Notes:Pikesville Rye is one of the few ryes that has been around for quite a while, surviving the dark days of the 1960s to the roughly 1990s along with Old Overholt, Jim Beam Rye and a small handful of others. While it was a Maryland style rye and produced there, it has long since moved to Kentucky to Heaven Hill to be specific

During those dark ( or should I say non dark as everyone was drinking vodka it seems ?) Rye had fallen from favor both by being a whiskey and also the frank bastardization of rye by watered-down Canadian brands that were the light beer version of real rye.

Appearance: Clear as a bell with a lovely mahogany red color speaks of a nice if somewhat rapid aging in the bottle and a wheat stalk yellow in the glass with a medium to heavy coat on glass with a persistent edge line that seems to eventually evaporate rather than slide back down

First Impression: Heavy, almost dense entry with a pleasantly oily glide to it blossoming to a burst of grain flavor and a fruity sweet-sour that defines this as unmistakeably unapologetic rye with a pleasant drying around the back edges of the tongue.

Taste: Intensely flavorful with a deep cycle of sweet-sour rye spice.Buckwheat honey, Djarum Cigarettes, and Peruvian dirt road dust (slightly alkali and dry as the desert it came from).As lovely and as intense as a midnight skydive.A thick almost jamlike mouthfeel and an equally intense palate to this rye.

Drinks: Makes a good if heavy and somewhat densely flavored cocktail which will open up when stirred > You may want to adjust your ratios slightly to taste and to take into account that this Rye will crowd some of your more delicate ingredients. Excellent against heavyweight ingredients such as in an Algonquin, Brainstorm, or Waldorf Cocktail.

Bottle: Vastly different from the old bottle, which I admit would be right at home in a Noir movie but that says something about how dated and relatively nondistinct that version now is. In a major remake of the bottle, it has been made much shorter with a flat front, round back, with a heavier bottom, with a large real cork closure and a paper seal. Cork has “Pikesville” stamped on the large cork above the glass neck

Other: If you would like to try a lighter version of this rye try the Rittenhouse Rye which is admittedly a Pennsylvania Style but you will smell and taste the family tree.

Cigars: A good Cuban or Dominican Republic Maduro or darker natural wrapper. A corona sized or maybe a torpedo

Final Thoughts: An excellent rye whiskey of the old school when whiskey was well-aged, dense and flavorful, and was bottled at a decent proof that stood up to mixing. Old School and unapologetic.Bravo!

Website: Pikesvillerye.com 

Not a bad website but a bit light on technical information