I received the latest bottles of Hard Truth Rye Whiskeys the other day, and Matt and I tasted them. Hard Truth makes sweet mash whiskeys in Indiana. They started the distillery several years ago and went to Wilderness Trail to make some whiskey while they were building their distillery, thus they learned, like many other new distilleries, to make sweet mash whiskey. This whiskey is made at the Hard Truth Distillery and are labeled as two year old whiskey, but they could be older, as they released the same whiskeys last year as two year old whiskeys. They were very good rye whiskeys last year and we were excited to see if they were as good this year. They are!
We have three bottles to taste. The first is their chocolate malt rye. The second bottle is a caramel malt rye and the third bottle is malted rye whiskey. They were all exceptionally good whiskeys, but I think the caramel malt was our favorite of the three. Here are our tasting notes.
Hard Truth Chocolate Malt Rye Whiskey
Proof: 114.8
Age: Two Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Rye grass, chocolate, strawberries and oak wood.
- Matt: Chocolate, Candy corn, strawberries and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Rye grass, chocolate, strawberries, cinnamon, and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the strawberry is enhanced and some blackberry and raspberry come forward. Tasted with a pecan and lots of oak wood comes forward and ginger spice joins the party.
- Matt: Powdered sugar, chocolate, strawberry and oak wood. The dried cranberry brought out notes of caramel. The pecan added flavors of chocolate syrup, pine nut and mint.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak, cinnamon and lingering rye grass. The dried cranberry added some white pepper to the finish. The pecan made the finish very long with oak, cinnamon and lingering chocolate.
- Matt: Medium long with oak and baking spices. The dried cranberry added some lingering caramel. The pecan added some lingering mint.
Hard Truth Caramel Malt Rye Whiskey
Proof:116.6
Age: Two Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Rye grass, caramel, honey, wild berries and oak wood.
- Matt: Cereal grains, caramel, honey and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Rye grass. caramel, honey, blackberry, cinnamon and oak wood. The dried cranberry added notes of vanilla to the taste. The pecan enhanced the oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, butterscotch, floral notes of honeysuckle, black pepper and oak wood. The dried cranberry brought out the honey flavor. The pecan gave it an oily mouthfeel and brought out chocolate notes.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak and cinnamon. The dried cranberry added some lingering notes of blackberry. The pecan made the finish long and dry with lots of oak and cinnamon.
- Matt: Medium long with oak and red pepper. The dried cranberry added notes of lavender to the finish. The pecan made the finish long and oily with oak and red pepper flakes.
Hard Truth Malted Rye Whiskey
Proof: 113.4
Age: Two Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Rye grass, chocolate, a hint of baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Ovaltine, bananas, and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Rye grass. vanilla, apples and oak wood. The dried cranberry added candied apples, ginger and nutmeg spices and oak wood. The pecan brought out the rye grass and ginger spice.
- Matt: Creamy caramel, banana, citrus, baking spices and oak wood. The dried cranberry added some spun sugar sweetness. The pecan added chocolate, cotton candy and pepper spice.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak and pepper spice. The dried cranberry added some lingering tart apple. The pecan made the finish long and dry with oak and ginger.
- Matt: Medium long and creamy with oak and spice. The dried cranberry added some banana to the finish. The pecan added pepper spice.
I would pair these fine rye whiskeys with a My Father Le Bijou cigar. The vanilla and spice of the smoke would pair well with the sweetness and spice of the rye whiskeys.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller