I have long been a fan of Warwick Valley Winery and Black Dirt Distillery. Their latest releases from this spring, where I tasted them at the New York Botanical Gardens for the Daffodils and Wine festival in April were fantastic. I especially loved the Black Dirt Rye. Black Dirt Rye is a Pennsylvania or Monongahela rye, meaning it is a high-rye styled spirit. It is distilled from 100% NY rye grown in upstate New York. The mash bill consists of 90% Rye and 10% malted rye. It is bottled at 50% ABV/100 Proof. Batch #1 was released on April 4, 2018. It was aged for 3 and a half years in new American charred oak (level 3). It is a lovely dark amber color, and offers notes of caramel, ginger spice with a cocoa and malt finish. An exceptional rye!
Barrel Number: 66-14 was aged for almost three years in new charred American Oak (Char level 3) and distilled with a mash bill of 80% Black Dirt grown corn, 10% Malted Barley, 10% Rye. A big nose of cereal (think Captain Crunch and Corn Flakes) is accompanied by honey, caramel, and brown sugar. This drinks super smooth, with just a hint of black pepper and ginger snap at the end, and a wisp of vanilla. A lovely, lovely sipping bourbon!