Rye spice | Baking spices | Orange zest | Herbal undertone

Caramel | Vanilla | Baking spices | White pepper | Hint of leather

Rye spice | Brown sugar | Slight citrus | Lingering baking spices

Pursuit United Tripe Mash Rye is produced by Pursuit Spirits, whose two co-founders got their start in the world of American whiskey as part of the podcast team at Bourbon Pursuit. This release features a new bottle and label design, as the company states it is a “comprehensive packaging refresh featuring a distinctive custom bottle and updated labels across the entire Pursuit United line, designed to enhance shelf presence and clarify product identity.”

Bourbon and American whiskey enthusiasts themselves, co-founders Ryan Cecil and Kenny Coleman showcased enthusiast-level details on the bottle’s label and marketing materials, which include source state, distillery, and the three mashbills that comprise the triple mash blend. While two of the mashbills feature a high 95% rye component, one features a high level of corn at 43%. The company states, “Unlike most ryes that pack a walloping spice, ours is more sweet thanks to a corn-heavy mashbill.”

Pursuit United Triple Mash Rye features the same two distillery sources that comprise their Blended Straight Rye, but is a new blend, the company states, that took them a year to fine-tune. The 88 proof version fits in alongside their complementary 108 proof and barrel proof versions, creating a vertical intended to speak to consumers at all levels. Notably, while all three proof variations use the same three mashbills, the percentages vary by bottling. According to Cecil, who blends the whiskeys, he uses “the majority of the 52/43/5 in [their] 108 and Cask Strength as it provides more sweetness at higher proofs, making it a more approachable high proof rye.  For the 88, [he uses] more 95/5 from Sagamore because it has much more fruit and gives the whiskey more flavor at a lower proof.” The base bourbons also vary in age, ranging from 4 to 7 years old. Cecil uses the 6-7 year olds for their oak and depth, and the 4-5 year olds for their vibrant and fruity qualities, with the goal of creating “layers of sweetness, fruit, and spice.”

The whiskey brings rye spice upfront, mingled with baking spices and a notable orange zest note atop a slightly herbal undertone. A sweeter base of caramel and vanilla sets up the palate, with baking spices at the midpoint, followed by a hint of leather on the backend. Rye spice reemerges on the finish, combining with brown sugar and a slight citrus note. It ends on lingering baking spices.

While the lowest proof of their rye lineup, Pursuit United Triple Mash Rye offers plenty of flavor to sip neat and more than enough spice to claim its place in the rye whiskey category. It’s clearly intended to attract a consumer base that prefers a lower proof, and given its price point and definitive rye whiskey flavor profile, it’s a welcome addition to the category.

The bottle in review is from batch code 4CF.