Tasting notes

nose

earthy rye grain and dusty baking spice wrapped in soft caramel

palate

toasted oak and a bold, spicy rye core; soft at first, then warmth builds and peppery spice coats the tongue

finish

long; rye spice lingers, settling into vanilla and cinnamon as it slowly dries

Mash bill

Malted rye, unmalted rye and malted barley; the split is not published. It is the same recipe as Big Jake White Whiskey, the first spirit StilL 630 made, so RallyPoint is that rye spirit after time in oak. The mash ferments on the grain, and the grain stays in the wash for the first pot-still run, carrying more of the rye's heavy, earthy character into the spirit.

Awards

• Best of Category, Rye Whiskey — American Distilling Institute 2016
• Silver — American Distilling Institute 2018
• Silver — American Distilling Institute 2021

Why it's craft

RallyPoint is the aged form of Big Jake, the first spirit StilL 630 made after David Weglarz founded the distillery in 2011, so the recipe goes back to the house's start. Weglarz mashes and ferments it himself in a former fast-food building in downtown St. Louis, then double distills it on a pot still built in Missouri to his own design. Leaving the grain in for the first distillation keeps more of the rye's weight in the spirit, which a filtered column-still rye wash does not.