OVERALL RATING
As part of this review, I went back and looked at my tasting notes for Old Potrero’s 18th Century-Style Whiskey, also made with 100% malted rye, but aged just two and a half years, in toasted, not charred, barrels.rnrnIt was an interesting exercise: the 18th Century-Style Whiskey has a substantial funky, buttery note that a longer aging in a more heavily-charred barrel seems to have sucked right out of the Hotaling’s. I didn’t mind it when I initially tasted the younger whiskey, but in contrast, it definitely comes across as a little raw next to the 11-year-old.rnrnIn any case, this is a very nice whiskey with lovely grain spice notes that come across as three-dimensional, compared with the usual “fruit and baking spice” palate of a run-of-the-mill rye expression.
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.
Katelyn Best, a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon, is a regular contributor to The Whiskey Wash. She has a particular passion for exploring the unique and unconventional aspects of the whisky world.
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