Pikesville Rye

Pikesville Rye was originally distilled in Maryland and is now owned by Heaven Hill.  Despite this, it holds the distinction of being one of the last remaining Maryland rye brands.  Reportedly, the mashbill reflects it’s new Kentucky origin, and sits at a required minimum 51% rye.   Coming in at $50, it almost doubles Heaven Hill’s slightly younger Rittenhouse Rye (coming in at 4 years).  So is it worth it?

Pikesville Rye

• Age: 6 Years
• Proof: 110
• Mashbill (Unverified): 51% Rye, 39% Corn, 10% Malted Barley

Sight:  Between amber and tawny.

Smell:  Buckwheat honey and caramelized sugar come through with deep baking spices and notes of dark chocolate.    Mint, slight herb,  malt, and touches of graham cracker join in.   Undertones of forest floor and a robust nuttiness join in.    There’s also just a touch of floral.  The overall nose is sweet and relatively complicated with lots of earthy and baking notes – especially chocolate and nutty notes.

Sip:  The body starts off with a moderate to heavy weight and is smooth. It quickly opens up with a barrage of caramel laden rye spices echoing things from clove to burnt cinnamon.   Earthy notes make an underlayer here, giving a forest floor, cocoa, and slight dried mushroom underpinning.  Buckwheat honey and slight blackberry notes come in.   There’s also some mint and cereal.  Hold it too long, and the smoothness gives way to alcohol.

Savor:  The ending carries forward notes of cocoa, caramel, rye, and a hint of earthiness.  The finish lingers – giving way to more rye spices and 100% cocoa as it lingers.

Pikesville Rye is delightfully complex and doesn’t impart quite as much wood as you might expect for a minimum 6 year release.  The flavors are deep, complex, and layered.   The earthiness bumping up against the chocolate notes with a hint of minty herbs is a beautiful combination.  It invites the imbiber to continue to seek out new flavors in each sip.  On it’s own, it’s a wonderfully layered and complex rye.

In Cocktails

In a Manhattan the earthy flavors manage to pull off this interesting background note where notes of dark cocoa powder, forest floor, and a slight grilled portabella mushroom umami play background.   In the forefront is a great amount of caramel and latent rye spice.  The more minty and buckwheat notes are present, but more minimal, subdued by some of the vermouth notes.  The bitterness on the finish is more prominent, as the background note of unsweetened chocolate and forest floor come more to the fore with hints of burnt marshmallow.

In Review – Pikesville Rye

Pikesville Rye has incredibly deep and complex earthy notes.  It’s important to note here that those looking for sweet flavors are going to find this more on the savory side.  It does these savory flavors really well, giving depth and robust character to each sip.  As a result, drinks made with Pikesville end up more taught and brooding than some younger more herbal – fruity ryes.  There’s a ton of things to love here though, and at around $50, this is good value that you might want to try before you buy.