Review: Fremont Mischeif's John Jacob Rye

First up!  We have John Jacob Rye, which is brought to us by way of Fremont Mischief, a distillery in Seattle Washington.  I've noticed a good amount of tasty items coming from the PacNorWest as of late, which further cements my opinion that they are starting to spearhead the second Civil War.

Nice bottle.  Has a picture of a bike on the front, which may have been 100 percent of the impetus behind my choosing it

I got news that they changed the imagery on the front of the bottle to some other image.  Bummer.  Anyhoo, on with the review:

Notes on John Jacob Rye:


1st sip, neat. Very warm. Apple and cinnamon opening, bright, smooth, slow, long finish

2nd sip,neat after 10 minutes in glass: opened up considerably, could easily be enjoyed like this. Same as the first, but much more mellow. Very clean and mellow, notes of buttercream and toffee just before finish.

With Big Ass Ice Cube: Great Rye. Normal characteristic spicyness, but not overly hot. Still light and bright, not overly viscous. Noses with cinnamon and apple. Very faint with the cube though. Still lingering buttercream and toffee hints. Nice slow mellow finish, with lingering spicy notes.






Overall: This is a Great Rye. I'm a fan. I would be interested in trying some of their other spirits with the exception of vodka, as I'm not a 115lb anorexic gymnast. As it is very good, i have to search for what might be perceived as a downside, but if i had to make an assignment for that, i would say that the smoothness, combined with the non-heavy notes, could be mistaken for lack of bold flavor. I would say it is probably purposeful though, so i will say if you are looking for an easy sipping Rye whiskey, with subtle notes and flavor aspects, this is for you. Maybe a good intro for people who haven't tried enough ryes to realize they like it. 4 out of 5 stars.






It should also be noted that i made a cocktail with the John Jacob after my initial tasting, as i think that a real world, blue-collar evaluation must include cocktail-ability. I made a Manhattan up with Angostura bitters and Ponti Rosso Vermouth. It did the job, but i would say it masked the finer points of the spirit when i tried it both neat and with the B.A.I.C. Although, it might be a good candidate for the MashSpin signature cocktail, the Against the Grain, which is a 3oz cocktail with one part Rye, and one part non-rye billed, wheated Whisky such as Makers Mark 46 and one B.A.I.C.






'Til next time, i gotta dry up.