Corbin Cash is a distillery hailing from California in the
San Joaquin Valley. Their primary spirit
is vodka – produced from the farm’s specialty of sweet potatoes. They also make a tasty rye using “ultra-rare,
100 percent California native Merced Rye” per the website. Wrapped in beautiful packaging, CC Rye boasts
a whiskey aged roughly 3.5 years.
The nose is typical of 3-4 year rye with bold notes of
caramel, tobacco and toffee. Compared to
the myriad of ryes on the market, I think this whiskey has a greater note of
caramelization - maybe the unique Merced rye makes the difference.
The initial palate is sharp with flavors of unripe bananas
with a nice balance – neither sweet nor savory.
I got hints of almonds and typical flavors you may find in beer such as
yeast.
We first tried the product neat. We found a very different experience when we
added a small piece of ice.
Adding ice really accentuated the nose with pronounced
aromas of grass and peat. The front of
the palate was no longer as spicy as when we drank it neat – the bite was
gone. However, the flavor still
enveloped the tongue. We still found the
notes of almond but now this drank more like a young scotch.
The finish is brief, short and focused. There was a bit of residual sweetness on the
back of the palate.
This is certainly a unique product. I am a huge fan of Rye and to find a product
that differentiates itself in so many ways to be a great surprise.
Corbin Cash also produces gin and a blended vodka/rye
bottling of individually aged sweet potato spirit and rye – described by the
distillery as “bourbon-esque”. We will
gladly share more on this product shortly.
Website: http://www.corbincash.com/home/
Expected Retail Price - $46 - $55
