| #297 Jacquin's Rock and Rye with Choice Fruits Liqueur American | |||||||||||||||||||||
| This cost is what I found the likely shelf price for a 750ml bottle to be, based on an average of costs throughout the USA. Your price may differ significantly. This is not an advertisement of sale, this bottle is likely empty by now anyway Cost | $1000 |  | |||||||||||||||||||
| 62 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| The whisky's score as weighed against the cost of a bottle. Adj. Score | 59 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ABV | 27% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Misc: | Despite the name it says it's from Philadelphia, PA USA. And yes, there really are fruit bits in the bottle. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Awards |  | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tasting # 327: What the hell is floating in this bottle of whisky? (03-DEC-2008) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Notes | Fruit, that's what. Honest to Irish Whiskey there's maybe 3 orange wedges and some grapes and who knows what else in this amber fluid. And would you believe pebbled glass and a glass-rope encircled neck? Between the bits of produce and the old (OLD) fashioned looking bottle and label I was just about to pass over this little Rock and Rye. Especially considering the memories of the  last one. But it was on sale and I'm honestly trying to get to 300 as quickly as I can. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st Impression | On my honor the clerk at the liquor store held this up and peered into it at the fruit bits floating around in it. He was almost as shocked as I am. And this bottle. I just... cannot get over how olde timee this bottle is. And the label is straight out of the 40s. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Smell | S-W-E-E-T! Woofa, that's a lot of nose. There's hard candy, naval oranges and dark honey below an herbal flavor that has me thinking oregano but leaning more toward something a bit less odd. Not bad, it's just something on top there. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Taste | I'm going to make a break from my standard review format for just a second to say one thing. This was good stuff. Now it's going to score something like 60 because of one flaw: complexity, and that's not really it's fault. If I were reviewing cordials or liqueurs as a group, I'm guessing this would be a star player. But I'm not and as a =whisky= this just isn't in the same category as the stars atop my chart. That said, this is darn tasty and is more in league with the excellent Wild Turkey's American Honey than the sugar-shocking Mr Boston.
So. The sugar in the nose had me very hesitant, but it delivers something completely unexpected. Instead of rock candy (per the name) you get candied fruit, dark honey, mead and orange juice. Really. There's a bit of herbal flavor as hinted by the nose, but it really doesn't amount to much more than a garnish in the very, very fruity world that you'll find yourself in. There's no great build or fade or finish and the sticky mouthfeel is a minor sour note, but otherwise it's a simple, refreshing and extremely pleasant drink that puts most other fruit/sweet whisky products to shame. Yeah, the old-timey bottle and the fruit are odd, but maybe they shouldn't be. Maybe this really is an old company making a great drink the old fashioned way. I'm giving this a recommend nod and a few extra. If you like fruity and sweet, give it a shot. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tasting Score | 62 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
| All trademarks and copyrighted material (bottle label content, product and brand names, etc) are the properties of their owners and are used here under the provisions of Fair Use for purposes of criticism and review. Reviews are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. They may be used, modified or distributed freely so long as "www.practicalwisky.net" is included. For more information, click → here ← Share and Enjoy |