Green tea | Chocolate malt balls | Raspberry | Caramelized sugar | Malt | Toasted oak

Brown sugar | Eucalyptus | Mint | Chocolate eclair | Rye spice | Almond | Nutmeg | Malt

Rye spice | Spicy cinnamon | Black pepper | Mint | Toasted oak | Slight dryness | Lingering maltiness & spice

Walleye Run is a lesser-known whiskey brand from New Holland Spirits, the Michigan-based company known more for Dragon’s Milk beer and bourbon. The Walleye Run Whiskey portfolio currently consists of three core bottles: Malted Rye Whiskey (aged 7 years), Wheat Whiskey (aged 8 years), and Single Malt Whiskey (aged 10 years). Each is distilled using the company’s 100 year old Prohibition-era copper pot still, and according to the company, everything they plan to release under the Walleye Run label will be aged at least 7 years. Malted Rye is made with a sweet mash as opposed to sour mash, fermented with brewers’ yeast, and pot distilled twice before barreling.

For the company’s Double Barrel release, they took five barrels of their 100% malted rye whiskey that had been aged in char #3 barrels for 7 years and then finished them for an undisclosed amount of time in toasted oak barrels. The result features everything that makes the standard Walleye Run release unique, and layers in a more noticeable amount of oak. While that’s to be expected because it’s double-barreled, the end product isn’t quite what you’d expect.

New Holland has become well known for their limited releases of Dragon’s Milk Origin Finished in Toasted Oak Barrels. As a result, they have a lot of experience finishing with toasted oak. But where Dragon’s Milk bourbons feature a wealth of fruit notes, Walleye Run ryes change them out for spicy notes. Combine this with the heavy malt notes, and with this release, more oak, and Walleye Run Double Barrel continues the company’s direction of treading its own course.

Much of this is due to the flavors the whiskey presents, which are far from the norm. Green tea jumpstarts the aroma, followed by chocolate malt balls, raspberry, caramelized sugar, and malty toasted oak notes. The palate combines brown sugar, eucalyptus, mint, chocolate eclair, rye spice, almond, and nutmeg against a malt base. The finish is filled with spice, which is unusual for a malted rye, but it does so with gusto. Rye spice, spicy cinnamon, and black pepper go head to head, leaving behind mint, toasted oak, and malt in its wake. It’s a wealth of flavor that can catch you off guard.

Compared to the standard Walleye Run Malted Rye and its single-barrel, cask strength variant, Double Barrel layers in much more oak which tends to get a touch muddled at times. Regardless, its wide range of flavors still comes through and makes it one of the most unique ryes on the market. Like all of New Holland’s bourbons and ryes, Walleye Run Malted Rye Double Barrel remains limited, but when it’s available, it's worth picking up.