I’d like to thank Verde Brand Communications for providing this review sample with no strings attached.
Welcome to 2020, my friends. In order to ease into the review tonight, I was going to have an anecdote about how my beloved Golden Gopher football team won their bowl game and had an 11 win season for the first time since 1904. But as I was going back through the whiskey blogs I follow to see what I missed over the last week or two, I was reminded that the amazing Al Young of Four Roses passed away while I was away. And I would be remiss if I let this event pass without at least mentioning it.
Al Young was Four Roses to me. He was kind and caring. He joked with us every time we saw him. He was fun but had a wealth of history at his fingertips. And that made conversations with him very memorable. I always enjoyed listening to him talk and I will cherish the memories I have of spending time with him.
I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to create a lot of memories while running this site. One of the most precious may be the time I took my step-father on a private tour of Wyoming Whiskey. I’d been emailing back and forth with Sam Mead of Wyoming Whiskey and mentioned that my wife and I were bringing my parents out to Wyoming. He invited me to stop by and was gracious enough to allow the rest of the gang along.
My step-father is a whiskey drinker from way back. In fact, his constant supply of Jack Daniels was one of my earliest memories of whiskey. He was a bartender for most of his life. Shots and beers mostly. But on the days he wasn’t working, he’d often just sit at the bar and bullshit with the regulars and his coworkers. And as he sat there he’d always have an extra-large pour of Jack in a glass next to his beer.
So it was fun to take him on his first distillery tour (you can see the photos here). Even cooler that it was an up-close and personal version of the tour. Because of that happy memory, I was more than willing to accept a sample of this year’s release of Outryder when it was offered. To quote the press release:
Following the early trend in rye whiskeys circa 2010, Co-Founder David DeFazio put a pointed request in with Nally that he develop a rye. Nally expressed reluctance to follow orders, telling DeFazio that “No, I don’t want to make rye” and clearly communicated his distaste for the spirit. Over a few months, the founders strongly encouraged the Bourbon Hall of Famer to reconsider his position and Nally ultimately surrendered to the request —albeit defiantly. Two different whiskies were laid down in November and December of 2011 at the behest of DeFazio and his partner Brad Mead. Nally made nearly 100 barrels of “rye” and 200 barrels of bourbon made with rye.
A couple of years after these whiskies were made, Nally left Wyoming Whiskey to return home to spend more time with his family and pursue other projects. Fast forward to 2016 when it was time to bottle the nearly 5 year-old-barrels of bourbon and “rye”. Wyoming Whiskey’s Distiller, Sam Mead, called DeFazio to explain that the whiskey Nally produced was only 48% rye, which disqualified it from the rye whiskey category. The team was stunned and dumbfounded. How could it be?
DeFazio paid a phone call to Nally and said “I want you to know that the “rye” you made is spectacular … but why did you only use 48% rye in the mash bill?” Nally responded with an implied smirk, “Because I told you I didn’t want to make rye.”
This year’s version of Outryder is aged seven years and is still made from those initial batches. They plan to release an 8, a 9 and finally a 10-year-old version in the coming years. They anticipate the 10-year-old release in 2022 will finish that initial batch.
Outryder from Wyoming Whiskey (2020 edition)
Purchase info: This review sample was graciously provided by Verde Brand Communications. The suggested retail price is $75 for a 750 mL bottle.
Price per Drink (50mL): $5
Details: A blend of two straight American whiskeys. The first using a mash bill of 48% winter rye, 40% corn, and 12% malted barley and the second using a bourbon mash bill of 68% corn, 20% winter rye, and 12% malted barley. 50% ABV.
Nose: Mint, nutmeg, cedarwood, cinnamon, caramel
Mouth: Dry and warm with cinnamon, vanilla, mint, and cedar.
Finish: Medium length and heat. Very minty with notes of cinnamon oak, and pine.
Thoughts: I like this one. Cedar, mint, and cinnamon dominate this one for me in all three phases of tasting. It's quite good, but I don't know that I would personally pay $75 for it. This clears my $40-$50 bar but not my $75 one. But we all know that I’m a cheapskate. So if your liquor store pours samples, try it. You might think the price is perfect.
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