Tasting notes

nose

Vanilla lemon cake and citrus herbal tea with cardamom

palate

Brown sugar and fresh pastry lifted by tangy lemon frosting

finish

Gentle warmth; ginger candy, baking spice and chamomile tea

Mash bill

95% rye and 5% malted barley from Bardstown Bourbon Co.; 95% rye and 5% malted barley from Sagamore Spirit; and 52% rye, 43% corn and 5% malted barley from Sagamore Spirit. Two are near-all-rye recipes and one adds a large share of corn, which sweetens the blend. Pursuit prints all three recipes on the label.

Why it's craft

This is the lower-strength rye in Pursuit's United line, bottled at 88 proof. Pursuit Spirits was founded by the hosts of the Bourbon Pursuit podcast and does not distill; it blends rye whiskeys from two partner distilleries and prints their three recipes on the label. One of the three adds 43% corn to a rye mash, which is why the blend reads sweeter than an all-rye whiskey. The whiskey is sourced, and the label says so.