Heavy brown sugar | Caramel | Oak | Molasses | Touch of maple syrup

Molasses | Charred oak | Brown sugar | Coffee cake

Apple pie | Burnt caramel | Fruit cake | Charred oak | leather | Lingering rye spice

Wheel Horse Bourbon was one of the first whiskeys to come out of Green River Distillery, now owned by Bardstown Bourbon Company. The Wheel Horse brand, which is owned by independent bottler Latitude Beverage Co., consists of core bourbon and rye releases, which have made a name for themselves based on their aggressively low price points - though their prices have started to rise in subsequent years. For their latest limited edition release, the company takes a 4 year bourbon and finishes it in ex-Appleton Estate rum barrels for an undisclosed amount of time. The company states that roughly 2,100 bottles were produced for this release.

This rum-finished rye was surprisingly light smelling and tasting right out of the bottle. After a week of being opened, the whiskey noticeably opened up, loosening its tight grip on its rum finish. In return, large amounts of brown sugar are featured on its nose, almost overshadowing its caramel, oak, and molasses scents. The palate is simple and straightforward with its overall sweet flavors of molasses, brown sugar, and coffee cake before charred oak sets in. This charred oak note carries over to the finish where things get more interesting. Apple pie, fruit cake, and leather combine with heavy charred oak and lingering rye spice to make for a flavorful conclusion.

With a $43 price point, Wheel Horse once again is focused on bringing as much value to their releases as they can. Though there are many more rum-finished whiskeys than ever before, the majority of them are priced higher, and more times than not, many of them use bourbon as their base. Wheel Horse Rye Finished in Rum Barrels doesn’t do anything other rum finished ryes haven’t done before, but if you’ve ever wanted to give the style a try, Wheel Horse’s low cost of entry and decent quality makes it a good place to look.