Background

Peerless is a distillery I’m becoming increasingly enamored with. My last two Peerless reviews have covered Double Oak Bourbon and Double Oak Rye picks from their Master Distiller, Caleb Kilburn, alongside bourbon and rye single barrel picks, respectively. All of these offerings have ranged from “Very Good” to “Excellent” in my estimation, and it’s clear their older stocks are starting to matriculate into their picks and baseline products.

We’re taking a look at two more offerings from them today. First up is their Absinthe Barrel Finished Rye, and the other is a 5 year rye pick from DC’s Cinder BBQ. The 3 year rye was already a rock solid pour, so I’m curious to review this 5 year iteration.

Peerless Absinthe Barrel Finished Rye (NAS, 113.6 Proof)

Nose: Hellloooo Absinthe. Allspice, black licorice, and floral notes. It’s hard to overstate how unique this is for a whiskey. It smells like old candy, and I dont mean that as a knock… it’s pretty fun.

Palate: Spearmint and licorice. Licorice and spearmint. Liquefied black licorice candy. Oily, sweet and filled with those Absinthe spices.

Finish: Rye notes come back into focus finally, cinnamon, allspice and mint. Yeah there’s still a bit of that anise/licorice hanging around.

6/10

Overall: Do you like Absinthe? How about Sazerac cocktails? Or black licorice? Your mileage on this is going to totally vary based on how much you like those things. The finish here is PUNGENT, almost overpowering. I do kind of dig it, but it definitely will require me to be in a pretty specific mood to drink. I’m glad Peerless keeps experimenting, hell I’ll keep trying them, but this drinks more like a novelty offering than something you’d buy repeatedly.

Peerless Single Barrel Rye Cinder BBQ Pick (5 Years, 108.9 Proof)

Nose: Honey, green apple, caramel, hints of baking spices. Sweet, subtle and inviting.

Palate: Honey and green apple again, the baking spices come through much stronger. Clove and cinnamon. Overall though a nice sticky honey texture.

Finish: Black pepper, anise, caramel apples. Long and a great mix of sweet and spicy.

8/10

Overall: God damn I love this rye. Packed with flavor and insanely drinkable, it strikes an incredible balance of sweet and spicy notes. If you find yourself in town and near Cinder, try this one.

Last but not least, ranking scale and some examples:

1 | Disgusting: Town Branch Single Barrel Reserve

2 | Poor: Black Maple Hill Oregon Straight Bourbon Whiskey

3 | Bad: Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel

4 | Sub-par: Blue Run High Rye Bourbon

5 | Good: Four Roses Small Batch Select

6 | Very Good: E.H. Taylor Straight Rye

7 | Great: Wilderness Trail 8 Year BiB

8 | Excellent: Stagg Jr Batch 17

9 | Incredible: A Smith Bowman Cask Strength (Batch 1)

10 | Perfect: George T Stagg 2020