Baking spices | Molasses | Spiced raisin | Oak | Fresh leather

Spiced raisin | Rye spice | Tannic oak | Faint tobacco leaf | Raisin Bran cereal

Rye spice | Dried oak | Raisin | Leather | Lingering building dryness & spice

Watch Hill Proper was founded in 2022 by Tommy Craggs and Josh Howes and has become known as a premier American whiskey bar in Prospect, Kentucky. The company offers an extensive bourbon selection and caters to members and nonmembers alike. Since opening, the company has also created its own line of bourbons, which includes the Chef, Discovery, and Exceptional Series.

Similar to the Exceptional Series and their single barrel nature, the first release in the Chef Series sees the company choosing a single barrel of rye. The barrel only produced a scant 100 bottles. While the whiskey carries a 12 year age statement, the company states that it was technically bottled right after the whiskey turned 13 years old.

A pleasing aroma greets you, containing scents of baking spices, molasses, spiced raisin, along with oak and leather. The midpoint carries over similar flavors with a noticeable tannic oak note appearing. The flavors give the illusion that the rye appears older than it is, which turns out to be foreshadowing its finish. Here it takes a hard turn towards drier flavors, as dried oak and leather build and suck away the moisture. Rye spice and raising spice make an appearance, and while the rye spice lingers, it’s the intense dryness that is most notable.

To date, the Exceptional Series has quite literally lived up to its name. While the first release in Watch Hill Proper’s Chef Series also carries a high price tag, it doesn’t live up to the bar that the Exceptional Series has set in the past. While a rye versus bourbon comparison is unfair, Chef Series 01 at the end of the day delivers a good, but not great, pour. In particular, the building dryness in the finish takes away from the overall experience and leaves you with a mouth-suckingly dry experience to ruminate on.