Frey Ranch F-rye-day! Frey Ranch Bottled in Bond & Single Barrel Barrel Strength Rye Review

Background

First time reviewing Frey Ranch so let’s start with some fun facts!

• They are located in Fallon Nevada, and were founded in 2006 by husband and wife duo Colby and Ashley Frey. Colby grew up on the 1500 acre Frey Ranch farm, and Ashley operates as the Chief Storyteller- involved in day to day operations, branding, and the visitor experience.

• A major claim to fame for the distillery is their Ground to Glass process. 100% of their grains are grown onsite. I certainly can’t think of another distillery that notes their crop rotation practices on their website.

• This review covers two ryes, their Bottled in Bond rye and a single barrel selection direct from the distillery. Their rye mashbill is 100% Winter Cereal rye, again grown completely onsite. Let's dig into these bottles and see how they end up! 

Frey Ranch Bottled in Bond Rye (6 Years, 100 Proof)

Nose: Butterscotch, lemon curd, kettle corn. It's not a super prominent nose, but it is delicate and inviting nonetheless.

Palate: Shortbread cookies and then a wave of delicious lemon goodness. Lemon drops, lemon peel, delicious lemon candy.

Finish: Still lemon drops! Fresh mint, honey… it's almost sticky, it coats the palate. It's long and pleasant, and encourages another sip.

Very Good to Great (6.5/10)

Overall: This is just good, clean fun. The Lemonhead candies of ryes. It's not the most complex pour, but it's approachable, balanced and exceptionally well executed. It's simply fun to drink.

Frey Ranch Single Barrel Barrel Strength Rye (5 Years, 136.2 Proof)

Nose: Fresh sliced lemon, muddled mint, toasted oak… and definitely a bit of ethanol. There’s no disguising it’s a high proof whiskey.

Palate: Lemon, pixie sticks, cinnamon raisin bread, mixed berries, spearmint. A touch hot, like the nose you feel the proof.

Finish: Fresh tilled dirt, black pepper, nutmeg, muddled mint and more fresh tilled dirt.

Sub-par (4/10)

Overall: Bet you can't guess what note I found off putting. It’s an unfortunate finish to an otherwise pleasant dram. The problem is that it’s not a ~little~ off at the finish, it coats your palate in this earthen afterbirth (shout out Michael Scott). To be clear, I will not be writing off Frey Ranch because of this single pour (nor would I encourage you to do so based on this one review. That bottled in bond is a really nice pour, and I have not formally reviewed their bourbons yet but I’ve had samples of a few picks I’ve found to be delicious. This barrel just doesn't work for me.