Sometimes one thing just leads to another, you know? You can wake up in the morning thinking to yourself that you have nothing to do, nowhere to go, and that there is nothing on your calendar. And then you can end the day having spent $450 on a meat grinder and another $120 on whiskey. And that was me last Saturday.
I woke up Saturday morning. Early of course because hungry dogs had me up at 5:30 am. I groaned and tried to convince them to go back to sleep, to no avail. So the only thing to do was see if my wife would make us coffee while I took the pups out to go potty. It has been so dry in Minnesota that I think the only moisture my lawn gets is from the dogs urinating on it. Which probably means that the lawn is done for. But at least the weeds are still green. So there’s that.
As I was cleaning up after the dogs, my wife came out to add something to the ol’ honey-do list. She said, “remember to do some research on a meat grinder today.” Now, as you might expect from someone who does what I’m doing right now, I like to do research on the internet. I find reading reviews, combing through forums, and looking at specs to be fun and enjoyable. And I’ve been smoking a lot of meat lately. Which means I have a freezer full of trimmings. So looking at a meat grinder to turn those trimmings into tasty food was something I was looking forward to.
As I finished my research, I realized that my local Fleet-Farm had the model I was looking for. In-stock and on sale. You know I decided to brave the smoke outside and go get it. And of course, Fleet-Farm is right by a local Municipal Liquor store. It’s a small store, they don’t have everything, but they try to make their selection complement that of the Total Wine up the road by carrying items that Total Wine doesn’t. So I decided that since I was out braving the smoke anyway, it would be a waste of a trip if I didn’t stop in.
And that is where I found tonight’s whiskey. And one of next week’s as well. I picked up the Stellum Rye and the Stellum Bourbon, but I’m going to stretch the content out as much as I can. Stellum is a brand created by the makers of Barrell Bourbon. It is a cask-strength, non-chill filtered blend of Straight whiskeys from Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. According to an interview conducted by Fred Minnick with Barrell founder Joe Beatrice, the constituent whiskeys are between four and ten years old. And according to the Stellum website, the rye we are exploring tonight is made mostly of the 95% rye Indiana mashbill with small amounts of more “barley forward rye and choice barrels from both Kentucky and Tennessee.” The suggested retail price is $54.99 and should be available on an ongoing basis in 45 markets across the US.
I am a big fan of MGP’s 95% rye whiskey, especially at cask strength, and while they didn’t confirm that the 95% Rye from Indiana that they used was actually from MGP, I’m just going to go on the assumption that it is. So I was very excited to taste this one. Let’s see how it tastes.
Stellum Rye
Purchase Info: $52.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Lakeville Liquors, Lakeville, MN
Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.53
Details: 58.12% ABV. Distilled in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
Nose: Cooked cereals, mint, cinnamon, clove, and maple.
Mouth: Very hot in the mouth. Notes of honey, cherry, mint, cinnamon, and tobacco.
Finish: Spicy and warm. Medium length. Notes of cinnamon, mint, and brown sugar.
Thoughts: I'm really digging this one. As I said, I'm a big fan of the MGP 95/5 Rye recipe and am very glad that they made it the star of this blend. The other parts of the blend work to add sweetness and round off the sharp edges that 95/5 can sometimes come with. Big fan. I really like this one. I highly recommend it if you want a high-proof variation on MGP-style 95% rye.
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