🥃 Review #52: Boston Harbor Distillery Putnam New England Rye

Putnam New England Rye from Boston Harbor Distillery in front of a chair and Glencairn

The product of Boston Harbor Distillery (DSP-MA-21015), Putnam New England Rye is an ultra high rye whiskey that joins a single Malt as being the distillery's main workhorses. Both base spirits are offered in a variety of finishes. They also make small batch gin, rum, liqueurs, and ready-to-drink cocktails. The namesake for this whiskey was Silas Putnam who built a factory, now the site of the distillery, that automated the manufacture of the hot-forged horseshoe nail. BHD was founded by Rhonda Kallman in 2012 with a focus on whole grain whiskey after more than two decades as a brewery founder and executive, first at the Boston Beer company of Sam Adams' fame and then again at new Century Brewing.

Front Label

🛒Sourced: $49.99 on their website - I got this tiny bottle in a Flaviar tasting set given to my by my dad.

🧪Proof: 86 proof, 43% ABV - Always a bit interested in how they get these nonstandard numbers.

🎨Color: R3 - An orange yellow colored sky

🥔Mash Bill: 95% rye malt and 5% two-row malted barley. Two-row barely is the type typically used in single malt whiskey and has a relatively high start content. Doubled distilled to 155 poof and then aged in 53 gallon American White Oak barrels (described as toasted and then "heavily charred" - seems to be a #4 alligator char). Of note, the initial distillation run is conducted in the Midwest by a third party (likely our Indiana Rye Overlords - MGP) before BHD then re-distills and bottles it. I do love some 95/5 Rye MGP. No age statement. It is diluted to 125 proof for barreling an then to the bottling proof with water from the Quabbin Reservoir (that may just be city water). Boston Harbor Distillery has a lovely copper pot still that they use for their second distillation which server to further eliminate heavier impurities (fusil oils/congeners) but this does tend to create a more neutral base spirit. Interestingly, they mention "master distiller's standards" which they say amounts to more narrow heart cuts. Hearts are the middle portion of a distillation run which are rich in ethanol and the "good" flavoring esters and aldehydes, typically occurring between 140-160 proof on a copper pot still. The distillation point at the upper end of that range likely produces a cleaner spirit.

👃Nose: Fruity with apple and cardamom, relatively light. I stuck my nose all the way in the glass and took big big sniffs.

😜Palate: Very light bodied with a little bit of caramel, toasted vanilla, and white pepper. Very smooth though that is partially due to the lack of weightiness in the body. I found myself taking rather large mouthfuls trying to sus out the flavors.

💦Finish: Short with a flash of yellow cake that subsides into peppercorns and more cardamom. The tiniest flash of apple in the transition from flavor to warmth.

🏆 Overall: 4.5/10 - Fine /Serviceable - Certainly easy to drink, Putnam New England Rye is another great example of well crafted distillate that is let down by its evident youth and low proof point. 155 to 86 is one heck of a swing and it doesn't have enough time in the oak to put back any hefty full flavors, harbor air aside. It is very refined for MGP rye at this apparent age, so I have to give them kudos for the precision in their second distillation run. The lack of body/thickness for me is the main detractor, a case of inoffensiveness not being enough to carry the day. You have to really search to get much flavor beyond generic rye. They do have a cask strength version and perhaps the finished iterations pack more umph.

💵Would buy again? No, I can get nice Indiana Rye from my local ASW with a great toast on it!

Back Label

⚖️Rating Scale:

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