Kentucky Owl has announced the second release in The Wiseman series, a straight rye whiskey. The new whiskey joins The Wiseman Bourbon, which was released by the brand in September 2021.
The Wiseman Straight Rye features a 95% rye mash bill selected by Kentucky Owl Master Blender John Rhea. Bottled at 100.8 proof, The Wiseman Straight Rye has a rich and spicy nose with hints of fresh rye bread alongside notes of sweet caramel and cinnamon. The spicy character immediately fills the mouth with rich rye flavor with a long finish that starts as fresh rye bread and slowly moves towards buttered cinnamon toast and ends with a hint of English walnut.
“Following the successful launch and customer response to our Kentucky Owl The Wiseman Straight Bourbon, we’re delighted to quickly follow this with the launch of Kentucky Owl The Wiseman Rye,” said Nik Keane, Global Category Leader at Stoli Group. “We’re confident our customers will also love this product — it is exciting times ahead with Kentucky Owl.”
This is the third Kentucky Owl release under Rhea, who previously served as Four Roses Distillery’s chief operating officer, where his responsibilities included quality control, maturation, evaluation and product blending. He was inducted into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame in 2016 and served as chair of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association board of directors.
Stoli Group purchased Kentucky Owl in 2017. Originally founded by C.M. Dedman in 1879, the Kentucky Owl Bardstown distillery went dark during the Prohibition era and remained dormant until a descendant revived the brand in 2014.
The Kentucky Owl The Wiseman Straight Rye is priced at $60 per 750ml bottle. It will be available starting in April at a limited number of fine retailers across the brand’s national distribution footprint.
For more information, head over to Kentucky Owl’s official website.
