Elvis Rye Whiskey Review

Like the Elvis TN Whiskey, saying Elvis Rye Whiskey feels weird. The King Rye Whiskey would have been a better name. But I get it, if you’re licensing Elvis’ name and image you wanna get your money’s worth and use that name as much as possible. And in as big a font as possible. Though I would have gone for more of an album cover tribute if it were me.

I get it, three-color labels with a basic design are easy, simple and cheap, but how much cooler, and eye-catching, would it be to use the Separate Ways cover? Remove Separate Ways and write The King in the same font and under his feet use a legally similar font to RCA and put RYE. At the very least the label should be red if it’s The King. If you’re going to pander to fans lean in.

This looks like an ink-jet job of a label with a 30-second concept. If you’re going to charge fans $50 for a young MGP rye, the least you can do is give them something cool to look at. Give them something fun to take part in, a label and bottle they might want to keep after. Don’t give them a yawn-worthy three-color label with a weird shiny lightning bolt on the neck. Elvis Rye Whiskey looks terrible when it should like The King of rye whiskey.

BUT, this isn’t a design blog, it’s a whiskey blog, and while I may hate the design of the label(s) it doesn’t affect the way the whiskey tastes and hence the score. Plenty of whiskeys with terrible labels have gotten great scores on here and, alternatively, whiskeys with killer labels have gotten horrible scores. At the end of the day, I only care about two things when it comes to whiskey: knowing what I’m drinking and how it smells and tastes.

Technically that’s three things, but the last two go together, you get it. Looking at the label they did an excellent job of covering the “where is it from” bases. We’re all good there and I commend them for that. All that’s left now is to get to drinkin’ and see how this Rye Review nets out.

Elvis Rye Whiskey – Details and Tasting Notes

Whiskey Details

Style: Rye Whiskey (Straight)
Region: Indiana, USA
Distiller: MGP
Bottler: Grain & Barrel

Mash Bill: At least 51% Rye + Corn (maybe) + Malted Barley (could be MGP 95/5)
Cask: New Charred Oak
Age: 3 Years
ABV: 45%

Elvis Rye Whiskey Price: $50*

Related Whiskey

Elvis Tennessee Whiskey
Porter’s Small Batch Rye
O.H. Ingram Rye Whiskey
Redemption Rye
Kooper Family Rye

White background tasting shot with the Elvis Rye Whiskey bottle and a glass of whiskey next to it.

“Elvis Presley has long been hailed as the undisputed King of Rock & Roll.” – Elvis Whiskey

Elvis Rye Whiskey Tasting Notes

EYE
Light copperish amber

NOSE
Herbally dilly rye spice, copper, nuts, baking and pepper spice, with a light bit of vanilla and tropical fruit.

It’s definitely rye. So it has that going for it.

PALATE
Herbally dilly rye spice, roasted nuts, spice and dried fruit with some vanilla frosting and spice.

The palate reminds me a bit of the Highspire Rye that was “purposefully young”… I didn’t like it.

FINISH
Medium-Short -> Dilly rye spice, toffee, dried fruit and woody oak.

BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Ok balance, medium-light body, slightly dry, light, feel.

Elvis Rye Whiskey – Overall Thoughts and Score

I’ve had good-decent young MGP rye and I’ve had mediocre-bad young MGP rye. The distillate is the same, the new charred oak barrels are the same, what changes is where the barrels are stored. I’m guessing these were lower-rick barrels that didn’t get a ton of oak extraction so it’s a bit fruity.

What’s in this isn’t bad, but it’s the same MGP profile you can get in a hundred other NDP bottles, and this is the risk of being a straight-up, non-blending, whiskey NDP. You’re getting the same available whiskey as everyone else and you have to hope your branding pulls you through.

The one, kinda unique, thing I can say about this Elvis Rye Whiskey is that as I’ve been sniffing and sipping it I keep coming back to this idea of apple pie. I’m not getting “apple pie” per-say, but the combination of notes keeps summoning the idea of it.

SCORE: 2.5/5 (average, drinkable, possible minor flaws ~ C+ | 77-79)

*Disclosure: The bottle for this Elvis Rye Whiskey review was graciously sent to me by the company without obligation. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.