Drank: Straight Rye Whiskey (Stein)

By Matthew Korfhage

Stein Distillery makes straight rye the cowboy way, with rye grown in their own fields near Joseph, Ore., plus 25 percent corn they buy from farmers 150 miles west in Hermiston. It's aged just the minimum two years, but like a lot of things out in the country, it grew up fast. There's not much good whiskey distilled in Oregon, and still less made in the high desert—Stein claims to be Eastern Oregon's first microdistillery—but this rye is one of the best bottles of whiskey we've ever had from our state. It's smoother and dryer than you'd expect from such a young rye, with fruit and vanilla notes that allow it to be mixed into a fine Manhattan. If this thing ages a little more, it'll be one of the best ryes in the nation. Maybe it already is. Recommended.

WWeek 2015

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