VERY OLDE ST NICK WHISKEY RYE ANCIENT CASK FAITH & CONVINCTION KENTUCKY 750ML

The Very Olde St. Nick brand is a usual one. Long a staple of the Japanese (and sometimes European) markets, the brand has quietly been around the American market for some time, but it’s a rarity that you ever see it. Trying to track down a new release is often a fool’s errand and you have to rely on luck more than anything else. Yet Very Olde St. Nick has a renewed vigor thanks to the brand’s creator Marci Palatella and their Preservation Distillery. The distillery has become a new hotspot to visit in Kentucky as visitors are able to purchase many of their releases directly from the distillery.

Very Olde St. Nick Ancient Cask Rye has had many releases over the years but one constant is the general lack of information surrounding them. Faith + Conviction is their newest release and all we know is that it is 8 years old rye distilled in Indiana. It’s not labeled “straight” but that is often the case with many of Preservation Distillery’s releases. While their  release left us wanting a bit more from it, Faith + Conviction includes that bit more and then some.

The nose starts off in a wonderful place. Red currants mixed in with plum, brown butter, and cola scents are extremely effective. Then you’ll notice after taking a sip that this doesn’t taste like traditional rye – at least not on the onset. I love when a rye manages to feature dark and robust flavors as this one does. Black raspberry, raisin, and prune hit the palate first, with rye spice quickly coming up behind. From there a light chocolate wafer note lingers providing a gentle reprieve. The finish is equally robust featuring milk chocolate, leather, hazelnut, and molasses – providing more usual notes for a rye. As a whole, Faith + Conviction is a potent rye that skews towards the dark and robust side of the flavor spectrum. Not a lot of ryes are able to accomplish this, which makes Very Olde St. Nick Ancient Cask Rye: Faith + Conviction a very special pour indeed.