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Orphan Barrel Rhetoric 21 Year spirit image
88Great

Orphan Barrel Rhetoric 21 Year

Bourbon Diageo
  • Distiller

    Undisclosed

  • Bottler

    Orphan Barrel

  • ABV

    45.15%

  • Age

    21 Years

  • Price $200+
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Suggested Cocktails
Aggregated Reviews
  • Raided Score: 83
  • Whisky Advocate
  • By John Hansell
  • I fear bottling this whiskey annually, one year older, is going in the wrong direction.
  • Read Full Review
  • Raided Score: 86
  • WhiskyCast
  • By Mark Gillespie
  • The finish is long, oaky, and ashy. In my opinion, perhaps a bit too long in the barrel judging from the oakiness.
  • Read Full Review
  • Raided Score: 88
  • The Whiskey Wash
  • By Courtney Kristjana
  • The Rhetoric 21 Year Old is light and isn’t overpowered by the presence of oak, but there is more oak than the 20-year-old. It’s complex, but it drinks well.
  • Read Full Review
  • Raided Score: 90
  • Distiller
  • By Jake Emen
  • A quite good dram but a bit soft and one note to be considered truly excellent, perhaps teetering on the boundaries of over-aged.
  • Read Full Review
  • Raided Score: 95
  • Drinkhacker
  • By Christopher Null
  • I enjoyed Rhetoric 20 but have to say that Rhetoric 21 is an incremental and quite delightful improvement — and a considerably different experience. Now in very limited release.
  • Read Full Review
  • Raided Score: 85
  • The Daily Pour
  • By t8ke
  • Medium length and with mild heat. Lots of soft, oaky caramel.
  • Read Full Review

Raided Score is a conversion from an external site's score, to our in house uniform scoring system. Please see the FAQ for more.

House Review
  • Nose:

    Oaky Caramel, woody dusty clove. Molasses and light doughy fudge.

  • Taste:

    Thick and oily mouth feel, caramel and oak. Mild heat for the age with a nice nutty molasses note.

  • Finish:

    Medium length and with mild heat. Lots of soft, oaky caramel.

  • Overall:

    I had very serious concerns that this would be over oaked and I was surprised. It's good, and I like it a lot, but it's not phenomenal and I wouldn't pay $130 for it, period. For that I'm giving this dram a 6. I'll have a more in depth explanation at the conclusion.

  • Score:

    85

  • By t8ke
  • Our in house critic rates spirits on a scale of 0-10 (10 best) and is aggregated the same as external sources