American

Whiskey Review: Hard Truth Distilling Malted Rye Sweet Mash Rye 2023

We review Hard Truth Distilling Malted Rye Sweet Mash Rye 2023, distilled from a 100 percent rye mash bill of 54% rye and 46% malted rye.

OVERALL RATING

7
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Tasting Notes

About:

Distilled from a mash bill of 54% rye and 46% malted rye, it has aged at least two years and is bottled at 113.4 proof.
Appearance:
This has a nice, proto-typical golden-amber color, offering acceptable legs and viscosity in the glass.
Nose:
The aromatics contain a lot of rye but for different reasons because of the two rye styles. Notes of rye bread, baking spice, black licorice, dark cherries, popcorn, and caramel are present.
Palate:
This comes in warm and rye spicy, but with an interesting baked rye bread back kick. Notes on the palate include baking spice, coriander, oak, anise, almond, peppermint, and cinnamon.
Finish:
This has a decent amount of heat as it hits the back throat, holding rye spice and just a slight touch of Hot Tamales as it fades out at a decent clip.
Comments:
While related as a grain type, the integration of rye and malted rye is a tricky consideration. Hard Truth does a good job at this with this whiskey, but I’m not finding quite the balance I hoped for.

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was either bought as a sample by The Whiskey Wash or provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. Per our editorial policies, this in no way influenced the outcome of this review.

Nino Kilgore-Marchetti

Nino Kilgore-Marchetti is the founder of The Whiskey Wash, an award-winning whiskey lifestyle website dedicated to informing and entertaining consumers about whisk(e)y globally. As a whisk(e)y journalist, expert, and judge, he has written extensively about the subject, been interviewed in various media outlets, and provided tasting input on many whiskeys at competitions.

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