The Bourbon Rye Cheapskate, Vol. 53: 3 Affordable Rye Whiskeys Compared

There are times when price and quality line up exactly the way you expect.

This wasn’t one of those times.

For this edition of Bourbon Cheapskate, I decided to shift gears a little and make it the Rye Cheapskate. I had three relatively inexpensive ryes on the shelf that I hadn’t rated yet, all sitting in or near the price range I usually consider Cheapskate territory.

The lineup was Benchmark Rye at 100 proof and $18 for a 750ml bottle, Jack Daniel’s Straight Rye at 90 proof and $30 for a full liter, and Middle West Dark Pumpernickel Rye at 96 proof and $45 for 750ml.

I didn’t bother tasting them blind. There really wasn’t much point. These three have profiles distinct enough that I wasn’t going to fool myself for long, and the purpose here wasn’t to guess what was in the glass anyway. I wanted to know which was the best whiskey, which was the best value, and whether those turned out to be the same bottle.

They didn’t.

Benchmark Rye

Benchmark Rye pours a fairly light mid-amber.

The nose is fruit-forward, though there’s still enough spice to remind you this is rye. Apricots lead the way, followed by caramel, black pepper and a touch of cinnamon.

The fruit moves even further forward on the palate, joined by more black pepper, with a little oak underneath and some pleasant caramel and vanilla helping round things out. The mouthfeel is better than I expected, though still a touch thin, and that leads into a surprisingly decent finish where the fruit and spice linger fairly well.

Overall, this is a winning little whiskey for the money. At around $18, it is perfectly drinkable neat, but its obvious future is behind the bar. This ought to make a killer Old Fashioned, and it would be an easy choice for the rye on a beginner’s bar.

Score: 74.11

Jack Daniel’s Straight Rye

Jack Daniel’s Straight Rye comes in with a light copper color, richer than I expected from a lower-proof rye.

The nose is unmistakably Jack Daniel’s. Bananas jump straight out of the glass. Cherries follow, along with caramel and a grassy note.

The bananas also dominate the palate, with cherries peeking through underneath. Along the way, buttery toffee, cinnamon and tart oak make an appearance. The mouthfeel approaches a light oiliness, while the finish is about average. Banana continues to dominate throughout, though tart fruit, oak and fresh-cut grass emerge as the sip fades.

Overall, this probably has a similar appeal to Benchmark, but it brings a little more body and a little more flavor development. It works as a possible sipper, but its greater role will probably be in cocktails.

Still, for what it is, it is pretty enjoyable. And at $30 for a full liter, it represents a very solid value.

Score: 78.66

Middle West Dark Pumpernickel Rye

Middle West Dark Pumpernickel Rye sits right on the edge of copper.

The nose isn’t especially powerful, but it is intriguing. There’s an unusual balance between sweet and savory. Think dark cherry jam spread over buttered rye toast.

The butter and rye notes move forward on the palate, joined by some nicely tart cherries. As the sip develops, the layers of dark fruit and rye spice begin to turn chocolatey. The mouthfeel is lightly oily, and the flavors cling reasonably well to the palate into the finish, where cherries, dark rye and a touch of oak dominate.

This is easily the most complex and layered whiskey of the three. It is the one I’d most want to sit with and drink neat, and it offers a flavor profile that is far more distinctive than the other two.

Score: 81.38

And Then the Cheapskate Scale Ruined Everything

Well, not ruined exactly.

But it changed the order.

On pure tasting score, the results are pretty straightforward. Middle West wins at 81.38. Jack Daniel’s follows at 78.66. Benchmark comes in third at 74.11.

Then price enters the conversation.

That is where the Cheapskate scale matters, because the point of this exercise isn’t simply to identify the best whiskey. It is to measure how much whiskey you’re getting for the money.

And suddenly Benchmark wins.

Benchmark finishes with a Cheapskate score of 91.75. Jack Daniel’s comes in at 91.71.

That is a difference of four-hundredths of a point.

Middle West, despite being clearly the best whiskey in the tasting, finishes at 88.04.

That doesn’t make Middle West a poor value. Far from it. It simply means $45 has to work harder than $18 or $30. The improvement in quality is real, but the jump in price is larger than the Cheapskate scale is willing to forgive.

And that may be the most useful result of the entire tasting, because all three of these bottles belong on the shelf for different reasons.

Benchmark is the go-to mixer. At $18 and 100 proof, it has enough fruit, spice and backbone to hold up in a cocktail without making you wonder why you just poured expensive whiskey into bitters and sugar.

Jack Daniel’s is the utility player. It can go either way. There is enough going on to sip it neat, especially if you like that unmistakable Jack Daniel’s banana-forward profile, but at $30 for a full liter, there is absolutely no reason to feel guilty about mixing it.

Middle West is the sipper. Its dark fruit, rye bread, butter, chocolate and spice make it easily the most complicated and interesting whiskey here. And while $45 hurts it on the Cheapskate scale, we are still talking about a distinctive sipping rye that can keep you interested without emptying the bank.

So Benchmark wins the Rye Cheapskate.

Barely.

But I’m not sure there’s really a loser.

Benchmark goes into the cocktail. Jack can go into the cocktail or the glass. And when I want to sit down and actually explore the rye in front of me, I’m reaching for the Middle West.

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