RARE AND EXCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITY!:
OUTSTANDING 12 YEAR AGE STATEMENT RYE
Founded by Joshua Thinnes (pictured above), SF-based Subtle Spirits is an independent bottler of fine spirits which uniquely marries the world of art and distillation in extremely limited edition releases. Prior to creating the business, Josh had spent 11 years as a buyer at a well-known wine and spirits retailer and, in that capacity, had the privilege of tasting thousands of offering from top producers around the world. Initially, his interests skewed toward wine but after frequent trips to Kentucky to select single casks of bourbon and rye for the store, his spirits obsession seriously congealed. Then, after a three-week pilgrimage to Scotland, he was officially hooked and inspired to launch his own business.
Leveraging the relationships he has forged over the years, Josh sources premium distillate from leading producers and bottles single casks and proprietary blends under his own labels. And although the brand may suggest otherwise, there is nothing “subtle” about Josh’s creations as they tend to be bold, rich and complex on both the nose and palate.
As alluded to earlier, in addition to sourcing world-class juice from leading distillers, Josh, who is a musician at heart, saw an opportunity to integrate his creative passions into the project and thus commissions original artwork from extremely talented local artists to grace the bottles of each release. That art is a critical part of the overall enjoyment experience of his offerings and makes for bottles that are collectible in and of themselves.
From the outset, we at D&M have been big fans of and friends with Josh and carried several of his limited releases on our shelves. As such, when our three owners were on a Kentucky distillery circuit tour this past Spring, they stopped to visit with him at Old Louisville and taste through the barrels he has been ageing there for his Single Barrel Project (SBP). After sampling through over a half dozen Rye barrels from MGP they were enamored with RIK-113, a 12 Year old that was distilled in the fall of 2012. At bottling this singular barrel yielded 150 bottles with a whopping finished proof of 62.1% ABV.
Subtle Spirits 12 Year Volume 4 RIK-113 Rye Whiskey – SBP
$169.99
The nose opens with aromas of caramelized brown sugar, dill, fennel, clove, fresh orange, wood shavings, maple syrup on rye bread, and a bit of white pepper. The palate has an initial wallop of pepper with orange peels, apple butter, vanilla bean, caraway, thyme and oak. The proof shows itself at full strength, but water opens the nose and palate nicely.
