In my review of Journeyman’s Featherbone Bourbon, I mentioned that I had needed a box when leaving the distillery because one bottle wasn’t going to cut it. After starting with their bourbon, I moved next to their rye: a tribute to George Washington, one of America’s founding fathers, a leading distiller in the young nation, and (briefly) a proposed king.

Quick history detour: in the wake of the Revolutionary War, the Newburgh Letter floated the idea that Washington should become monarch to stabilize the fledgling nation. He famously, emphatically, declined. And later, by stepping down after two presidential terms, he cemented a cornerstone of American democracy: the peaceful transition of power.

Now that legacy comes bottled in rye whiskey form.

History

On the history page of the Journeyman website there is a lot of detail about Three Oaks, Michigan, which was originally called Chamberlain Siding and later renamed for the trees that acted as a landmark for train engineers along their route. However, I’m going to start our historical review back in 2000 when Bill Welter made a visit to Scotland.

Initially drawn by the ancient Scottish golf courses, it was in Scotland where Welter met Greg Ramsey, a Tasmanian with a passion for Scotch. The two formed a friendship over whiskey, and when Ramsey later turned an old grain mill into a distillery in Bothwell, Tasmania, Welter made sure to come visit. One visit turned into several, with Welter gaining valuable distilling experience along the way.

To further hone his distilling skills, Welter turned to the master distiller of Chicago’s Koval distillery, Robert Birnecker, and made his first batch of rye whiskey. Things move quickly from there, with Welter and his father, Chuck, acquiring part of the old Featherbone Factory in 2010. The factory is the former production site of the Warren Featherbone Company, a company that produced a product primarily in the stays for women’s corsets to replace whalebone. 

A year later, in 2011, Journeyman Distillery open its doors.

The space continued to expand as the distillery acquired additional space in the former factory building. In 2015, the Staymaker Restaurant was opened, distillery space was expanded, and as a result the distillery gained the capacity to host large events with catering. In 2018, aligned with Welter’s love of golf, Welter’s Folly was added. It was the largest putting green in the world not affiliated with a golf course, allowing guests to sip and putt the day away.

Continued expansion continues even now, with the 2023 opening of a similar complex in Valparaiso, Indiana. Much like its Three Oaks counterpart, the American Factory is a distillery, restaurant, and event space combination (and also boasts a brewery called Sea of Monsters.)

Product

• Learn More: What's the Difference Between Whiskey, Bourbon, Scotch, and Rye?

Journeyman prides itself on being one of the few USDA-certified organic and kosher distilleries in the United States. All of their spirits start with locally sourced organic grains from the Midwest and untreated water drawn from an underground aquifer beneath Three Oaks, with the goal being a true grain-to-glass operation that encapsulates the character of the small village they call home.

As mentioned in the intro, Not A King Rye is named in honor of George Washington. He was not only America’s first president, but also one of its first commercial distillers. And here’s where things get interesting: the mashbill for Not A King is 60% organic rye, 35% organic corn, and 5% organic malted barley. That’s not just any rye recipe — it’s the same ratio used at Washington’s Mount Vernon distillery, which at its peak in 1798 was producing over 11,000 gallons of whiskey a year, making him one of the largest distillers in the young nation.

Those organic grains are milled and cooked with that aquifer water, then fermented with yeast. Per Journeyman’s own sell sheet, Not A King undergoes a single distillation (a detail worth noting, as many American rye whiskeys go through double distillation). The distillery in Three Oaks houses multiple stills, including named ones – Willy Wonka, Tassie, and Ethel – though it’s not publicly clear which specific still handles the Not A King run. Journeyman also has a newer Vendome copper still at their American Factory location in Indiana, though Not A King appears to be a Three Oaks, Michigan, product.

After distillation, the new make goes into new charred American oak barrels as required by law for straight rye whiskey. There is no age statement listed on the bottle — which for a craft distillery of this size isn’t unusual, but it’s worth calling out. Given that Journeyman has been operating since 2011, they’ve had plenty of time to build up mature stock, so the NAS designation here might just be a blending flexibility choice rather than a youth issue.

This is a limited release, made available each year on Presidents’ Day — a fitting touch for a whiskey named after the man who insisted he was “Not A King”.

Packaging

As is common with smaller distilleries, Journeyman uses a fairly basic bottle: medium height, rectangular base with curved corners, sharp shoulder leading to a very stout neck. Nothing special, but it’s economical. And one of my favorite things about it is the packing density. As I mentioned at the top, I left Three Oaks with several bottles, and the uniform size and rectangular footprint made fitting them all into a small box a breeze.

Every bottle in Journeyman’s lineup uses the same shape — the only difference between them is the color palette of the label and the wax used to seal the top. And since we’re on the topic, permit me to get on my soapbox for a moment: I hate wax-dipped bottles. (That goes for the OG Maker’s Mark, too.) They’re harder to open, and when you finally do, you’re left with a craggy ring of wax you have to pour around. Can we just stop this nonsense?

Not A King Rye uses a deep blue color theme, starting with the (stupid) wax at the top and carrying down through the label. The label itself takes up over 80% of the face of the bottle, which means the whiskey itself is lost behind this monstrosity.

I get it from a marketing perspective. We’ve seen something similar from FEW Spirits: intricate labels used to differentiate products that all share the same bottle. But that doesn’t mean I’m a fan; I’d rather see more of the actual whiskey… and preferably without a wax seal.

Neat

Right off the bat, the aromas coming from the glass are classic rye whiskey: a lot of spice and pepper with just a small hint of sweetness and a rich umami note. Occasionally, I’ll smoke thick-sliced bacon dusted with brown sugar and cayenne pepper in the Traeger (my wife has dubbed this “man candy”). This smells very much like that.

My first sip is rather surprising. For as rich as this whiskey smells, it drinks rather thin. There’s a mild brown sugar sweetness in the beginning, followed by a very prominent spice mix of clove, cinnamon, and black pepper. It’s not overly spicy, which makes for a great sipping rye.

It’s surprisingly dry, but as I savor the flavor more, I can also pick up some notes of pecan and raisin. The best part is the very mild burn — which I’ve seen be overwhelming in some ryes, but not here.

So far, I’m very pleased with Not A King Rye. It’s got great flavor and is easy to sip.

On Ice

The first sip on the rocks almost tastes like an entirely new whiskey. That wonderful rye spiciness is turned way down and the brown sugar sweetness is turned way up — it reminds me more of a bourbon on the rocks than a rye.

The upside of the lowered spiciness is that the other flavors have more of a platform. You can really taste the pecan and raisin notes, which were more of an afterthought while sipping this neat. You also start to get a lot more of the barrel char, and that oak helps bring some of the spice back.

I don’t hate this — in fact, I rather enjoy sipping it on the rocks. However, it seems to fall out of the rye category and more into bourbon territory. I drink ryes because I’m looking for that bold, spicy flavor… if I wanted a bourbon, I could just reach for a bottle of their Featherbone.

Cocktail (Old Fashioned)

Given that, on the rocks, this drinks like a bourbon, I’m going to assume it makes a decent Old Fashioned (as any solid bourbon would).

As I mentioned when tasting this rye neat, it drinks very thin. That lack of viscosity carries over to the Old Fashioned, making for a thinner cocktail — which, to be fair, drinks very easily. There’s a lot of sweetness from both the whiskey and the sugar, but the spicy cinnamon, clove, and black pepper seem to have some new life with the Angostura bitters.

It’s not a bad Old Fashioned, but when I want a rye Old Fashioned, I want bold and spicy. This is not that. Much like on the rocks, you’d again be better off using a generic bourbon.

Fizz (Mule)

Much like the Angostura bitters in the Old Fashioned, the ginger beer seems to breathe new life into the spice of the rye. It’s not overly spicy, but noticeably more present than on the rocks.

You don’t get a lot of the whiskey’s other flavors — some of those spice notes I mentioned come through, but the oak, brown sugar, and pecan are all lost.

Just like the Old Fashioned and on rocks, it’s not bad… but again, you might as well save your Not A King Rye for sipping and use something else to make a mule.

Overall Rating

My thoughts about this bottle are like that of the Featherbone Bourbon: it’s not a bad sipper, but it’s very one dimensional. It doesn’t hold up well in a cocktail and I want a little more flavor both neat and on the rocks. It’s solidly middle of the road, but that’s not a good thing for a $50 bottle — for that price point, I expect something that makes a statement or swings for the fences with a little more vigor.

I am tempted to give this another half-star, because I really did enjoy it neat… but I dislike half stars, (My thinking is that if I start with half stars, then why not go to quarter-stars? Tenth stars? Where would it end?) And sticking to round numbers, it’s just not good enough to earn 4 stars.

The good news is that I also had a whiskey flight while visiting and tasted some very promising whiskey — hence the shopping spree at their version of the “old country store”. So stay tuned for more of my journey through Journeyman to come.

All reviews are evaluated within the context of their specific spirit classification as specified above. Click here to check out similar spirits we have reviewed.

Overall Rating: 3/5
Enjoy this one as George would have: neat and as a general, president, or citizen.