Honeycomb | Toasted oak | Cinnamon bread | Faint grain | Teddy Grahams cracker

Caramel drizzle | Rye spice | Leather | Cigar box | Mixed peppercorn spice | Dab of dark honey | Light vanilla

Bold rye spice | Vanilla frosting | Oak | Leather | Short

Located in Statesville, North Carolina, Southern Distilling Company was founded by Pete and Vienna Barger in 2013. The company produces a number of whiskeys at their 20-acre distillery campus. Although many outside of North Carolina may not be familiar with their name, the company has over 65,000 barrels aging and formally announced the creation of Statesville Contract Distilling, a long-standing service now marketed under their new brand.

Rye whiskeys are known for their spicy nature, and while Southern Star Bottled in Bond certainly displays this trait, it also errs on the side of sweet, too. The result is a sweet yet spicy whiskey that tries to appease everyone at the table. It opens with a delicious honeycomb scent, joined by toasted oak, cinnamon bread, and a hint of faint grain. The midpoint pops with a caramel drizzle sweetness before rye spice and more grounding flavors take over, only to see sweet flavors try to push their way through again. Ending with a short burst of rye spice, oak, and leather, vanilla frosting provides a lifeline of sweetness to add balance. This is a nice whiskey for those who want to wade into the world of ryes without having to worry about encountering an all-out spice bomb.