Leiper's Fork Bottled in Bond Rye Review [In Depth]
Leiper's Fork Bottled in Bond Rye
by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer
Founder, writer
Leiper's Fork Bottled in Bond Rye Details
Distillery: Leiper’s Fork
Type & Region: Rye whiskey, Tennessee, USA
Alcohol: 50%
Composition: 55% rye, 30% corn, 15% toasted barley
Aged: 7 years
Color: 1.5/2.0 on the color scale (auburn, polished mahogany)
Price: $80-90
From the company website:
Aromas of vanilla bean and molasses lead to a sweet yet spicy palate of cinnamon, nutty caramel apple and dark chocolate. Full-bodied and a delicious complex flavor.
This whiskey is a specialty blend and only available at certain times of the year at our distillery only.
Leiper's Fork Bottled in Bond Rye overview
There are other distilleries in Tennessee besides Jack Daniel’s, George Dickel, and Uncle Nearest. Those three may be the biggest names in Tennessee, but in fact, there are a lot of them. Leiper’s Fork is one of a growing number of craft distilleries trying to make their mark on the whiskey world.
Founded by Lee and Lynlee Kennedy in Franklin, Tennessee, they filled their first barrels in 2016. Now, they distill about 25,000 gallons of whiskey per year, which is enough volume to fill give or take 500 barrels per year. Not all of it will go into barrels, as they also sell new make, but I suspect that most of it is barreled. To that point, they distill bourbon, Tennessee whiskey (still bourbon), and rye.
This review covers the rye, which is a 7 year old bottled in bond rye with a mashbill similarish to most Kentucky ryes that have closer to 51% rye. While their Tennessee Whiskey (it’s bourbon) and bourbon (also bourbon) are 5 years old, the rye for some reason is older. I can’t complain with a 7 year age statement, which is competitive with rye whiskey from major distilleries. Props to them for doing that, because 7 years is a long time to wait.
For background – bottled in bond is an important term in American whiskey with a lot of meaning, and was initially created as a way to guarantee a certain level of quality and safety in a time (the last 1800’s) when there was a lot of funny business.
People were tampering with it, adulterating, and generally doing other unsavory things to stretch it out to make a buck. The Bottled in Bond act put in rules, many of which aren’t that important anymore, to guarantee a certain level of purity and trustworthiness. Bottling it at the distillery also made a big difference.
Here’s most of what it entails
- Distilled in one season in one year (so the barrels in a blend were barreled within a few months of each other. This means that you cannot blend barrels from different years or seasons, so you don’t get blends of 4 year and 8 year bourbon)
- Same master distiller
- Bottled at 100 proof
- At least 4 years old
- Aged in a government bonded warehouse
- No additives or funny business
Let’s find out if their Tennessee approach to rye yields Leiper’s Fork Bottled in Bond Rye review.
Thank you to Leiper’s For for providing this bottle. All opinions are still my own.
As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for everything (they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass Set of 6, Set of 4, Set of 2, or just one. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
Leiper's Fork Bottled in Bond Rye smell
The scents start with dark honey and licorice, dried apricot, dates, this mustiness that makes me think of old bourbon, ripe mango, roasted oak, clove, cinnamon and a little bit of earthy grain and rose. Leiper’s Fork Bottled in Bond Rye whiskey is intriguing, confusing, and weird with good richness and a lot to dig through. Plus there’s some definition so it’s not a blobby mess.
Mashbill aside, this is nothing like the Bottled in Bond Bourbon or Tennessee Whiskey. Those two whiskeys had some noticeable flaws, but the rye actually smells great and has me all sorts of confused but intrigued at the same time. It has dusty-ish bourbon and funky Jamaican rum vibes at the same time…huh?
It’s completely unexpected and unique in ways that has me curious to learn more.
After swirling and rest, there’s dark honey, candied licorice, red twizzlers, dried apricot and mango, something that feels like dried date, toasted oak, clove, cinnamon, fresh orange, candied pineapple, and just a little bit of earthy graininess. It’s all sorts of fruity and herbal, which is wonderful, with a little bit of heat.
Leiper’s Fork Bottled in Bond Rye smells incredible. It gets me thinking in all the right ways about old bourbon and rum, which sounds like an insane combination. I keep smelling and thinking “what the heck is this?” and then go back to smell some more. That’s a good thing.
This is such a strange and interesting experience that’s fragrant, rich, and complex. It’s not quite as defined and bold as I would like, but it’s still great.
Leiper's Fork Bottled in Bond Rye taste and aftertaste
I initially taste honey, licorice, dried apricot and mango, vanilla, roasted oak, clove, candied pineapple, red twizzlers, ripe mango with just a little bit of ripe funk, vanilla, and a little bit of caraway seed and roasted grain. Leiper’s Fork Bottled in Bond Rye feels unique and interesting
Oddly enough, it has a little bit of a Jamaican rum funk, and it’s noticeable enough for me that at times it feels more like a Jamaican rum with extra earthiness rather than a rye whiskey. I’ve never had a rye whiskey like this before, and that’s actually a good thing, because I like Jamaican rum.
Unfortunately, the earthy grain is still there, which I don’t enjoy, but it’s pushed far back enough that it’s usually not an annoying problem. There’s good body and little to no kick though.
With intense “chewing”, I smell honey, dried licorice, dried apricot and mango, roasted oak, caraway seed, clove, lychee, candied pineapple, vanilla, and a little bit of soggy oak. Everything is amped up, which is mostly great, that also means that there’s a bit more youthful soggy oak that pokes out. I can get over it, but I don’t like it.
The finish leaves honey, candied licorice, red twizzlers, dried apricot and mango, toasted oak, clove, and a little bit of earthy grains with a lingering sweet herbalness and some ripe fruit funk and earthy grain. After “chewing”, it’s more or less the same with sweet honey, licorice, apricot, mango, oak, clove, lychee, and caraway seed.
Leipers Fork Bottled in Bond Bourbon overall tastes great with a lot of juicy sweetness and fruitiness, and good viscosity, body, and oiliness with gentle heat.
I’ve unfortunately lost some Glencairn’s while in transit, and that made me very sad. So, I wised up and bought this Glencairn Travel Case that comes also comes with 2 glasses so I don’t need to worry so much about them breaking. I think it’s great, and I think you’ll love it too.
Seriously, if you already have glasses, protect them.
Leiper's Fork Bottled in Bond Rye Rating
I can’t completely grasp what Leiper’s Fork Bottled in Bond Rye Whiskey is. I mean…it’s “Top Shelf” so it means that I think it’s good, but it’s also the strangest “Top Shelf” whiskey that I’ve ever had. It’s fragrant, flavorful, rich, layered, and interesting, yet smacks me with an experience completely out of left field that’s one of the most puzzling experiences that I’ve had in a long time.
It has some rye whiskey qualities, like more prominent licorice and tropical fruit notes, but it doesn’t really scream rye whiskey to me. If anything, it has the trappings of both a dusty bourbon and a funky rum, and those two things don’t really seem to overlap…yet somehow my brain goes in those seemingly disparate directions. My mind thinks of some crazy stuff sometimes.
There’s a certain apricot fruitiness that’s old bourbon, and a dried mango / ripe mango that’s Jamaican rum, plus a distinct mustiness and funkiness that I often get with both of those spirits. It’s honestly tough to explain unless you’ve had old bourbon, but I swear that I get that feeling. I know that this is rye whiskey, but it often doesn’t feel like it.
The main thing holding it back, just like every other Leiper’s Fork whiskey I’ve had, is the soggy and earthy graininess. It’s toned way down in the rye, but it’s still present enough in the flavors to marginally annoy me at times. And that marginal annoyance is just enough to keep me from completely enjoying this rye.
I don’t know how Leiper’s Fork creates their whiskeys, but that soggy and earthy graininess is pervasive in their whiskeys…and I hate it. I hope that they can figure out why their 5 and 7 year old whiskeys still have that unpleasant and youthful note, because there are a lot of other 2-5 year old whiskeys out there that don’t have that same problem. For everything except the rye, it ruins the experience.
I am not a fan of Leiper’s Fork Bottled in Bond Bourbon or Tennessee Whiskey, but the rye is a totally different whiskey entirely. I applaud their work to craft this rye, because I’m not going to forget about it anytime soon…because it’s that good.
So if you’re looking for a more unique rye, then this is definitely one to try…although there’s a chance that you find the profile to be weird as hell and not for you.
Meet the Author: Alex
I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.
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Shattered glass really sucks, so if you’re on the move, this Glencairn-like stainless steel snifter glass should survive your travels. Full transparency, this is an Amazon affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
BrüMate NOS’R, Double-Wall Stainless Steel Whiskey Nosing Glass – 7oz (Matte Black)
