"I know we didn't pick this... but why is it incredible?"
That's what I said to Blake when prepping for our last email on Proof & Wood releases, specifically when drinking through the Tumblin' Dice Small Batch Rye (one of my favorite ryes all year long.) Not a few weeks later, we were presented with an opportunity for an 8 year single barrel and immediately jumped on it.\xa0 While the small batch rye shows most of its cards right away, the single barrel starts to peel back layers bit by bit, making it an incredible glass to sit with. Not to sound like a broken record, but these really are some of the best ryes we've had all year. We even opened up a few more of the small batch rye from reserve, so act fact.\xa0
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Sweet mint, expressed lemon and orange peel, and toasted vanilla jump on the nose. Thick caramel sweetness continues on with time in the glass, with just a touch of sweet vermouth.\xa0
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The palate is creamy and chewy. A complexity of spices and citrus greet you first before vanilla bean ice cream and cream soda sweetness comes in. Oak is present but well balanced. The longer this opens in the glass, the more the oak creeps out and the more the flavors meld together.
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The finish is long and tingly with toasted citrus peel, clove, black pepper, allspice, but never forgetting the caramel and oak.\xa0
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Proof & Wood is based out of Washington DC and focuses on sourcing and blending. Bottles from their DC series are getting harder to find. Their core business is sourcing and bottling fine American whiskies, but they also import other high-quality spirits from around the world that were not available in the US previously. Founder Dave Schmier is delighted to be able to create both cocktail-friendly bottlings for value-focused bartenders and high-end collectors’ editions for connoisseurs.\xa0
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