Coalition Kentucky Straight Rye is produced by Kentucky Artisan Distillery in Crestwood, Kentucky, using a mash bill of 90% rye and 10% malted rye sourced from nearby Waldeck Farm. The whiskey is aged five years in American white oak barrels and offered in four expressions: an unfinished Barrel Proof bottled at 108.8 proof (54.4% ABV) and three expressions finished up to nine months in Bordeaux wine barrels from the Margaux, Pauillac and Sauternes regions. The Barrel Proof typically retails for around $130, while the wine-finished expressions sell for approximately $70 to $90.
On the palate, the grain comes across a little less mature with a starchy biscuit note. There’s plenty of brown sugar and a well-balanced, peppery heat to help it along, but it lacks some of the complexity you expect in a rye whiskey, those characteristic fruit and spice notes.