The Stalk & Barrel Canadian Rye Whisky 23-99 (60.7%)

Tasting notes:
This dram is Canadian alright: it’s as pale as most residents of Manitoba, the Second Nation late arrivers. The smell of this rye, especially at first, is wild: Penicillin petri dishes at the moment of discovery. Hello Kitty strawberry flavor. Actually, it’s more like strawberry flavored dried ice billowing from the stage as goth stripper Hell O’Kitty makes her entrance. With boas.  The nose here is the Canadian version of Elysian fields with Dudley Do-Right driving a 4×4 pulling a moose.

The mouth is full of bright, fresh red fruit and dank grasses–if dank grasses could be big and bright–but without being particularly herby, which is quite an accomplishment for a rye. Still, the mouth overall has some jagged edges to it. But add some water, and the rye explodes with youthful freshness, like it’s a pep rally for rye led by the most charismatic cheerleaders ever. And they’re all high on amphetamines.

By contrast, the finish is classic rye: herbs and rye bite dominate, alongside an echo of that high register note from the mouth. This flavor profile is simple, but done well. The spice plays lightly on the front of the tongue for quite a while, leaving one with a fine, fine sensation that eclipses some of what comes before it.
 
 
Rating:
On the scale of characteristics of youthful freshness–
The Stalk & Barrel Rye Whisky 23-99 60.7% is sass–It’s the nemesis of some well-mannered parents, but it also can be great fun, as evidenced by the fact that it’s become a stock element in many sit-coms.
 
 
 
                                                                 –Stephen