I picked up this Kentucky Owl Rye 10 Years for our recent 20 Blind Ryes event with the SoCal Whiskey Club where it did quite well. This isn’t the first Kentucky Owl product I’ve had, but it is the first one I’ve had the chance to really sit down and review. And I have to say… it ain’t shabby.
On the whole, I see Kentucky Owl as the Supreme of whiskey. They take other people’s ideas, or product in this case, slap their own label on it and then let it out in limited quantities at an insane markup. And because of the branding, it sells. So they keep at it, and why not? If someone is willing to pay for it, keep doing it.
Kentucky Owl Rye 10 Years – Details and Tasting Notes
Whiskey Details
Region: Kentucky
Distiller: Unknown (rumored Brown-Forman)
Mash Bill: 51%+ Rye + Corn + Malted Barley
Cask: New Charred Oak
Age: 10 Years
ABV: 57%
Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Batch: 03
Price: $200
Tasting Notes
EYE
Ruddy oak
NOSE
Heavy dark fruit, oak, cocoa, Twizzlers, spice and strawberry Necco with some citrus and fresh pancake notes.
PALATE
Heavy dark fruit, oak, dill, cocoa, Twizzlers, spice and strawberry Necco with some citrus, grassy, and buttered pancake notes with a slight tannic bite.
FINISH
Long -> Oak, spice and dried fruit that fades to a light medicinal cherry.
BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Great balance, full body and an oily feel.
Kentucky Owl Rye 10 Years – Overall
Darn good rye, I just wish it wasn’t so damn expensive!
Aroma has a fairly standard delivery for rye and doesn’t stand out from other good ryes, like Pikesville rye, with a solid oaky, spicy and darkly sweet character; Palate is where it diverges and forges its own profile with the light raw/grassy notes showing up and the pancake note getting more pronounced; Finish starts nice but hits a light medicinal point that isn’t exactly my favorite thing.
Kentucky Owl Rye 10 Years – Final Thoughts and Score
In 2017 KO was acquired by Stoli and they’re building a massive distillery and entertainment complex dubbed Kentucky Owl Park. I’m curious to see if they can continue asking these same high prices once they’re pumping out millions of gallons of spirit a year and it all starts at lower ages.
Only time will tell, but in the meantime, their sourced whiskey will be more than available. Heck, I’ve seen Confiscated at Costco.
This ranked high in our 20 blind ryes event, but not by a wide margin. There were six other whiskeys within 5 points of it and all of them are 1/3 to 1/8th the price. We all know value is subjective and for my budget, those others are where I’ll be sipping.
But if you like the taste and can afford the Kentucky Owl Rye 10 Years, I hope you enjoy every last drop of it because at the end of the day it’s good whiskey and that’s what I’m here to talk about as often as possible: good whiskey.
SCORE: 4/5
Kentucky Owl Rye 10 Years Review $200
Overall
4- Nose (4)
- Palate (4.5)
- Finish (3)
- BBF (4.5)
User Review
0 (0 votes) Comments Rating 0 (0 reviews)Summary
An aromatic and complex tasty whiskey with a lot to offer the rye connoisseur looking to splurge. I hope they can keep up this level of quality once they start distilling their own stuff.
