Angel’s Envy’s New Cellar Collection Rye Is Great

Welcome to Taste Test, where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review.

What’s the best course of action for a distillery to take after releasing a whiskey that turns out to be… not so good? How about releasing another one that will, hopefully, reverse course and right the wrong. That’s exactly what Angel’s Envy did, because its new Cellar Collection rye whiskey finished in peach brandy and toasted oak barrels is a success—particularly when compared to its recent Distillery Series bourbon, which was, simply put, not great.

Of course, all of this is entirely subjective, but that’s the name of the game when it comes to whiskey. Do I believe the positive reviews I have read concerning that last bourbon finished in stout beer and amburana barrels? Or do I think there might be some self-styled whiskey influencers out there who just want to make sure they are not cut off from their sample supply? That latter view feels pretty jaded (although maybe true), and as I said before, one person’s unicorn is another person’s sink pour. My zeal for this new rye whiskey finished in toasted oak and peach brandy barrels might be in complete contrast to someone else’s opinion of it, and perhaps I’m swinging to the other side of the spectrum based on my distaste for that last release.

But enough with the meta-analysis, let’s discuss what this whiskey actually is. Master distiller Owen Martin selected rye whiskeys aged between eight and 11 years, and finished some of them for 15 to 23 months in peach brandy barrels, and some of which for six to 12 months in toasted oak. The final blend was bottled at 106.4 proof (53.2 percent ABV). This is a really good addition to the Cellar Collection, a series that I’ve enjoyed over the years—Volume 5 was an excellent blend of rye whiskeys finished in Patron tequila barrels, while Volume 3 gave some well-aged bourbon a finish in Madeira casks.

Volume 6 is really all about those peach brandy barrels, which have really taken pole position on the palate. It makes much more sense to use that specific finish on a rye than a bourbon, because the former style has spice notes that offer some counterbalance to the fruity sweetness picked up during the secondary maturation. I’m not sure exactly how the toasted oak fits in here—maybe my palate is just not sensitive enough to pick that up—but I trust that Martin had some reason to add that to the mix. This is a sweet and fruity whiskey, but not too sweet and fruity. Overall, look for notes of peach, black pepper, vanilla milkshake, oak, dried apricot, cinnamon, and nutmeg as you sip, with a lingering warmth on the finish at a medium-high proof.

Cellar Collection Volume 6 is an expensive bottle with a $200 price tag, but currently it seems to be available for close to that on the secondary market—so if you find one, grab it. Not every Angel’s Envy experimental cask-finish release is going to be a winner, but I hope the distillery keeps taking chances like this. Because when it works, it really works.

Score: 91