Double Oak IV Single Barrel Rye

The Basics:

Peerless Distillery

110.1 proof

4 Year Age Statement

$100 MSRP

Nose:

Honeycomb, lavender, lemon sorbet with mint leaves, wintergreen mint, pistachio, and Honeycrisp apples. 

Palate: 

Baked Alaska with charred meringue filled with honey/lemon sorbet.  

Finish:

Medium-short with drying oak and notes of mint.  

Small Batch Bourbon

The Basics: 

Peerless Distillery

110.1 proof

NAS - 4+ year

$75 MSRP

Nose:

Vanilla custard, toasted marshmallow, waffles and syrup, honey, cherry, raw peanuts, and slight ethanol.

Palate: 

Peanut butter and fluff sandwich with cherry Limeade  

Finish:

Rather short with notes of cinnamon graham crackers, lemon, and tart raspberry.  

Final Thoughts:

Both of these pours from Peerless are very enjoyable on their own, and worth a try if you’ve never had a sweet mash whiskey. The bourbon brought great notes throughout, including toasted marshmallow and cinnamon graham crackers, however, it showed some youth on the nose with peanuts and ethanol. The rye was especially good as the second barrel finish for one year provided strong oak and char notes to balance against the mint of the rye. While the bourbon was delicious on its own, the double oak rye was the clear winner for me on this head-to-head battle!