Tasting notes

nose

Tart cherry and dried stone fruit, cinnamon and black pepper, with leather, cedar, cigar box and a wisp of smoke

palate

Tannic oak and cinnamon syrup up front, then rye spice, butterscotch, dark chocolate and coffee over a peppery, earthy core

finish

Very long; rye spice, cinnamon and leather hold with a trace of smoke, drying steadily to sharp, tannic oak

Mash bill

100% malted rye. In recent batches half the malt is Colorado rye malt from Root Shoot Malting in Loveland and half is the German rye malt 291 has always used, from Weyermann. With no corn in the mash, the malted rye carries the whiskey alone, which is why 291 calls it "All Rye." The recipe grew out of 291 E Batch 3, the distillery's first experiment with an all-rye-malt mash.

Why it's craft

All Rye is the only 291 whiskey made from nothing but rye malt, and in recent batches half of that malt comes from Root Shoot Malting in Loveland, Colorado. It began as an experiment, 291 E Batch 3, and became an annual release after the distillery decided to make it again. Like every 291 whiskey, it is mashed, triple pot-distilled, barreled and finished on toasted aspen at the Colorado Springs distillery Michael Myers opened in 2011.