Michter's US★1 Kentucky Straight Rye is a single barrel rye bottled at 42.4% ABV, so every bottle comes from one cask. It sits at the gentle end of the rye spectrum, peppery and bright but rounded by butterscotch, and it works as well in a stirred drink as it does on its own.
About This Whisky
Rye grain for this bottling is sheared to draw more flavour out of it. The new spirit goes into barrels at 103 proof, well below the 125 proof many Kentucky houses use, which means fewer bottles per barrel but, in the distillery's view, a fuller texture. Barrels are toasted before they are charred, and the warehouses are heat cycled in the colder months so the whiskey keeps moving in and out of the wood. Each bottle is drawn from a single barrel and filled at 84.8 proof.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Cracked black pepper and orange zest over butterscotch, with light cedar behind.
- Palate: Soft on entry, then rye spice builds with citrus peel, vanilla fudge and a little sweet oak.
- Finish: Clean and medium length, peppery at the close with a trace of toffee.
Serving & Food
Serve at room temperature in a small tulip or rocks glass, neat or over one large cube. It makes a lively Manhattan or Sazerac. At the table try it with smoked duck breast, cha siu or a slice of rye-crust apple pie.
How to Enjoy
Rye newcomers who want spice without heat, and home bartenders after a dependable Manhattan base.
Product Details
Producer: Michter's
Expression: US★1 Kentucky Straight Rye
Category: Kentucky straight rye whiskey
ABV: 42.4% ABV / 84.8 proof
Volume: 750mL
Production: Single barrel
Barrel Entry Proof: 103 proof
Cask: Fire-charred new American white oak
Origin: Kentucky, USA
About the Distillery
The Michter's name reaches back to 1753, when the Swiss Mennonite farmer John Shenk began distilling rye in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania. The site later traded as Bomberger's and took the Michter's name in the twentieth century, before the Pennsylvania company went bankrupt in 1989.
In the 1990s Joseph J. Magliocco of Chatham Imports and his mentor Dick Newman, a former head of Wild Turkey's parent Austin Nichols, picked up the abandoned trademark and rebuilt the brand in Kentucky. Michter's now distils at Shively in Louisville and at its Fort Nelson Distillery on Main Street, which runs pot stills and cypress fermenters brought over from the old Pennsylvania plant. Master Distiller Dan McKee and Master of Maturation Andrea Wilson lead production and ageing.