I am so excited. Tomorrow I get to pick up my 10-year-old niece so that Wednesday we can head off on her “Yay! You are 10!” trip. My wife and I did this for my brother’s oldest child when he turned 10 and have plans to do it for his youngest too. But this time around we are taking his middle child, and only girl. Our goal with this is to take the kids someplace where their parents can’t or won’t take them. To broaden their experiences and get them out of the small town they live in (because the small town I grew up in, and that my family still lives in, has quite a “small town attitude” if you know what I mean). And aside from giving them valuable life experiences as they are finally old enough to begin to comprehend it, the trip makes them feel special and grown-up. Plus we spoil them, of course, because that is what Aunts and Uncles are for.
A couple years ago, we asked her to pick where she wanted to go. At first she wanted to go to the ocean. Then the mountains. Finally she settled on the desert. Growing up in Northern Wisconsin, she has no idea why a trip to the desert in summer isn’t the greatest plan. But if the point is to go somewhere to broaden your experiences, going from an overabundance of water to a scarcity of it will be a good experience. So we are taking a trip to Utah to experience the National Parks, National Monuments, and National Recreation Areas.
It will be our first vacation since 2019 and we are super excited about it. But what does that have to do with the Catoctin Creek Whiskey up in the photo above? Absolutely nothing. I’m too excited about vacation to process much else. But that said, here is what the distillery has to say about the product:
Only one in every ten barrels gets selected to be in the Roundstone Rye "92 Proof" whisky. This whisky is the culmination of several years of planning. "For a few years now, we've been putting whisky away for storage," remarked Becky Harris, Chief Distiller and President of Catoctin Creek Distilling Company. "We pulled some of the more interesting barrels from the back of the barn and decided to release these at a higher proof: a whisky specially curated for flavor, while still being remarkably smooth, as is our existing 80 proof Roundstone."
A few notes on it. This is a 100% Rye Mash whiskey. Usually, that means I won’t care for it as I’m not really a fan of the flavor that malted rye brings to a drink. This is non-chill filtered which seems to be a trend lately. One I am enjoying seeing. Also, this is a single barrel product so my notes and yours may differ.
Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye Whisky: Distiller's Edition 92 Proof
Purchase Info: $50.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN
Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.40
Details: 46% ABV. Non-chill filtered. 100% Rye Mash. Single Barrel # 1894
Nose: Cinnamon, mint, nutmeg, and red fruit.
Mouth: Spicy with strong notes of nutmeg and cinnamon. Herbal mint and red fruit.
Finish: Medium length and warmth. Strong notes of spearmint and nutmeg.
Thoughts: If you are a fan of nutmeg, you will really like this one. I happen to be a nutmeg fan and was very pleasantly surprised to find nutmeg as the dominant note throughout the tasting experience. This worked well in a rye cocktail. I tried it in a Sazerac and it performed very nicely. I'm a fan and will probably be giving some of their other products a try in the near future.
Did you notice that this came out a day early? That is because BourbonGuy.com will be on vacation until June 28th. Regular posts will resume at that time. I’ll be traveling with a 10-year-old girl, who I adore. But she is still a 10-year-old girl so wish me luck.
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