Distillery: Traverse City Whiskey Company
Proof: 90
Age: NAS (3 years or more)
Mashbill: 95% Rye, 5% Barley
BACKGROUND: Traverse City Whiskey Company is a distillery located in Traverse City, Michigan named aptly after their city. They were founded by Traverse City locals locals Chris Fredrickson and his partners, Jared Rapp and Moti Goldring after finding out Chris's great-grandfather had some whiskey distilling patents from the 1920s. They are very passionate about distilling and producing delicious whiskey while maintaining integrity to their history throughout the process. Their whiskey portfolio includes a straight bourbon whiskey, a barrel proof bourbon, an American cherry infused whiskey, this north coast rye, and a port wine finished bourbon whiskey.
NOSE: The nose is very unique for a rye whiskey. We were able to pull unique scents of citrus zest mostly in the form of lemon, fresh rye baking spice, and almost a faint note of traditional scotch whiskey in the form of toasty oak. It is on the lighter side but very very enjoyable and unique. (22/25)
PALATE: The palate is very smooth and tasty with delicious notes of honey drizzled baking spice, tobacco, and fresh floral notes. Their is a feint trace of citrus notes that adds a very unique element. Always present are the delicious and delicate rye spice notes. Rye whiskey is very difficult to get distill and Traverse City did a fantastic job with this whiskey. They retain the delicacy of rye whiskey while bringing in floral, summery notes. My only knock on this palate is that it is on the lighter side and the flavors are not as developed. However, if this whiskey had some additional time in the barrel it would be incredible. (33/40)
FINISH: The finish is truly incredible. All of the notes come together to give this rye whiskey an incredible and unique sweet and spice floral finish. It is made up of delicious notes of floralness, citrus zest, rye spice, and some slight oak. If this whiskey had a few more years in the barrel it would be incredible. (22/25)
VALUE: Traverse City North Coast Rye has an SRP of $40 which is a very fair price. This is a delicious whiskey that is great for any whiskey fanatics. (8/10)
Overall: 85/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: This Traverse City North Coast Rye was delicious, we were very delicious. We were pleasantly surprised by this whiskey. They were able to bring keep a lightness and easy sippingness to the whiskey while having unique and delicious floral, sweetness that you don't find in a rye whiskey. This is a great whiskey to start our weekly "Micro Monday" that will feature whiskey from craft distilleries across the World. This North Coast Rye is an incredible whiskey that we would recommend to anyone and everyone. The high spiciness that people are shy away from here is not found. It is a delicious whiskey and we recommend this to anyone and everyone. This sample was graciously given to us at no cost by the company. We thank them for allowing us to review this with no reservations.
Similar & Slightly Better Whiskey: Willett Family Estate 4 Year Rye Whiskey
Similar & Equal Whiskey: New Riff Single Barrel Rye Whiskey
Similar & Slightly Worse Whiskey: Sazerac Rye Whiskey
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Scoring Legend:
96-100: The perfect dram, juice of the gods
90-95: Near perfect, truly incredible whiskey
85-89: Amazing whiskey, will always try to keep a backup bottle of this
80-84: Very good, some minor flaws here or there
75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink, Will try and keep a bottle on the shelf
70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get this
60-69: Decent, would offer this up to non whiskey drinkers
50-59: Not my cup of tea
Below 50: Give away
