Spicy and pleasantly sweet. Vibrant too, with cinnamon, peppermint stick, and caramel corn. Warming spice zing on the finish. Quite possibly at its peak age for flavor, maturity, and balance.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Spring 2017)

Top notes of spearmint and green apple part to reveal deeper nuances of golden raisin, saddle leather, varnish, and pine resin that suggest some maturity. Bright apple meets blazing spice on the palate, reminiscent of applesauce cake or warm spiced cider. The finish really soars, adding layers of tropical fruit and toasted banana-nut bread and licorice.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Spring 2019)

The annual sherry-finished rye release from Iowa’s Templeton Distillery. Sweet notes of honey, butterscotch, and raisins meld with buttered peanuts, grape, and orange oil on the nose. The palate is very creamy and filled with flavors of sweet grain, candied strawberries, milk chocolate, and a sprinkling of allspice. The finish is long, rich, well-balanced, and packed with berries and dark fruit notes. Sweetness and spice partner to good effect.

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Spring 2022)

A pleasant, honeyed nose of brown sugar, lemon peel, candied clementine, cherry hard candy, and light notes of herbs. The palate is liltingly sweet with an overlay of spice, as well as flavors of orange peel and marmalade. Water brings out notes of vanilla wafer, orange, spice, licorice, and black pepper. The finish is spicy but sweet, with hints of candied orange and vanilla cream, all punctuated by a spice-note finale. (24,000 bottles)

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Spring 2020)

A burst of orange on the nose: orange blossom, orange peel, orange pekoe tea, candied orange slices. It also has sweet licorice, sage, honey, and blueberry. Light-bodied in the mouth with a bit of astringency; the flavors run to berry, orange, spearmint, and cinnamon, with gentle spice. On the finish, more fruit and cinnamon prevail, along with nuttiness and an undercurrent of herbal pine.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Spring 2020)

The labeling is a little confusing. Small batch implies a marriage of multiple barrels, not just a bottling from a single barrel; the label seems to imply both. Plus, there’s no indication of the source of this whiskey, or its age. Regardless, this is one of the sweetest and mellowest rye whiskeys I’ve tasted. Spicy fresh mint, cinnamon, white pepper, and subtle clove are tamed by sweet notes of toasted marshmallow, cotton candy, creamy vanilla, candied fruit, and red licorice. Soft finish. Rather gentle for a rye whiskey.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2009)