Pairing Chocolate With Rye Whiskey

The other day, we had a visit from Kelly Ramsey and her husband, Forrest. She brought some chocolate samples with her for me to do a rye whiskey with chocolate pairing for this blog. You can get these samples from Art Eatables if you wish to do a similar tasting.

Rosemary and I sat down to do the pairing. We chose three rye whiskeys. The first was the Michter’s Rye. The second was the Old Overholt Bottled-in-Bond and the third was Peerless Double Oak Rye. We chose these whiskeys because you should be able to get bottles fairly easily. The chocolates were a milk chocolate, a dark chocolate, a milk chocolate caramel crunch, a dark chocolate nutmeg spice, and a dark chocolate smoked cinnamon espresso. Here are our results.

Michter’s Rye: The whiskey was rich with vanilla, caramel, citrus, cinnamon and oak. I found the milk chocolate brought out apples and dates. Rosemary thought the milk chocolate brought a marshmallow flavor and gave the whiskey a thicker mouth-feel. The dark chocolate enriched the caramel and brought out allspice for me. Rosemary thought the dark chocolate made it very spicy. For me, the milk chocolate caramel crunch enhanced the citrus and brought out cardamom spice. For Rosemary, it made the whiskey taste of a butterscotch lifesaver. For me, the dark chocolate nutmeg spice gave the whiskey a rich, French vanilla and nutmeg flavor. Rosemary thought it brought out a flavor of spice cake batter with a great mouth feel. The final chocolate, dark chocolate smoked cinnamon espresso, gave the whiskey a nice coffee and white pepper flavor to me. Rosemary thought it gave the whiskey a coffee finish with lots of oak wood. We both agreed that the milk chocolate was our favorite pairing, but Rosemary thought the dark chocolate with nutmeg was a close second because it was surprisingly good despite the fact that nutmeg isn’t Rosemary’s favorite spice.

Old Overholt Bottled-in-Bond: The whiskey has vanilla, cherries, cinnamon and oak. The first chocolate brought out apples and pepper spice to me. Rosemary thought it brought out herbal flavors and spice. For me the second chocolate made the whiskey very one dimensional with a lot of caramel. Rosemary thought it brought out nuttiness and shortened the finish. I thought the third chocolate brought out butterscotch, apples and black pepper. Rosemary thought it brought out butterscotch with a very peppery finish. The fourth chocolate for me, enhanced the rye grassiness but that was about it. Rosemary thought it enhanced the vanilla and gave it a very oaky finish. For me, the last chocolate gave the whiskey a very rich caramel, coffee, cinnamon and oak flavor. Rosemary thought it gave the whiskey a very well balanced flavor of a cinnamon coffee cake. Once again, we agreed that the last chocolate was our favorite With this whiskey.

Kentucky Peerless Double Oak Rye: The whiskey has rye grass, caramel, brown sugar, cherries, cinnamon and oak. For me, the first chocolate enhanced the caramel and brought forward the flavors of cherries and dates. Rosemary thought the whiskey had a better mouth-feel, but nothing especially different about the flavor. The second chocolate for me, made the whiskey very fruity with lots of cherries and apples. Rosemary thought it added a nuttiness and highlighted the cherry flavor. For me, the third chocolate added butterscotch and allspice and white pepper spice. Rosemary thought it highlighted the brown sugar and butterscotch, but made the whiskey very one dimensional. The fourth chocolate for me, enhanced the rye grass, vanilla and oak. Rosemary thought it balanced out the spice and gave it a very oak forward finish. For me, the last chocolate enhanced the rye grass, vanilla and cinnamon. Rosemary thought the chocolate disappeared into the whiskey giving it a similar taste as the chocolate. We both agreed the dark chocolate was our favorite pairing.

I hope you enjoyed the pairing notes and will try this yourself. It is a great way to spend an hour or so with great whiskeys and chocolate.