Woodinville Single Barrel Cask Strength 7 Year 100% Rye

I’d like to thank Woodinville Whiskey for sending this sample with no strings attached.

IMAGE: A bottle of Woodinville Single Barrel Cask Strength Rye Whiskey sits on a wooden deck railing against a softly blurred green background.

I am having an experience today that is a complete first for me. As I write this, my puppy and I are listening to a group of men just destroy my kitchen. And I don’t mean like they are making a mess (though they are). They are doing the demo work for a kitchen remodel. New cabinets going in tomorrow means the old ones need to come out today. Honestly, I’ve fought this decision for almost twenty years, as I just never felt like spending the money. Well, when I got a sliver under my fingernail while opening a cupboard door on the same day that my silverware drawer fell apart and needed to be fixed (true story), I stopped fighting against what my wife has wanted for at least fifteen of the twenty years we’ve lived here. The house is over fifty years old, and those cabinets have been there the entire time. And they look it.

It’s the strangest thing. You really don’t understand just how many things live in your kitchen until you need to empty it and stash all those things in other rooms. Right now my stove is just out of commission, my dishwasher and kitchen table are on the deck hoping it doesn’t rain, and my refrigerator is in my living room. Every room in my house has kitchen stuff either in boxes or just stacked around on dressers and tables. It’s actually kind of stressful. Sometimes change is hard.

Though not always. For instance, Woodinville Whiskey now offering single-barrel, cask-strength bottles of bourbon and rye with national availability is a welcome change that causes no stress at all. Well, not for us anyway. I’m willing to bet there was just a touch of it amongst their leadership while getting this thing going. Here’s what one of those higher-ups had to say about it:

“We really wanted to elevate our single barrel program. I personally taste hundreds of barrels and pick only the best ones for this offering to ensure they are something very special. All of my selections are a minimum of 7 years old which really adds a tremendous amount of depth and character to the whiskey,” says Woodinville Co-Founder and Head Distiller, Brett Carlile.

Both the rye and bourbon will be aged seven years and will vary in proof from barrel to barrel. The suggested retail price is $69.99 for a 750 mL bottle. They sent me a bottle of the 100% rye for review, so let’s get to the important part: how does it taste?

Woodinville Single Barrel 100% Rye Whiskey

Purchase Info: This bottle was sent to me at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $69.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.67

Details: Barrel number: 12538. 58.77% ABV.

Nose: Mint, dill, stone fruit, chocolate, cola, and cedar.

Mouth: Sweet and spicy with notes of cedar, mint, chocolate, stone fruit, cinnamon, and honey.

Finish: Warm and long with notes of stone fruit, cinnamon, cedar, and cola.

IMAGE: a hand-drawn smile that denotes I like the product.

Thoughts: If this is representative of the barrels they are offering as single barrels, I will be looking for more as it rolls out to Minnesota. This is a lovely rye. I really love the stone fruit notes throughout. The fact that I initially thought "pickles" to myself on the nose and then "peaches" on the mouth and neither seemed weird just tells you how layered and complex the flavors are. I really dig this one. It's delicious.

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Penelope Straight Rye

I’d like to thank the folks at Ross & Squibb and their PR partners for sending this sample with no strings attached.

IMAGE: Close-up of a Penelope Straight Rye Whiskey bottle standing on a weathered wooden deck railing, with the gold logo and green label prominently displayed against a softly blurred backyard background on a sunny day.

Well, I told you last time that there was another bottle stuck in with the Penelope Kentucky Straight Bourbon that we were going to be talking about this week, and I am a man of my word. Tonight we are looking at the other member of the Penelope Classic Series: Penelope Straight Rye.

This rye is distilled in Indiana from a mash bill of 93% rye and 7% malted barley. I know, that subtle change from the 95%-5% rye that MGP is famous for had me wondering if there was a typo in the press release too. But the website backs it up. Unless, of course, they are both wrong. But at that point there isn’t much we can do about it. So we take their word at face value and move on. The whiskey is bottled at 92 proof and is available in select markets starting in June, with a nationwide rollout to follow. The suggested retail price is $34.99.

Let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Penelope Straight Rye

Purchase Info: This bottle was sent at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $34.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.33

Details: 46% ABV. Mash bill: 93% rye, 7% malted barley.

Nose: Caramel, spearmint, cedar, and baking spice.

Mouth: Nice mouthfeel with notes of cinnamon, spearmint, and cedar.

Finish: Warm, sweet, and on the longer side of medium length. Notes of floral honey, cinnamon, and cedar.

IMAGE: A hand-drawn smiley face denotes that I like this product.

Thoughts: This is a fantastic rye. The flavor profile reminds me a lot of a good Canadian Club release, where the spicy rye flavors are balanced with sweet and floral notes. The mouthfeel is amazing, especially for a product with no corn in the mash. We tried neat on more than one occasion and in both a Manhattan and a Sazerac. All were delicious and it worked very well in both cocktails. And the price is downright reasonable. I really like this one!

If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Wolfe & Wilson Colonial Rye Whiskey

I’d like to thank Stoll & Wolfe and their PR partners for sending this sample with no strings attached.

IMAGE: A sample bottle of Wolfe & Wilson Straight Rye, based on a historical recipe. It has a label that says S&W (for Stoll & Wolfe distillery) Colonial Rye. 2 yrs. 100 proof. The bottle sits on a wooden rail with blurred trees in the background.

It isn’t often that I get offered the opportunity to taste a product quite like this one. Wolfe & Wilson Colonial Rye Whiskey is a rye created from a historical recipe and using some unusual historical methods. Created as a collaboration between Erik Wolfe (of Stoll & Wolfe Distillery) and Alan Bishop (formerly of Spirits of French Lick), this whiskey was inspired by an early 19th Century work by Frederick Heinrich Gelwicks. I thought it was a neat story and I’m going to let them tell it since they went through all the trouble of writing it already:

Wolfe & Wilson Straight Rye Whiskey draws its inspiration from a pamphlet written by Frederick Heinrich Gelwicks, an important piece of early American distilling lore from the late 1700s to early 1800s, documenting actual working recipes used by Pennsylvania distillers during that era. A recipe from that publication resulted in a whiskey with a unique grain combination of rye malt, wheat, rye, and oats, fermented with wild yeast and cheese culture, and aged in new American oak barrels at 105 proof.

“Collaborating on translating a nearly 300 century old recipe is a unique opportunity to explore the roots of our local distilling traditions by bringing this whiskey to life and allowing modern consumers to experience a spirit nearly lost to history,” said Erik Wolfe.

Wolfe and Bishop, sharing a fundamental distilling philosophy and ethos that values flavor over efficiency and also honors traditional production methods balanced against modern concerns, began collaboration on this whiskey back in 2023. The challenge for them was how to adapt for today’s distilling world a recipe of 1 bushel rye malt, 1 bushel wheat, 1 bushel rye, and 3 pecks of oats.

Sourcing heritage grains from Pennsylvania family farms, including the Kline farm that’s tied to Stoll & Wolfe, the two set out on an epic undertaking to recreate something few in the modern era would even consider. A testament to their combined creativity and fine attention to historical details, the expression is designed to give today’s whiskey drinker a glance at what was being enjoyed at the birth of a nation.

“Bringing the knowledge brought to Indiana by early PA Germans back East to PA is one of the highlights of my career,” said Alan Bishop. “That we stuck to the ideals of the colonial distillers while implementing modern technological advantages speaks to just how well versed in the art of distillation our forefathers were. To do such great work alongside Erik and Aviana is a rare opportunity!”

Besides these nods to the past, other elements of historical consideration were factored in as well, such as the addition of dried fruits during the distillation process and aging in a colonial-era tobacco farm. The Wolfe & Wilson straight rye, given all of this, presents itself as an authentic representation of a bygone era with legitimate colonial ties, explicitly differentiating it from more generic 250th anniversary products.

Wolfe & Wilson Straight Rye Whiskey, Batch 1, was aged a minimum of two years in new charred American oak before being bottled at 100 proof. The product name Wolfe & Wilson carries layered personal and historical significance, as “Wolfe” represents Erik’s surname (Wolfe), while “Wilson” is Alan’s mother’s maiden name.

1000 bottles of this were made available on July 4, 2026 at the Stoll & Wolfe tasting room and online at shop.stollandwolfe.com. The suggested retail price is $80 for a 750 mL bottle. So how does this Rye/Wheat/Oat whiskey with dried fruit added during distillation taste? Let’s find out, shall we?

Wolfe & Wilson Colonial Rye Whiskey

Purchase Info: This sample was sent to me at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $80 for a 750 mL bottle at the Stoll & Wolfe Distillery tasting room.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.33

Details: 50% ABV. 2 years old

Nose: Floral with toffee, dried fruit, baking spices, and a touch of oak.

Mouth: Toffee, stewed fruit, baking spices, and caramel.

Finish: Warm and long with notes of cinnamon, caramel, fruit, and oak.

IMAGE: A hand-drawn mmiley face that denotes I like the product.

Thoughts: We like things for all sorts of reasons. In this case, I am enjoying this as a historical oddity. That said I wouldn't want it all the time. It is sweet, spicy, fruity, and floral, all things I like. It just hits a bit strangely to me. Probably as a result of the unusual mash bill and processes that went into creating it. This is one to spend time with as there is a lot going on. So though I like it, I won’t be buying myself a bottle. Leaves one more chance at it for all of you.

If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Koopers Family Barrel Reserve Rye

I’d like to thank the Texas Whiskey Festival, Koopers Whiskey, and their PR partners for providing this sample with no strings attached.

IMAGE: Bottle of Kooper Family Barrel Reserve Rye whiskey standing on a weathered wooden deck railing. The white label features a leopard illustration, with a green, leafy backyard softly blurred in the background.

Bonus post time again! We’ll probably be having these for a while as I work through a massive sample backlog. Tonight’s is another winner from the Texas Whiskey Festival, this time the winner of the Rye — Must-Try Bottles category.

Koopers Family Barrel Reserve Rye is a mixture of four- and seven-year-old rye whiskeys that are then put into used bourbon barrels for finishing. Before bottling, toasted oak staves are added to those barrels as a final step. It is bottled at barrel proof and is available on the Koopers Whiskey website for $65 per bottle.

Let’s see how it tastes.

Koopers Family Barrel Reserve Rye

Purchase Info: This sample was provided at no charge for review purposes. It is available on the Kooper's Whiskey website for $65 per bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.33

Nose: Sweet berries, mint, vanilla, cedar, and oak.

Mouth: Spicy, with notes of cedar, mint, cinnamon, and vanilla sugar.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Notes of cinnamon, cedar, caramel, and mint.

IMAGE: A hand-drawn smiley face indicating that I like this one.

Thoughts: Long-time readers will know that my wife, and tasting partner, is not a fan of rye whiskey outside of a cocktail. The first words out of her mouth with this were, "Oh, I like this!" So honestly, that sums things up. This is a delicious rye. It is dangerously drinkable neat. Normally, when you get over 110 proof, you're going to want a bit of dilution, but this doesn't need it. In fact, a splash of water actually makes it less enjoyable. All in all, I have to agree with my wife. I really like this one. It’s a delicious rye and well worth the splurge if you’re in the market.

If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Frey Ranch Farm Strength Uncut Rye

I’d like to thank the folks at Frey Ranch Distillery and their PR team for providing this bottle with no strings attached.

IMAGE: Frey Ranch Cask Strength Straight Rye Whiskey (aged 6 years) bottle on a wooden deck with backyard trees in the background, showing green and black label details and BourbonGuy watermark in the corner

Now, I don’t know about you, but I seldom think of farming and Nevada in the same sentence. Mostly because I’ve really only been to the areas that tourists go to. I’ve been to Vegas, visited nature in the area, and driven through Northern Nevada on I-80 a couple of times. And honestly, I never thought about grain farming as I drove through.

But apparently I should have. Just over the southern horizon (poetically speaking) from I-80 lives a small town named Fallon. And when you look for Fallon on a satellite view, you notice one thing quite clearly: there is a lot of green on that image. More than my brief visits to the state would have ever led me to believe. I must not be the only one with those thoughts, as the press release spends a few words explaining just that:

Using his own slow-grown grains that take Northern Nevada’s climate, topography, and terroir into account provides Colby with almost unlimited freedom to experiment with different grain varieties and blends. Valuing a common-sense approach to sustainable farming, Colby, along with Master Distiller Russell Wedlake, built a distillery born from a desire to create a distinctive, long-lasting product from the quality grains that the Frey family has been growing and perfecting for generations. The new Frey Ranch Farm Strength Uncut Rye is another prime example of Frey Ranch’s commitment to centering its whiskey enterprise around their grains and farming background first and foremost. 

The Frey family values a common-sense approach to sustainable farming, with Colby’s inspiration to build a distillery born from a desire to create a distinctive, long-lasting product from the quality grains his family has been growing and perfecting for generations. The family has long abided by the motto, “Be good to the land and the land will be good to you,” which is embossed on the bottom of each bottle of Frey Ranch Whiskey.

Now I don’t know about you, but I love having my perspective on the world widened. It’s why I travel so much and end up taking a lot of road trips when I do. I love seeing for myself just what this country has to offer.

But we are here to talk about whiskey. So let’s see what this whiskey has to offer. Right off the bat, it isn’t offering you any water. This is a cask strength whiskey, uncut with water—which I actually like. Why bother shipping water across the country when I have plenty here at home? Plus, I get to find my preferred dilution point. Frey Ranch Uncut Rye is six years old, bottled at 124.52 proof, and has a mash bill of 100% Canadian winter rye, grown by the Frey family. So now onto the most important part—how does it taste?

Frey Ranch Farm Strength Uncut Rye

Purchase Info: This bottle was provided for review purposes at no charge. The suggested retail price is $79.99 and it is available for the time being at the Frey Ranch Distillery website.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.33

Details: 6 years old. 62.26% ABV. 100% rye mash bill.

Nose: Caramel, honey, mint, black pepper, oak.

Mouth: Very hot and thick in the mouth. Notes of cinnamon, honey, cola, and oak.

Finish: Warm and long. Notes of cinnamon, mint, cocoa, black pepper, caramel, and oak linger.

IMAGE: A hand-drawn Smiley face which denotes I like the product.

Thoughts: Rich, sweet, and very spicy when neat. This is a release that is begging for water—which I am totally fine with. As I said earlier, it doesn't make much sense to ship water across the country when there is plenty here at the house. Water tames some of the heat and brings out cedar notes, as well as a hint of citrus. This also makes a killer Sazerac, the cocktail I test all ryes with. Overall, this is very good. I really like it.

If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Stoll & Wolfe Pure Rye Single Barrel Cask Strength

I’d like to thank Stoll & Wolfe and their PR partners for providing this sample bottle with no strings attached.

IMAGE: Stoll & Wolfe Distillery Pennsylvania Single Barrel Rye Whiskey, 100% Pure Rye, 107 proof, photographed on a snowy deck with warm amber whiskey glowing in winter light.

Hello my friends. Tonight we have a real treat for you. Stoll & Wolfe Pure Rye Single Barrel Cask Strength is described by the distillery as an interpretation on the historic Monongahela-style of Rye Whiskey that was once much more common than it is today. It was a rye whiskey developed along the Monongahela River, which flows through West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania before joining the Allegheny at Pittsburgh to form the Ohio River.

Now, being in Lititz, PA, Stoll & Wolfe aren’t necessarily very close to that Monongahela River Valley (being about as close to it as I am to the U.P. of Michigan from here in the Twin Cities of Minnesota), but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a lot of state pride in their regional whiskey style. I know I would.

But, to me as a history nut, the most intriguing thing about this whiskey is the guy who helped start the company—and has his name on the bottle. Dick Stoll was the last distiller at a (now) pretty famous Pennsylvania distillery. It went by many names over the years, but the two that are most well known these days are Bomberger’s Distillery and Michter’s Distillery (this was back before the current owners of the Michter’s name acquired the lapsed trademark and started making their own pretty darn tasty whiskeys under the name). Here is the brief synopsis quoted from the Stoll & Wolfe website:

Dick Stoll’s roots stretch back to his tenure at the historic Pennsylvania Michter’s Distillery. There, under the mentorship of Master distiller C. Everett Beam, Stoll honed his skills and mastered the particular style of Pennsylvania whiskey distillation.

Despite Pennsylvania Michter’s closure in the 1980s, Stoll’s passion for both whiskey and the region has endured. As a capstone to his career, he partnered with Avianna and Erik Wolfe to revive the historic legacy right here in Lititz, Pennsylvania.

I’ve been reading a lot about Mr. Stoll over the course of the last couple of days in preparation for this review. I’d do a hell of a lot worse than these legendary Whiskey writers so I’m just going to point you to them instead. Here is Lew Bryson’s remembrance of Dick Stoll upon the occasion of his death in 2020. And of course, the book that brought my attention to the history of the Pennsylvania Michter’s Distillery and those that worked there Chuck Cowdery’s The Best Bourbon You’ll Never Taste (I also reviewed said book shortly after it was released, in case you wonder what I thought of it back in 2012).

Now, before you go read all those links, let’s get into the reason we are all here. The actual whiskey. Stoll & Wolfe Pure Rye Single Barrel Cask Strength was made from a mash bill of 80% Rosen Rye and 20% malted rye. This rye strain was almost lost to history until local farmers worked with the distillery to recover it. The rye is made using a sweet mash process that doesn’t use any “setback” from previous runs to help maintain pH levels. It’s a trickier process, as without the proper pH levels the mash could get infected by undesirable non-yeast organisms. It’s a much older mashing process, but it was the one most often used in Monongahela-style rye. The whiskey is bottled at 107 proof and is available from the distillery website for $78.15 per 750 mL bottle. Now let’s see how it tastes.

Stoll & Wolfe Pure Rye Single Barrel Cask Strength

Purchase Info: This sample was provided to me at no cost for review purposes. This item is available for nationwide shipping on the distillery website for $78.15 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.21

Details: Barrel 1225. Aged 34 months. 53.5% ABV. Mashbill: 80% Rosen Rye, 20% malted Rye.

Nose: Butterscotch, cedar, almond, and a faint note of wintergreen.

Mouth: Spicy & hot in the mouth with notes of allspice, cedar, wintergreen, peppermint, and almond.

Finish: Medium in warmth and length. Notes of butterscotch, cherry, mint, and baking spice.

IMAGE: a hand-drawn smiley face that denotes I like the product.

Thoughts: I'm really digging this one. The nose is super sweet, sweeter than most ryes. The mouth and finish bring more traditional rye notes to the party. Mouth is spicy and hot but the mint on the finish is almost cooling. It' is less than three years old, too young to be called whiskey in many countries, but is still a fully mature product. Young? Yes. Brash? At times. Delicious? Absolutely. I like this one a lot.

If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.