Taster

Nose: It’s not shy. All the smells of a bakery in full swing: flour, yeast and fresh dough. A little peppery spice. Chilli honey, maple syrup and hot paprika powder.

Palate: Starts with fresh pastries, apricot jam and vanilla pods. But starts to move into more chilli spice and heat slowly builds. An apple crumble sweetness.

Finish: Something vegetal and herby lurks just as it starts to dissipate at the end.

Comment: Has everything you might want in a rye, from spice to sweetness and lots in between, and it’s not afraid to show it.

Score: 8.3

Taster

Nose: A heady, pungent aroma of warm, buttered rye bread with oily sunflower seeds and black pepper. There’s a green and sappy quality like wintergreen mints.

Palate: Gentle, sweet and continuing that lovely sunflower oiliness. There’s rich baked goods, Jamaican ginger cake and malt loaf, with black pepper, clove, anise and allspice, with soft baked apples.

Finish: Oily, seeded and buttery, with a hint of fresh coriander.

Comment: Spicy, aromatic, bready – this ticks all my boxes for a solid rye whiskey.

Score: 9.1