Acclaimed Indiana Distillery Hard Truth Unveils 4 Exciting New Whiskeys
(Bottle images: Hard Truth Distilling Co.)
On Thursday, the Nashville, Indiana-based distillery Hard Truth announced the release of four limited-edition whiskeys: Barrel Finish Reserve 2024 Blend, Master Distiller’s Reserve 2024 Blend, Double Oaked Sweet Mash Rye and Maple Brûlée Rye.
Hard Truth says that these limited-edition releases probably won’t be easy to find but will be worth the hunt.
“Because we only utilized a handful of barrels for this release, they’re not easy to find,” Hard Truth Master Distiller Bryan Smith said in a news release. “But, your best shot at securing each bottle is to visit our distillery in Indiana.”
Each whiskey places focus on the use of particular barrels, and Hard Truth says it worked with Independent Stave Company, Tonnellerie Baron, and Tonnellerie Moreau to determine the barrels to use and aging process for each expression.
Hard Truth Barrel Finished Reserve Collection: Barrel Finished Reserve 2024 Blend
Last October, Hard Truth debuted its excellent Barrel Finished Reserve Collection. That collection saw Hard Truth’s RW-1 mashbill (94% rye, 6% malted barley) finished in Cognac, Pedro Ximénez Sherry, Pedro Ximénez Brandy and Sauternes barrels. This time around, Hard Truth has taken advantage of that collection, mixing the finished whiskeys together and rested the final blend on toasted Jupilles French Oak.
Composed of 31% cognac-finished rye, 26% Sauternes finished rye, 26% PX sherry-finished rye and 17% PX brandy-finished rye, this blend is Hard Truth’s homage to a cigar blend whiskey.
It’s bottled at a cask-strength 116.8 proof, aged at least three years and has a suggested retail price of $89.99. Only 11 barrels were produced.
Hard Truth Barrel Finish Reserved Collection: Double-Oaked Sweet Mash Rye
This expression, too, is distilled from Hard Truth’s RW-1 mashbill. After being aged for at least two years, the whiskey was blended and then finished in separate new charred American white oak barrels, where they matured for another three-plus years.
Bottled at a cask-strength 106.9 proof, this rye has a suggested retail price of $69.99. Sixteen barrels were produced.
Hard Truth Master Distiller’s Reserve 2024 Blend
This is 2024’s rendition of Hard Truth’s annual Master Distiller’s Reserve. This release is a blend of three Hard Truth mashbills: Caramel Malt (50%) Chocolate Malt (30%) and Malted Rye (20%).
2024’s Master Distiller’s Reserve is aged at least four years and bottled at a cask-strength 115 proof. Twenty barrels were prpduced, and each bottle has a suggested retail price of $89.99.
Hard Truth Barrel Finish Reserve: Maple Brûlée Rye
For this expression, Hard Truth used a mashbill of 69% rye, 20% corn and 11% malted barley. After distillation, the whiskey was aged three-plus years in new, charred American white oak barrels and was then transferred to maple brûlée barrels for just over one additional year.
According to Hard Truth, these brûlée barrels, came from the Tonnellerie Moreau cooperage in Quebec, Canada. These special barrels are charred a second time after aging bourbon for 7-9 years and maple syrup for a year. They were used to age maple syrup at Bissell Maple Farm in Jefferson, Ohio.
After aging in the brûlée barrels, Hard Truth rested the rye on toasted Jupilles French oak for an amount of time Hard Truth simply describes as “briefly.” While the other three whiskeys were released earlier this month, Maple Brûlée Rye will debut Sept. 28.
More on Hard Truth Distilling Co.
Founded in 2015, Hard Truth has earned a reputation for its impressive rye whiskeys. Then, in February, Hard Truth proved it was more than a rye producer with the debut of its first three homemade bourbons. We were particularly fond of the Hard Truth Sweet Mash Four Grain Bourbon Bottled in Bond release, which scored an impressive Raided Score® of 90.
Hard Truth is known for its sweet mash whiskeys, the antithesis of the more popular style, sour mash. While sour mash whiskeys use backset left over from distillation of previous whiskeys, whiskeys made with the sweet mash technique start fresh each time.
“We make whiskey that excites us,” Smith said of the latest releases. “Receiving awards and recognition for our sweet mash whiskeys is great, but we know that, in order to establish Hard Truth as a true heritage American whiskey brand, we need to constantly innovate. I love it.”
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