One of the things you’ll notice if you do many distillery reviews in Kentucky is how the Beam family seems to be everywhere. Case in point…Limestone Branch Distillery, home of Yellowstone Bourbon, whose master distillery is Stephen Beam, and the rye whiskey the company also produces, named after Stephen’s great-grandfather, Minor Case Beam (oldest son of James Beam himself) whose history is tied in with the Yellowstone brand. Minor Case Rye Whiskey is actually distilled in Indiana, most likely at MGP since they are the parent company of Limestone Branch, before being finished in Sherry Casks and later bottled in Lebanon, Kentucky.
The mash bill is said to be 51% rye, 45% corn, and 4% malted barley, and is bottled at 90 proof (45% ABV). They advertise this as “not a representation of what rye is, but what it could be” while also noting that it is a pre-Prohibition style that Minor Case himself may have produced in the 1880s. Finishing in “cream sherry casks” results in a smoothness uncommon in rye whiskies.
We bought this bottle almost more for the actual bottle itself than anything else…it is a work of art and seems like something straight out of whiskey history. Getting past that, though, I was struck by how light the color was…almost a dark straw color that you might expect on a Scotch and definitely one of the lightest bourbons or ryes in my bar. On the nose, I picked up a definite sweetness from the sherry casks right up front, with some herbal rye notes coming in behind, and light notes of caramel and vanilla following that.
The low proof makes the Minor Case Rye Whiskey lean toward being slightly watery, but it did have a pleasant sweetness up front, highlighted by apple and caramel notes, before the rye spice picked up, adding some pepper and herbal notes. This being a “barely legal rye” at 51% rye in the mash bill, it definitely fits in the category of “ryes made for bourbon lovers”…and the sherry casks finishing doesn’t hurt that sentiment, either. While I didn’t find the sherry notes to be overt in this case, they did contribute some extra sweetness to the whole, which was very nice.
