In honor of National Bourbon Heritage Month, we’re kicking off a 4-week run of American whiskey reviews with this: Leopold Bros. Maryland Style Rye Whiskey. Yes, I know it’s not a bourbon, but I see September as a celebration of American Whiskey as a whole. Which means I’ll be covering Rye, Bourbon, American Single Malts and everything between this month. There’s some interesting stuff in the queue.
If the name Leopold Bros. Sounds familiar to you, but your brain is thinking beer not whiskey, your brain is correct. Mine did the same thing when I saw this on the shelf. In the mid-2000s they closed the brewery in MI and moved to CO to focus on distilling. In 2014 they opened a zero-waste distillery where they make everything from absinthe to vodka.
Looking through their catalog, several of their products pique my interest for cocktails; none of them are whiskey though as they’re mostly flavored and what’s not flavored probably fits along the lines of what we’re drinking today. And on that ominous note, here we go.
Leopold Bros. Maryland Style Rye Whiskey – Details and Tasting Notes
Whiskey Details
Region: Colorado, USA
Distiller: Leopold Bros.
Mash Bill: At least 51% Rye + Corn + Malted Barley
Cask: New Charred Oak
Age: 2 Years
ABV: 43%
Barrel: 144
Price: $47
Tasting Notes
EYE
Butterscotch
NOSE
WOODY CRAFT, cocoa powder, stale dried apples, imitation citrus, raw grain and chemically spearmint.
PALATE
WOODY CRAFT, raw grain, stale dried orchard fruit and a hint of baking spice.
FINISH
Medium -> Woody and raw grain.
BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Not balanced, light body and a watery feel that fades dry.
Leopold Bros. Maryland Style Rye Whiskey – Overall
This is just plain not good. It embodies that all too familiar, and wholly not-unique, profile that’s come to signify “craft whiskey”.
Aroma is an overwhelming delivery of that standard craft raw-wood-saw-dust-wet-cardboard profile that I can’t stand and it’s accompanied by more raw and stale profiles; Palate is pretty much the same, though somehow less complex with an even heavier delivery of that craft note; Finish is just more of the same.
Leopold Bros. Maryland Style Rye Whiskey – Final Thoughts and Score
I’ve been transported back to 2010 when Sku penned “Most Craft Whiskeys Suck” and he was being generous with that “Most”. I thought we were moving away from distilleries putting out stuff that’s 2-5x the price of Wild Turkey 101 but 1/10th the quality… I guess not.
Maybe it just needs another 4-6 years of aging, like most whiskey made outside of KY, TN or IN. Maybe the natural process of expansion and contraction has been dramatically, slowed by their use of a dunnage-style barrelhouse where the temps don’t swing as much as taller, thin-walled and metal-clad, rick houses do. Maybe it’s a combination of both. Either way this is just raw, raw, raw.
I do not like the Leopold Bros. Maryland Style Rye Whiskey… and neither did anyone at our SCWC 20 blind ryes event. It came in dead last, just a mere 11 points above the minimum possible with the second to last a full 12 points above it. It might be good in 6-8 more years, only time will tell, but I definitely won’t be picking up any of their whiskeys until they hit that range. However, for cocktails, their liqueurs, gins and absinthe do sound interesting…
SCORE: 1/5
Leopold Bros. Maryland Style Rye Whiskey Review $47
Overall
1- Nose (1)
- Palate (1)
- Finish (1)
- BBF (1)
User Review
0 (0 votes) Comments Rating 0 (0 reviews)Summary
This is just not tasty whiskey. It’s reminiscent of the raw craft whiskeys that flooded the market starting in 2010. It’s just raw and woody with no real presence outside of that.
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