Dry Fly Straight Triticale Whiskey Review

I tend to get very excited about different. It is this whole #DrinkCurious lifestyle. There's nothing in the world wrong with standard-bearers in the Wonderful World of Whisk(e)y, but there is something special about discovering something, well, special.  

Triticale is special. It is a grain developed in Scotland that is a hybrid of rye and wheat. So, when Dry Fly Distilling sent me a bottle of their Triticale whiskey in to review, well, I got damned curious. 

Dry Fly Distilling is located in Spokane, Washington and describes itself as a farm-to-bottle distillery. What that means is they source their grains from the immediate area, most of which from the 117-year old Wisota Farm, with any other farms located within 30 miles of the distillery.  They do their own distilling and age their whiskey in 53-gallon new, American oak barrels from Independent Stave Company. 

Dry Fly's Straight Triticale Whiskey has been aged four years and bottled at 90°. A 750ml will set you back about $39.95, which is at the lower-end of craft whiskey pricing. I'd like to thank Dry Fly for providing me this sample in exchange for a no-holds-barred, honest review. And now, let's get to it.

In my Glencairn glass, this whiskey presents as burnt sienna.  It is almost orange, almost brown, but not quite either. It produced a very thick rim that generated fast, slow legs to drop back to the pool of liquid sunshine.

To suggest the nose is fragrant would do a disservice to the word fragrant. It filled the room. I put off sipping because of how strong the aromas were, I didn't want to interrupt it. Berries and stonefruits dominated. When I finally brought the glass to my nose, I discovered caramel and nuts, candied fruit, and finally, pepper. Mrs. Whiskeyfellow commented that it reminded her of a cabernet sauvignon. When I inhaled through my lips, it was all caramel and berry.

The mouthfeel was thin and oily. This Triticale Whiskey drank like a Lowland Scotch without any astringent (or band-aid) quality. At the front, I tasted almond and vanilla. When it got to mid-palate, it was an unusual combination of plum and pear.  Then, at the back, caramel and white pepper. That sweet spiciness was interesting in a good way.

The finish was medium to long, at least from the start. It started off with an obvious nutmeg. Underneath that was white pepper and charred oak. And then, it dropped off. As I was putting together my notes, caramel came out of nowhere and hung around. I need to make this clear: I was convinced the finish was over and done with and there was nothing for well over two minutes before the caramel said Hello and then that stuck around.

Bottle, Bar or Bust:  I couldn't stop talking about the nose.  I don't recall the last time I spent this much time just savoring the nose of a whiskey. In the future, I'm going to grab a NEAT glass to see what that does for it. When I considered my rating, Dry Fly's Straight Triticale Whiskey would be an excellent summer sipper. It is light and goes down easy. There is nothing overwhelming on the palate. And, when you factor in the price, it would be silly to pass this one over. This one earns my coveted Bottle rating and I'm happy to have it in my library.  Cheers!