Baked apple | Crème brûlée | Pepper | Green Jolly Rancher | Cinnamon

Seared orange | Molasses | Cinnamon bark | Caramel popcorn

Cinnamon | Barrel char | Light clove | Tobacco | Cocoa powder

The king of value returns with another release that continues to make you wonder, “how are they doing that?” Wheel Horse Barrel Master Select Rye is a 5 year old, Green River Distilling sourced, 120 proof rye. As you’d want a barrel proof rye to taste, it's big and bold in all of the best ways.

The aroma starts with a pleasing blend of baked apple and crème brûlée before transitioning to a peppery spice and Green Jolly Rancher candy scent. It’s weird, but it works. The palate offers not the usual rye seared mint, but seared orange peel along with molasses, cinnamon bark, and caramel popcorn. The finish starts traditionally with caramel upfront, but soon heavy barrel char enters along with clove, tobacco, and cocoa powder.

Wheel Horse Barrel Master Select Rye is far from complex, but what it offers is interesting throughout its sip. Ever changing and never standing still, Wheel Horse Barrel Master Select Rye is bold in the ways you want a barrel proof rye to taste. But it’s not a Wheel Horse release without mentioning its price, and at $44 for a 5 year old barrel proof rye, it presents one of the best values in rye. For comparison, the 2025 Thomas H. Handy, which received the same overall rating, costs $150. If you can keep your expectations in check, Wheel Horse Barrel Master Select Rye will leave you completely satisfied with what it offers.