Charred oak | Clove | Smoke | Vanilla extract | Seared mint

Rye spice | Baking spices | Cinnamon | Stewed apple

Spearmint | Seared mint | Barrel char

Bendt Distilling Company was founded in Lewisville, Texas, in 2012. Sourcing local grains, distilling their own products, and aging in hot Texas summers has helped them produce unique tasting whiskeys. The distillery has a core product line that includes bourbon, rye, American whiskey, wheat whiskey, and malt whiskey, as well as other whiskey related products such as bourbon cream, blended whiskey, and a ready-to-drink Old Fashioned. The company also produces products under their Old Town Spirits line.

Unbendt has already released a Bottled in Bond Straight Rye, and the company is slowly rolling out this cask strength version, though these are mostly found at the distillery itself. It’s noticeably older than the current bottled in bond version, and perhaps even more eye-catching is its HAZMAT proof point. The result is a rye that is extremely dark in color, but also tastes as dark as it looks. Of note, the Hand-filled line are single barrel products.

From the start, the nose features a rush of charred oak, clove, smoke, and vanilla extract. The palate in turn, offers prickly rye spice, layers of baking spices and stewed apple, and a finish dominated by mint. With an impressive age statement and extremely high proof, this type of gut-punching rye isn’t for everyone, but hardcore rye lovers will revel in it. These types of ryes don’t come around often, and while Unbendt is slowly expanding the rollout of their high proof, high aged whiskeys, more should be on the horizon. Sometimes proof can get in the way of Unbendt flavor profiles, but this is one case where it makes the sip even better.

The bottle in review comes from barrel number 1493.