it a less memorable whiskey, however, it relishes in pure drinkability.