Few names from American whiskey historical past deserve extra consideration than R.E. Wathen. Whereas many legendary manufacturers survived Prohibition, the folks liable for preserving them are sometimes ignored. Richard E. Wathen was a type of figures.
Starting in November 1927, Wathen served as president of the American Medicinal Spirits Firm, assuming the place shortly after the corporate’s formation throughout Nationwide Prohibition. At a time when practically each distillery in America had gone silent, American Medicinal Spirits held one of many few federal licenses allowing the authorized manufacture and bottling of whiskey for medicinal functions. Underneath Wathen’s management, the corporate consolidated a number of distilleries whereas safeguarding recipes, emblems, and getting old whiskey shares that in any other case may need disappeared. He acquired shuttered distilleries as Prohibition threatened generations of distilling information, preserving names corresponding to Outdated Grand-Dad, Outdated Taylor, Outdated Crow, and Outdated Overholt. All of the Olds. By the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, Wathen reportedly managed roughly 45 p.c of all getting old whiskey shares in the US, later guiding American Medicinal Spirits into its transition to Nationwide Distillers Merchandise Company.
The Wathen household story reaches again even farther. Their first pioneering distillery, Rolling Fork, was based in 1788. Though the trendy Rolling Fork Spirits doesn’t distill whiskey, as an alternative working as an impartial bottler and blender of whiskey and rum, the corporate has revived each the Rolling Fork title and one other piece of Wathen historical past via Rewco, a model created in honor of Richard E. Wathen.
That historical past units the stage for Rewco 6 Yr Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey Barrel Power, launched in 2026. Batch No. 2026-01 combines 5 Kentucky rye whiskey barrels aged for a minimum of six years. Three barrels had been distilled from a mashbill of 74% rye, 11% corn, and 15% malted barley. Whereas the supply has not been disclosed, the recipe matches the mashbill related to Willett Household Property, although nothing signifies Willett distilled the whiskey. The remaining two barrels use a 95% rye, 5% malted barley mashbill, a recipe additionally distilled by Inexperienced River and Bardstown Bourbon Firm, although the origin of these barrels likewise stays undisclosed. The ensuing mix is bottled at 109.4 proof, an unusually low barrel proof for a cask energy launch.
R.E. Wathen’s place in American whiskey historical past is past dispute. Does Rewco 6 Yr Outdated Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey Barrel Power stay as much as the legacy hooked up to his title? Let’s discover out.
Rolling Fork Rewco Barrel Power Rye 6 Years Outdated Overview
The nostril opens with a really particular vanilla be aware, bringing to thoughts vanilla Tootsie Rolls alongside orange sherbet. After a minute within the glass, overripe banana peels start to indicate, adopted by grilled peaches completed with a lightweight dusting of cinnamon. From begin to end, the aroma stays targeted on sweetness with little or no spice, although it by no means crosses into sugary territory. It additionally suggests a whiskey with appreciable viscosity, and the palate confirms that expectation from the primary sip.
Cream soda leads the way in which, adopted by tart Key Lime pie, proper right down to the graham cracker crust. A light be aware of contemporary mint arrives late throughout the mid-palate. The end introduces Lemonhead sweet alongside a barely bitter grapefruit pith. Simply because the profile seems prepared to remain on the sweeter, fruit-driven aspect, a wholesome dose of allspice steps in to carry all the things again into line, offering precisely the distinction the whiskey wants.
General, Rewco is a wonderful worth and a strong rye whiskey that stands above many entry-level bottles. For anybody who’s rye-curious and not sure the place to start, leaping straight into a standard black pepper-driven rye is probably not the perfect introduction. Rewco as an alternative presents fruit-forward sweetness, sufficient spice to indicate what the class has to supply, a proof level above 100, and a worth that’s tough to argue with. It serves as an excellent entry level into premium rye whiskey with out asking newcomers to sacrifice taste, proof, or worth.
109.4 proof.
B+ / $60
Rolling Fork Rewco Barrel Power Rye 6 Years Outdated
USD60
