O.H. Ingram River Aged Rye Review

O.H. Ingram
River Aged
Straight Rye Whiskey
98 Proof
Ballard County, KY
Bottled by Brown Water Spirits, Owensboro, KY

I was very interested to try O.H. Ingram River Aged Rye! According to their website: “O.H. Ingram River Aged Whiskey is Mellowed on the Mississippi in a first-of-its-kind floating rickhouse. Our whiskey uses the climate of the river along with its rise and fall to provoke a unique interaction with wood and spirit.”

Well, that is unique! We’ve seen similar ideas with whiskey aged at sea, but this whiskey’s entire aging takes place on a barge on the Mississippi River. In addition to the motion, there are unique effects related to the daily temperature fluctuations as well as the high humidity. So does it all influence the final flavor? We shall see!

Mash Bill

Mash Bill: 51% rye, 45% corn, 4% malted barley
Distilled in Indiana
Aged a minimum of 3 years on the banks of Kentucky

Tasting Notes

Let’s taste it:

🛏 Rested for 30 minutes in a Glencairn

👉🏻Nose: Sweet, rye spices, citrus as in a tangerine, graham crackers, cedar, some sweet cornbread (Yes, cornbread in a rye!); medium alcohol
👉🏻Taste: Graham crackers, rye spices, medium sugar sweetness, black tea, some toast towards the finish; medium bodied
👉🏻Finish: The sweetness and graham crackers continue into the finish. Some char becomes apparent as time goes by. Moderately long “smooth” finish. There’s only mild alcohol burn.

This is a very tasty rye, and very easy to drink. Since they say O.H. Ingram River Aged Rye is distilled in Indiana, I am assuming that means it is MGP sourced. Before I knew the mash bill, I was thinking that it doesn’t taste like their 95/5 rye, but rather more like a Kentucky rye. I’m glad my taste buds didn’t deceive me!

Summary

I can’t know for sure what effect the river aging had. It certainly would be interesting to compare barrels from the same batch aged both on and off the river. I wonder if the folks at O.H. Ingram did that test? I will say this: this rye did turn out very well. The rye flavors go very nicely with the cornbread provided by that high percentage of corn in this 3 year old whiskey. If those flavors sound interesting to you, give O.H. Ingram River Aged Rye a try! Cheers!🥃