It's been a bit since my last review, been enjoying my current rotation of known favorites. Today, I got to bring home something local:
Fordham Lee, located in Middletown, MD. They sell more liqueurs (5) than bourbons (2), and this is their high-rye bourbon.
First thoughts: One of the benefits of going to craft/vendor fairs is that local distilleries like to show up there. I found my first Maryland whiskey at one such fair, and then my first Maryland rye. Thought both were overpriced but it turns out my wife doesn't get as upset when I 'support local businesses', so dropping $50 on a bottle like that doesn't bother her. We were at a 'festival' a couple years ago but arrived late on the last day, so the Fordham Lee tent was already packed up. Forward to last night: my wife tells me about a craft fair not overly far from us, and I immediately envisioned at least one distillery would be there, and with it a chance to stock up on the sly. Sure enough, the very first distillery in Maryland that I had tried was there, and so was Fordham Lee. My palate has grown away from the former, though my wife bought one of their liqueurs, so after having a sample--just to confirm I wasn't as keen on them as I used to be, I tried and picked up a bottle of the Fordham Lee's 86 proof high-rye (36%) expression, aged 5+ years in charred new oak barrels.
**Bonus points for not having a screw-on top, but not as many as they could get as it's a synthetic cork.
First sniff: I can smell the rye influence, reminds me of Wild Turkey and Old Forester, and a little sweet, more caramel than brown sugar.
First sip: Watered-down Wild Turkey and Old Forester. The rye makes its presence known in a pleasant way.
Second sip: Unsweetened tea, though that's not a bad taste to me.
Knee-jerk thoughts: I misread the label at the fair, because I thought it was 90 proof instead of 86. That said, this is the best tasting 86 proof bourbon I've had. I like it, and my only knock on it is that I wish it were higher proof. I believe they've been at it for 10 years now, yet just have two 'basic' bourbons, at ~$50 each. Makes me think that barrel proof or bottled-in-bond would be prohibitive in cost; hopefully they'll find a way to drop the basic price a little and up the proof.