Frey Ranch Distillery is a farmer-distillery in Fallon, Nevada. The family have been farming the land there since the 1850s. Co-founders Colby and Ashley Frey and Master Distiller Russell Weldrake are making excellent whiskeys on the farm. They raise the grains they distill on the farm and malt the grains themselves. The Bourbon mash bill is 66.6% corn, 11.4% rye, 10% soft white wheat, and 12% two row barley malt.
They bottle it at barrel strength. I purchased a bottle the other day and Matt and I sat down and tasted it. Here are our tasting notes.
Frey Ranch Farm Strength Uncut Bourbon
Proof: 122.28
Age: No Age Statement
Nose:
- Mike: Caramel with a hint of chocolate, apples, baking spices, and oak.
- Matt: Coconut, brown sugar, baking spices, and oak.
Taste:
- Mike: Caramel, apples, cardamom, ginger and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the apple and caramel are enhanced and the spice is reduced. Tasted with a pecan and the caramel comes forward and the spices become white pepper and ginger.
- Matt: Cocoa, nuts – maybe hazelnut, brown sugar and oak wood. The dried cranberry enhanced the brown sugar. The pecan made the brown sugar a rich caramel.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak wood and ginger. The dried cranberry made the finish a little sweeter with lingering caramel. The pecan made the finish long and dry with oak wood and white pepper spice.
- Matt: Medium long with nuts, oak wood and spice. The cranberry added some tobacco flavor to the finish. The pecan made the finish long with oak and lingering caramel and brown sugar.
I would pair this fine Bourbon with a Fuente Short Story cigar. The spice and rich tobacco of the cigar smoke would pair well with the sweetness of this Bourbon.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller