There was absolutely no reason to blind this comparison.
The two bottles may carry the same Rittenhouse name, the same 100 proof and the same Bottled-in-Bond designation, but I wasn’t going to confuse them. One is the standard four-year-old Rittenhouse Rye that usually sells for somewhere around $25. The other is the limited-edition, 10-year-old Rittenhouse released to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States. That one carried a suggested price of $99.99.
When I first bought the 250th Anniversary bottle, I wondered whether I was overpaying. Was it really going to be worth four times the price of regular Rittenhouse?
I had an opportunity to buy another bottle for the same price a couple of weeks ago. I decided I had bought enough whiskey lately, so I passed.
After this comparison, I wish I had pulled the trigger.
The Background
Rittenhouse Rye traces its history to Philadelphia, where Rittenhouse Square Straight Rye Whisky was introduced in 1934. It was named for the historic Philadelphia park and originally represented the bold Pennsylvania rye tradition.
The brand became a four-year-old Bottled-in-Bond whiskey in 1948. Heaven Hill acquired Rittenhouse in 1993 and helped keep it alive during a period when rye whiskey was nowhere near as popular as it is today.
That changed with the rebirth of classic cocktail culture. Bartenders rediscovered old recipes calling for rye whiskey, and Rittenhouse had several things working in its favor. It was affordable, flavorful and bottled at 100 proof, allowing it to stand up to vermouth, bitters and other cocktail ingredients.
The regular Rittenhouse remains a four-year-old Bottled-in-Bond rye made from Heaven Hill’s mash bill of 51% rye, 35% corn and 14% malted barley. That relatively large corn percentage helps explain why it often drinks more like a bourbon than many ryes do.
The 250th Anniversary edition begins with the same recipe but takes it considerably further. It was aged for 10 years, bottled without chill filtration and created from 90 selected barrels aged in different rickhouses and on different floors. The commemorative bottle celebrates both America’s 250th anniversary and Rittenhouse’s Pennsylvania heritage.
But does another six years in oak turn a $25 rye into a whiskey worth $100?
Let’s find out.
Color
Regular Rittenhouse: Mid-amber.
Rittenhouse 250th Anniversary: Light copper.
There is a solid color advantage to the 10-year-old.
Advantage: Rittenhouse 250th Anniversary
Nose
Regular Rittenhouse: This has more of a bourbon-like nose than most ryes, although some herbal qualities remain. I found stone fruit, caramel, nutmeg and oak.
Rittenhouse 250th Anniversary: The nose elevates considerably here. Buttery toffee, light oak, nutmeg and vanilla lead the way. I hear people describe graham cracker notes fairly often, but I don’t usually pick that up myself.
It is definitely in this glass.
Advantage: Rittenhouse 250th Anniversary
Palate
Regular Rittenhouse: Apricots jump up immediately, which is fairly normal for rye whiskeys. But this remains somewhat bourbon-like, with buttery notes, caramel, brown sugar and a touch of cinnamon.
Nice.
Rittenhouse 250th Anniversary: This is the kind of rye I really enjoy because it drinks like a bourbon. There is plenty of buttery toffee, along with cinnamon, cherries, light oak and a little nutmeg.
This is another substantial step up.
Advantage: Rittenhouse 250th Anniversary
Mouthfeel
Regular Rittenhouse: It isn’t incredibly viscous, but it isn’t bad.
Rittenhouse 250th Anniversary: The mouthfeel is one of the biggest strengths of this whiskey. It is creamy, oily and extremely pleasing.
This category isn’t close.
Advantage: Rittenhouse 250th Anniversary
Finish
Regular Rittenhouse: Better than you might expect from such an affordable whiskey. Cinnamon dominates, but the apricots remain, and some toffee also peeks through.
Rittenhouse 250th Anniversary: That oily viscosity pins the flavors to the mouth and delivers toffee, cinnamon and light oak for a long while.
Advantage: Rittenhouse 250th Anniversary
Scores
Regular Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond: 80.18
Rittenhouse 250th Anniversary 10-Year Bottled-in-Bond: 85.72
Final Thoughts
Clearly, there was no contest.
And there shouldn’t have been.
The standard Rittenhouse Rye was made to be exactly what it is: an affordable, dependable rye that punches above its weight. But it punches way above its weight, delivering an experience that could easily belong to a whiskey costing another $10 or more.
This is an inexpensive rye you can drink any way you please. Mix it with ginger ale. Put it in a Manhattan. Drink it neat. Pour it over a cube. At roughly $25, you don’t have to protect it from your friends or save it for some future special occasion that may never come.
Regular Rittenhouse Rye is an absolute must for the Bourbon Cheapskate bar.
The 250th Anniversary bottle is something else entirely.
It is one of my favorite ryes, and I’m going to have to guard what remains rather jealously because there may be no replacing it. This is a complete whiskey: attractive color, wonderful aroma, exquisite palate, impressive complexity, rich mouthfeel and a beautiful, lingering finish.
Heaven Hill seriously delivered with this rye.
The $100 question was whether it could possibly be worth four times as much as regular Rittenhouse. Whiskey value doesn’t work quite that neatly, and the 10-year-old didn’t score four times higher. But it delivered the kind of experience I hoped I was paying for when I bought it.
So, yes, I’m glad I spent the money.
I’m considerably less glad that I passed when I had the chance to buy another one.
All I can do now is hope Heaven Hill eventually releases another Rittenhouse that at least somewhat mirrors this experience. This bottle reminded me that rye whiskeys don’t have to settle for being bourbon’s spicier cousins.
The best of them are fully worthy of standing beside their bourbon brethren.
