Tasting notes

nose

Butterscotch, orange marmalade and lemon zest over cardamom, baking spice and a green-tea note

palate

Weighty and dense, with juicy pear, cherry and fig, caramel and brown sugar, then mint, star anise and fennel

finish

Long; seasoned oak and rye spice come first, then toffee, dried apricot and green grape, closing on candied fennel seed

Mash bill

95% rye, 5% malted barley. Both lots in the blend come from the distillery's signature 95% rye recipe, 60% of it distilled in 2015 and 40% in 2016. The Rossville Distillery that George Ross founded on the same site in 1847 made its name with rye, and Lawrenceburg helped make Indiana known as the rye capital of the world.

Why it's craft

This is the first rye in the ten-year history of the Repeal Reserve series, which had been bourbon only. Ross & Squibb distilled both lots itself in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and the label states each year's share of the medley. The distillery is best known as a supplier of rye to other brands, including Templeton and Bulleit; this release is blended under its own name by Master Distiller Ian Stirsman.