Whiskey Review: Mad River Distillers Revolution Rye Whiskey

We’ve looked at a couple variations of the rum that Mad River produces, but we haven’t yet looked at their more locally sourced items — or one of their whiskeys. We’re changing all of that today by taking a look at their Revolution Rye Whiskey, which uses locally sourced grains and ties together some of the Revolutionary War history of Vermont for the modern whiskey enjoyer.

History

As with most distilleries, this one’s history starts with someone getting restless. Maura Connolly wanted a change of pace from her day job and dreamed of opening a vineyard in upstate Vermont — a notion that her friends quickly helped dissuade her from, since the weather isn’t exactly ideal for growing grapes that far north. The dream didn’t stop there, though, as her helpful husband and apple brandy enthusiast John suggested they try their hand at a distillery instead. The couple partnered with Brett Little, a fellow apple brandy enthusiast, and together they founded Mad River Distillers.

The facility opened its doors in 2013 and started by producing rum, but has since expanded into a wide line of craft spirits including apple brandy, single malt whiskey, rye, and a couple different versions of that original rum. While their facility is a bit off the beaten path, my wife and I ran into them at their tasting room in downtown Burlington, Vermont where their helpful staff was more than happy to share their enthusiasm for the product.

Product

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

Mad River Distillers prides themselves on using locally sourced non-GMO grains for its whiskies, and this is no exception. Named in honor of George Washington and his prolific production of rye whiskey during the early years of the country, the distillery starts with a batch of 100% rye grains that includes varieties such as chocolate malted rye and toasted rye. These grains are milled, cooked, and fermented to create a mildly alcoholic liquid.

After fermentation, that alcoholic mash is fed into their German-produced hybrid still, which is a combination of a pot still and a column still that allows for small batch production while also being more efficient in how the spirit is concentrated and selectively captured by the distiller. The distilled rye whiskey is then placed into new charred oak barrels for a period of time to mature before being blended together, proofed down, and bottled for sale.

Packaging

There’s not a whole lot of chances being taken here on the design, but I think for understandable reasons.

For the bottle, they’ve gone with a standard design for modern distilleries: cylindrical body, rounded shoulder, medium length neck, and capped with a wood and cork stopper. It’s a design we see commonly from many independent distilleries, since it’s difficult and expensive to get custom made glass bottles. This design tends to look cleaner on the shelf and (probably importantly for their tourist-y Burlington location) has a tendency to survive shipping in a packed suitcase .

I love that they haven’t gone overboard with the label. The paper is a clean design with some rustic touches, like the font and the yellowed paper, but it isn’t going overboard either with the size or the embellishments. They made the decision to let the color of the spirit shine through and be the star of the show, and that’s exactly what I like to see in designs.

One thing I do want to note is the border along the top of the main label: at first I thought this was a lazy way of making the label look a bit aged, like it had frayed or ripped somehow. But looking at the product line across multiple different versions, you’ll notice that this irregular line actually denotes the category of spirit that you’ve got through the color of the ink used. It’s a neat trick to visually group the spirits together while also adding a bit of flair.

Neat

Things look pretty normal at first glance, but you’ll know you have something different on your hands when you take the first whiff from the glass. That chocolate malted rye is punching above its weight when it comes to the impact on the profile here, and the result is remarkable. I get some hints of the normal rye whiskey aromas — green apple, black pepper, vanilla, and brown sugar — but those are well in the background compared to the malted rye. It smells like a delicious combination of coffee, dark chocolate, and a fresh toasted slice of rye bread. Breakfast of champions in a glass.

The flavors start out sweeter, with some vanilla and brown sugar components, but that is extremely short lived. It’s just a flash of flavor before the darker elements join the party: dark chocolate, coffee, and tobacco, which are the core of the flavors in this rich and delicious whiskey. As the flavor develops, there’s some added green apple and black pepper from the more typical rye-style notes that add some sweetness and complexity. On the finish, it just tastes like I’ve had a sip of some good morning coffee.

On Ice

The coffee flavor was a bit strong when taken neat. It overwhelmed the other components and, as someone who has never had a full cup of coffee in his life (because that stuff tastes awful), it wasn’t ideal. But with a little bit of ice added to the glass, the coffee and dark chocolate flavors play much nicer with the vanilla, brown sugar, and black pepper. It’s more like one of the super sweet and delicious concoctions you’d get from Starbucks.

For those who like coffee, this is probably a standout on the rocks or neat — but, sadly, that ain’t me. What I am excited about here isn’t necessarily the specific flavors, but rather the potential. The coffee is a very earthy and rich profile, which gives you a lot of room to work with when making cocktails.

Cocktail (Old Fashioned)

Oddly enough, this doesn’t work.

I think the issue is that the bitters are getting lost in the sauce if you just go for straight angostura bitters — there are some good herbal tones, but the coffee and dark chocolate are too much to compete against. It doesn’t taste all that different from having this on the rocks unless you really load up the bitters,

What does work absolutely perfectly here are some orange bitters. Something with a little bit of citrus is exactly what this needs — the flavors are just too rich and too dark to counteract without a bit of fruity help.

Fizz (Mule)

On the one hand, this is delicious. But on the other hand, I don’t think I’d drink very much of it.

The balance of these flavors is great, with the darker and richer coffee flavors providing much-needed grounding for the ginger beer and lime juice. It makes for a cocktail that is technically correct, and one with a good bit of complexity from that coffee flavor, but I also think that’s why I wouldn’t go for it.

There’s just too much coffee in this cocktail. I’d be way happier if the dark chocolate were a more prominent feature, but as it stands this is just a citrus and ginger cup of coffee.

Overall Rating

There’s a lot to love about this whiskey. The flavors are lovingly crafted, the choice of raw ingredients has been carefully done, and the finishing and blending makes for a whiskey that is legitimately worth the price of admission.

In this instance, I feel like they took a big swing with the flavor profile, and I’m just not the target audience. But if you love a good cup of coffee, this whiskey is probably a standout neat or on the rocks. The orange-bitters-based old fashioned was good, and the mule was textbook, but neither are a personal favorite. That said, I feel like there’s too much potential to give up on this bottle, and its staying on my shelf for the day when I inevitable find (or figure out) the perfect cocktail for it.

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: 4/5
A well-executed rye whiskey that tastes like breakfast: coffee, chocolate, brown sugar, and toasted rye bread.