Distillery: Oceanside Distillers
Proof: 125
Age: NAS
Mashbill: Undisclosed (Predominantly Rye)
BACKGROUND: Oceanside Distillers is a craft whiskey distillery in Oceanside, CA. They started out when the founder's son was tasked with a unique school project to create an alternative fuel source and he wanted to do liquor as the fuel source. Even though the school principle shot it down, it did not stop them from running with the idea and deciding to create their own distillery. When they realized that they could not distill at home, they leased a buy, got the necessary licenses and got a still. Their initial product was always to be a bourbon and they began by purchasing 5 gallon oak barrels to try different recipes at expedited aging rates to determine what they would produce as a flagship whiskey at scale. They settled on a bourbon that was flavor forward with a sweet and smooth flavor profile. They do not add any additional flavoring or coloring to their whiskey and are a full grain to glass distillery. They currently only use the first 4 plates in their still column to remove the sulfur, increase the proof, and enhance the flavors. One interesting thing about their grains is that they get their corn from local California farmers but get their rye from Germany and their wheat from Ireland. The logo on this bottle also has a unique story. Steinmetz, is the founders last name, the crest is designed by them to represent their family history, the eagle represent America, the country that they live in and love, the lion is for South Africa where they have family lineage, the bow represents Switzerland where the founder's wife is from, the hammer is a representation to masonry which they have family ties to.
NOSE: The nose is quite inviting and smooth with notes of butterscotch, all spice, oak, green apple, and clove. I was pleasantly surprised with the lack of bite from the proof and high rye content in the mash bill as the butterscotch, clove, and green apple notes really took over the more I smelled. There are also some ethanol notes on the tail end of the nose. (22/25)
PALATE: Holy spice Batman! This is one spicy whiskey but it is still very enjoyable. There was a strong punch to this whiskey that can be attributed to the proof (125) and the high rye mash bill. There are also some strong pure alcohol notes that add an element of spice and rawness to this. Along with the spicy pepper notes and the pure alcohol notes are notes of lemon, vanilla and young oak. With a drop of water the baking spice, butterscotch, and clove notes came out in a really nice way. (30/40)
FINISH: The finish is medium and spicy with notes of all spice, baking spice, and vanilla. (21/25)
VALUE: The cask strength sipping rye whiskey carries a $70 SRP which is pretty expensive. However, as a cask strength rye whiskey importing grains from Germany and Ireland it makes sense. (7/10)
Overall: 80/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: Oceanside Rye Whiskey is a classic rye whiskey with spicy bold rye whiskey notes. It is smooth but definitely packs a punch! This is an excellent rye whiskey for anyone who loves spicy whiskey and classic rye whiskey. After trying it neat, with a drop of water, and on the rocks, I think you can really drink this whiskey in any way to best fit your preference. Oceanside Rye also makes an excellent cocktail! Click here to purchase your own bottle.
Similar & Slightly Better Whiskey: 10th Mountain Rye Whiskey
Similar & Equal Whiskey: FEW Rye Whiskey
Similar & Slightly Worse Whiskey: Templeton 6 Year Rye
Tell us what you think and give us some feedback!
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
