Kentucky’s growing field of excellent barrel-strength ryes, but one of the harder to find bottles on the market is back this month: Michter’s Barrel Strength Rye. Barrel Strength is a regular production whiskey in the brand’s Limited Release series, along with the toasted barrel whiskeys and the distillery’s Barrel Strength Bourbon. It’s hard to say that anything is overlooked in this whiskey day and age, but you could make one of the most compelling cases for this collection at this distillery.
Michter’s has an impressive lineup of whiskeys that come out once a year, bur what makes Michter’s somewhat different from other Kentucky brands is that they sometimes make the difficult decision to not release a particular whiskey every year if the supply simply doesn’t meet expectations. Barrel Strength Rye hasn’t missed a year recently, but it did ruffle some feathers here and there when it debuted later in the year. What’s up with that? Well, it’s complicated. It would be fair to say that larger competitors in the market simply have larger stockpiles of aging whiskey to pull from when creating these batches, and indeed Michter’s still suffers a bit from the “little guy” status here and there.
That has led to some late arrivals, and some skipped vintages even among the Limited Release collection and the Limited Production vintages. But ultimately the courage to sell less whiskey is one that’s rewarded by current market trends: rarer is better in 2025, and in every year for more than a decade. But Michter’s earns the clout — their releases of 10-Year bourbon and rye, 20-year bourbon, 25-year and celebration have been stunning pours since the beginning.
As for Barrel Strength Rye, the whiskey’s more common appearances say more about the brand’s growing mastery of stockpiles than any compromise to meet demands. Barrel Strength Rye hasn’t been skipped in recent years, and I’m comfortable letting them tell me when something is ready, rather than demanding a tight schedule. This year’s bottle ($120) delivers a restrained 110.5 proof, with flavors and aromas of dark fruit, toffee, citrus, and baking spice.
The round finish is typically controlled for Kentucky ryes — something Master Distiller Dan McKee says often surprises people with an aversion to spicier rye styles. “We often have people at a tasting that say they are not rye drinkers, but when they taste Michter’s they are surprised by home much they like it.” For people who don’t love a dominant rye grain, bottles like this can be hit or miss, but if you’re a bourbon drinker trying to brave the bottles outside your comfort zone, it’s hard to think of another great place to start.Besides, you never know for sure how long it’ll be before you’ll see it again.
G. Clay Whittaker is a Maxim contributor covering lifestyle, whiskey, cannabis and travel. His work has also appeared in Bon Appetit, Men’s Journal, Cigar Aficionado, Playboy and Esquire. Subscribe to his newsletter Drinks & Stuff for perspectives on drinks, and stuff.
