This New Rye Whiskey Finished in Absinthe Barrels Is Like a Sazerac Cocktail in a Bottle

Jonah Flicker
·2 min read
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As we’ve covered here before, cask finishing is all the rage in the whiskey world, and American distilleries are among those trying out all the different ways to add flavor to their their spirits. But absinthe is still a relatively uncommon type of secondary maturation, which is what makes this new rye whiskey from Kentucky Peerless stand out.

If you’re unfamiliar with absinthe, that’s a good place to start. Absinthe is an anise-flavored spirit that is made using various botanicals, the most important of which is wormwood. It’s usually high proof and green in color, and throughout history it’s been dubbed the “green fairy” based on its reputed hallucinogenic effects (these are much exaggerated). Ernest Hemingway, Paul Verlaine, Edgar Allen Poe and Vincent Van Gogh all were fans of this spirit, which became legal again in the US in 2007 provided it less than 10 mg/l of thujone, the chemical that is thought to imbue absinthe with its special buzz.

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Kentucky Peerless is a small Louisville distillery, operated by fourth generation family member Corky Taylor, that began barreling its whiskey in 2015. The first release of the Absinthe Barrel Finished Rye was in 2020, making this year the third time the distillery has put out this special whiskey. “Early on, we took our time, established our bourbon and rye as respected top-shelf products, and finally reached a point where we could discuss different product innovations,” said master distiller Caleb Kilburn in a statement. “I wanted something that would provide the perfect contrasting notes to allow both the rye and the absinthe to be appreciated. Bold, exciting, intriguing, and bursting at the seams with flavor, this crossover is the perfect example of what a few artisans with big ambitions can accomplish when they come together.”

According to the distillery, the whiskey was “exposed” to two separate casks to allow for two full barrel extractions of flavor. The resulting whiskey sounds kind of like a Sazerac cocktail in a bottle, with notes of candied licorice on the nose, followed by orange, oak, cinnamon, sweet grass and, yes, absinthe on the palate.

This is a limited release, so to get a bottle (first come, first served) you’ll have to head to the distillery in Louisville this Saturday, October 29 from 10am to 12pm. But if you can’t make it all the way to Kentucky, there are still some bottles from previous years available to buy online.

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