Alan Bishop is the talented distiller at the Spirits of French Lick Distillery. Alan is known for experimenting with his mash bills and his love of pot still distilling. This rye whiskey showcases his two loves right on the label. The mash bill 60% rye, 35% corn and 5% malted barley, and double pot distilled. I suspect that there may be some heirloom corn involved in this mash bill.
Bishop also has a great love of Indiana distilling heritage. That is why this whiskey is “Salomon Scott Rye”. Solomon Scott was a partner in the McCoy & Scott and the Daisy Springs Distilleries, as well as, legend has it, an illicit distiller out of his Paoli, Indiana home. This particular bottle is a single barrel selected by Seelbach’s. It is barrel number 172, entered in 2016, making it four years old, and bottled at 102.2 proof. The label does not say whether it is bottled at cask proof, but I would not be surprised if it was because Alan Bishop is also a fan of low barrel entry proof. This rye whiskey is another winner from the Spirits of French Lick Distillery.
Solomon Scott Rye
Proof: 102.2
Age: Four Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Very fruity with ripe peaches, rye grass, vanilla and a hint of cinnamon spice.
- Matt: Peaches and citrus notes with rye grass and vanilla.
Taste:
- Mike: Vanilla, rye grass, peaches and apricots, cinnamon with a hint of white pepper and sweet oak. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the fruit is reduced but the vanilla is enhanced. Tasted with a pecan and citrus notes come forward and the pepper is enhanced.
- Matt: Rye grass, peaches, citrus and ginger spice. The dried cranberry reduced the fruit leaving mostly rye, vanilla and oak. The pecan brought out notes of citrus and maple sugar candy.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with sweet oak and spice. The dried cranberry made it shorter and stronger with vanilla and less oak. The pecan made it longer with lots of black pepper.
- Matt: Medium long with oak and hints of citrus and ginger. The dried cranberry added a note of cayenne pepper to the oak and vanilla. The pecan made the finish longer and more complex with black pepper and oak with hints of vanilla and maple syrup lingering into the finish.
I would pair this rye whiskey with a cigar that is milder in flavor and lets the whiskey enhance the cigar. I would probably go with a Connecticut wrapper like the Padron Damaso Series cigar.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller