Still Austin Rye Review [In Depth]
Still Austin Rye "The Artist"
by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer
Founder, writer
Still Austin Rye Details
Distillery: Still Austin
Type & Region: Rye, Texas, USA
Alcohol: 49.8%
Composition: 100% Texas rye
Aged: At least 2 years
Color: 1.3/2.0 on the color scale (russet, muscat)
Price: $45-50
From the company website:
Art comes in many different forms—from the simplest line drawing to the most complex symphony—but all good art has something in common: It begins with inspiration. The Artist is galvanized by a visit from the Muse and can’t help but take up the chisel, the pen, the camera, the paintbrush. This is a whiskey for the dreamers, the visionaries, and the Artists who inspire us all. It’s the ultimate marriage of the art and the muse.Still Austin Rye overview
I did this out of order, but I’m reviewing Still Austin Rye “The Artist” after Still Austin Cask Strength rye. In the event that you haven’t read one of my other Still Austin whiskey reviews, they’re a distillery based out of Austin, Texas and work with Nancy Fraley on certain blends and single barrels. But with her now taking over the master distiller role at another distillery, it’s hard to say if her involvement with Still Austin will continue.
Back to the rye though. Still Austin Rye, and all their other ryes, use a 100% rye mashbill, which makes this a bit of an oddity in American whiskey. The mashbill is more common in Canadian whiskey, but I honestly can’t think of many American distilleries that go balls to the wall to 100% (maybe WhistlePig), especially when 95% rye and 5% malted barley is already good enough.
Most of the time, distilleries use 51-75%, and that’s plenty too. No mashbill is inherently better or worse, but it’s always interesting to mention the nuances and intricacies of whiskey…whiskey nerddom.
On another note, the 2 year age statement printed on the back label always annoys me just a little. First off, I think we can all agree that 2 years old feels really young for whiskey, but bear with me on this one. The first time I reviewed anything from Still Austin (the regular bourbon) and saw the 2 years printed on the back, I immediately thought “oh no…I’m going to shit on this aren’t I?”. Well jokes on me because it was really good. Age is just a number…sometimes.
I mention that because I know that I’m somewhat conditioned to care about age statements. In my brain, it can indicate (but will not guarantee) a certain level of quality.
- 2 years – I’m nervous that it’s too young…and I’m usually right. Not always, but usually
- 4 years – Generally a good place to start with aged whiskey, but I usually don’t expect anything amazing. Rye is an exception to this, 4 year old rye can already feel very developed
- 6 years – Now this is starting to look good
- 8 years- This is a great age
- 10-12 years – what I consider to be the gold standard of well aged bourbon
- 13+ years – the really fancy and mature stuff
- 20+ years – few and far between…either licking a tree or a masterpiece
There isn’t an exact correlation between age and quality, because I’ve had some younger whiskeys that were great and some older ones that missed the mark, but it’s hard to mentally shake that thought / bias.
I always have an open mind with my reviews, so let’s find out how this youthful rye does in this Still Austin Rye review.
This bottle was provided at no cost to me, 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.
Still Austin Rye smell
I smell dense honey, licorice, and rose followed by lychee and grapefruit pop, toasted oak, clove, and cherry with some already forming low end roundness and fullness. This is quite rose, lychee, and grapefruit-forward.
Still Austin Rye is herbal, fruity, and vibrant from top to bottom, and very well matured at “just” 2 years old. Are we really sure that this is just 2 years old…because this could easily be 6-8 years old already. Come on…really?
On top of the character and expressiveness, the body and richness is already really good for nearly 50% ABV. The herbalness might throw some people off, but this smells incredible to me.
After swirling and rest there’s honey, rose, licorice, grapefruit, strawberry, roasted oak, clove, and some candied ginger. Still Austin Rye continues to smell great. There’s great range, vibrance, sweetness, fruitiness, and expressiveness that clearly outdo its 2 years of age…or however old it actually is.
My main wish is for more fullness and richness, although that is addressed with the cask strength version already. You know what though, yeah this is great.
Still Austin Rye taste and aftertaste
I taste honey, licorice, rose, lychee, starfruit, roasted oak, grapefruit clove, cinnamon, and a little bit of earthy caraway seed. This is initially a little less vibrant, herbal, and fruity than the scents are, instead a tad more roasty and earthy.
Still Austin Rye tastes great, with nice roundness and fullness, but I wish that it were a bit more fruity like the scents are. This is still really nice already, but it could have been better.
With hard “chewing” I taste honey, licorice, rose, grapefruit, lychee, roasted oak, clove, caraway seed, darker caramel nougat, and vanilla. The balance shifts a bit to the sweetness, herbalness, and fruitiness, which is a nice shift. There’s great sweetness, herbalness, and fruitiness with supporting oakiness.
The finish leaves roasted honey, rose, licorice, grapefruit, roasted oak, clove, and caraway seed with lingering herbal rose, grapefruit, toasted oak, and clove.
The slightly lacking fullness and pop prevent this from being “Top Shelf”. I still think that this is definitely a tasty rye that hits pretty much every note, which is even more ridiculous considering that it’s 2ish years old.
I’m a big fan.
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.
Still Austin Rye Rating
Still Austin Rye is such a good rye and I am so close to “Top Shelf’. The scents are fantastic, but the flavors don’t provide enough oomph, pop, or vibrance to get me there. Nonetheless, it’s still quite the achievement for Still Austin that I even considered it, so props to them.
The more unique qualities help this stand out more too. The noticeable rose, citrus, and berry scents and flavors add to the pleasantly sweet, herbal, and fruity notes that make this interesting and worthwhile to drink.
I have no idea how Still Austin conjures such a mature 2 year old rye, but it’s truly commendable. This really does drink like a 6-8 year old rye with the range, richness, and occasional expressiveness. Sure, I’d like more fullness and oomph, but there’s always the cask strength version to bring the heat and punch.
While this isn’t quite “Top Shelf” stuff, this is still a winner for $40-50 and one of the best rye whiskeys you can buy for under $50. If your budget allows it, this is one to keep around at all times.
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.
There are no sponsors, no media companies, and no nonsense. Support The Whiskey Shelf by Buying Me A Shot.
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)
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