Sazerac Rye is aged and distilled by Buffalo Trace who is owned by SAZERAC! Sazerac is based out of New Orleans, Louisiana where a rich culture of rye whiskey helped create America’s first cocktail, The Sazerac.
Sazerac Rye isn’t on the shelf of every liquor store but if you look it is findable and normally at MSRP which is $30. I feel like this bottle is often overlooked because it is not a bourbon. However, this bottle is a Buffalo Trace product and with all of the excitement their bourbons receive, I want to find out if their rye whiskey is deserving of any hype.
What Is The Sazerac Rye Mashbill?
Buffalo Trace has not disclosed their rye mashbill, but it is thought to be a low-rye mashbill (at least 51% rye) with the rest being corn and malted barley. The more corn in the whiskey normally provides more sweetness. The greater percentage of rye leads to more herbal notes and spice. Kentucky ryes, in general, has a higher percentage or corn compared to out of state, more traditional rye whiskeys (MPG, Maryland and Pennsylvania)
History of the Sazerac Cocktail
In the 1800’s distillers from Kentucky would barrel and ship their whiskey down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. The barrel gave the whiskey a beautiful amber/brown color and the spices of the rye made the perfect combination for a cocktail. Here is the Sazerac cocktail recipe courtesy of sazerachouse.com
INGREDIENTS:
1.5 oz Sazerac Rye Whiskey
1 sugar cube
3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
.25 oz Herbsaint
Lemon twist
PREPARATION:
Pack an Old-Fashioned glass with ice. In a second Old-Fashioned glass, place a sugar cube and add three dashes of Peychaud’s Bitters to it. Crush the sugar cube. Add 1.5 oz Sazerac Rye Whiskey to the glass with the Peychaud’s Bitters and sugar. Add ice and stir. Empty the ice from the first glass and coat the glass with .25 oz Herbsaint. Discard the remaining Herbsaint. Strain the whiskey / bitters / sugar mixture from the glass into the Herbsaint coated glass and garnish with a lemon peel.
Buffalo Trace Antique Collection: Sazerac 18 and Thomas H Handy
There are two high end rye whiskeys that Buffalo Trace includes in their yearly Buffalo Trace Antique Collection (BTAC), Sazerac 18 year and Thomas H Handy. Both are believed to use the same mashbill as Sazerac Rye (low rye, rye mashbill) of atleast 51% rye with the rest corn and barley. Sazerac 18 year is an ultra aged rye whiskey bottled at 90 proof. Thomas H Handy is aged at least 6 years and bottled at barrel strength. Along with the Pappy Van Winkle and King of Kentucky, the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection are some of the most sought after bottles of bourbon on the market.
Sazerac Rye Single Barrel Review
I always send pictures of the laser code and medallion to info@buffalotrace.com to get the specific details of all the Buffalo Trace single barrels I purchase. The laser codes can tell you a lot by themselves. My article How to Read a Buffalo Trace Laser Code goes into detail of all the information you can get from the code.
This particular barrel is a single barrel selected by Cox’s and Evergreen in Louisville Kentucky. Cox’s picks many different single barrel bourbons, ryes, tequilas, rums and whiskeys year round and the pick teams are normally employees! I think it is great they take different employees on barrel picks to reward them for their hard work. That does make their picks not follow a normal tasting profile so you don’t really know if the picks will be more sweet, oaky, fruity or nutty.
I poured neat in a glencairn and let set for around 15 minutes. If you would like to support the site and buy a pair on glencairns, follow the hyperlink!
Color – Very light straw hue of yellow. I expect this with a rye whiskey and it is on the younger side.
Aroma – One of the most unique flavor notes I enjoy in rye whiskey is mint and this aroma is mint heavy. It isn’t a flavor you would first think about when examining a whiskey but this is elegant. On the backend there is some light oak and a faint evergreen.
Taste – I like this a lot. I get mint upfront with layers of pine, oak and faint liquorish. This is proofed perfectly with the flavors being able to shine and the bite of the alcohol and rye are in the background. The mouthfeel is thin but what I expect with a rye whiskey. I do get a hint of this being on the younger side. With a little more age this could be an all-star whiskey!
Finish – Very subtle finish. More mint lingers on the palate and dissipates quickly. There is a peppery rye spice that does coat the palate nicely and sticks around longer than the mint. I experienced a very slight warming of the upper chest and again disappears quickly.
Rating – 6.8/10
Thoughts – I was impressed with this pour. I was expecting it to taste much younger and have minimal flavor but I was wrong. I still think this is a younger whiskey but it has plenty of flavor and little alcohol bite. The mint is strong with this one and it is a beautiful note to be able to pick out in a whiskey. This barrel I prefer neat. I’ve had other regular and single barrel saz ryes and I would prefer those in a mixed drink. One of my favorite mixed drinks with a rye whiskey is simply 2-3 cubes of ice, rye whiskey covering the ice, a couple maraschino cherries and top off with some ginger ale.
The mint note in this pour is beautiful and bold. Mint is a note you can pick up from rye forward bourbon or a rye whiskey. Other common rye notes can be pepper, baking spices, pine or evergreen. This pour is mint forward, definitive and delicious!
At $30 for a 750mL bottle this should always be a staple of a home bar. This is a fine rye whiskey that can be drank neat and would impress any guest in a cocktail. Rye as a grain has spicy notes and those pair nicely with the sweet components of most cocktails. Bourbons with a mashbill with a high rye percentage or a rye whiskey are my preferred spirits in a cocktail for that reason!
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists
5 | Good | Good, just fine
6 | Very Good | A cut above
7 | Great | Well above average
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite
10 | Perfect | Perfect
Debonair Gentlemen 
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