Old Soul High Rye Bourbon Review

Lee Stang -

BOTTLE DETAILS

  • DISTILLER: A blend of distillate from MGP and from Cathead Distillery.
  • MASH BILL: 75% Corn | 21% Rye | 4% Malted Barley
  • AGE: No Age Statement
  • YEAR: 2021
  • PROOF: 90 Proof (50% ABV)
  • MSRP: $44.99

LEE'S REVIEW

SHARE WITH:  Share with MGP fans, especially those that like this mash bill. Also a great pour for those just getting into bourbon.

WORTH THE PRICE: The price is what you would expect for a bottle from a craft distillery that is blending a sourced bourbon with their own distillate. Would I buy a bottle….?

BOTTLE, BAR OR BUST: I’m on the fence with this one so I would say try it at a bar or the distillery tasting room first. It’s a good bourbon and I bet if I had tried it at the distillery first, I would bring a bottle home.

OVERALL: As the great Yogi Berra once said, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”  Here we have yet another bourbon with this mash bill. I think this may be the fifth I’ve tasted this year. This bourbon by Cathead Distillery is their second release of Old Soul Bourbon. The first I reviewed a couple years ago and it can found here. This release is a blend of MGP bourbon and the same mash bill distilled at Cathead. Unfortunately, the distillery would not disclose the mix of MGP vs their own distillate. There is no age statement on the bottle but on the website, they mention the age at between four and five years. This is an improvement over the first release which included some younger Cathead distillate. At 90 proof however it struck me as somewhat thin with a short finish. I believe a bit more proof and age would really improve this. However, this is an improvement over batch one and certainly worth trying at a bar or the distillery.

BRAND TASTING NOTES

Nose: Sweet notes of vanilla, reminiscent of bakery goods and sugar cookies, with hints of fresh leather.

Taste: Elegant and balanced mouthfeel showing notes of rose and dried cherry followed by toffee and baking spices. Rye spice and herbaceous notes appear mid-palate and into the finish.

Finish: Rich earthy finish led by a lingering rye spice.

CATHEAD DISTILLERY DEBUTS A NEW SMALL BATCH RELEASE OF OLD SOUL BOURBON

The newest product from Mississippi’s oldest distillery hits stores this week

JACKSON, MS (AUGUST 18, 2021) — Today, Cathead Distillery, Mississippi’s first and oldest legal distillery, debuts the brand’s 2021 release of its small batch Old Soul Straight Bourbon Whiskey—a precise blend of two whiskies with an identical high-rye mash bill and aged for four and five years respectively.

Developed by Cathead Co-Founders Richard Patrick and Austin Evans, this year’s Old Soul Bourbon boasts a more mature flavor profile compared to its predecessors and is bottled at 90 proof with a high-rye mash bill of 75% Corn, 21% Rye, and 4% Malted Barley.

With just 88 barrels produced, Cathead’s Old Soul is crafted the old-fashioned way—featuring a hand-selected precise blend of whiskeys distilled in Mississippi and Indiana—with each barrel reviewed by nose and palate. Aged onsite at the Jackson, MS-based distillery, the strong Southern heat and humidity offer an ideal environment for maturation, allowing Old Soul to produce older flavor notes throughout its maturation.

“Adding rare and unique bourbons to our whiskey portfolio continues to be a major focus for us,” said Cathead Co-Founder Richard Patrick. “With a nod to bourbon traditions of the past and future whiskeys to come, we’re thrilled to share this high-rye Old Soul rendition with Cathead loyalists and whiskey fans, alike.”

The 2021 Small Batch release features a deep amber color, with a beautifully balanced aroma of dried fruits, cocoa, and toffee. A gentle entry of pure vanilla leads into undertones of nutty toffee and banana nut muffins mid-palate and finishes with notes of rye spice fresh leather on the nose. Old Soul is best enjoyed on the rocks or stirred up in a classic bourbon cocktail.

With a suggested retail price of $44.95, this new bottle is available for pre-order with nationwide shipping via shop.catheaddistillery.com as well as at select retailers in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas starting this week.

Disclaimer: Cathead Distillery provided Bourbon & Banter with a sample of their product for this review. We appreciate their willingness to allow us to review their products with no strings attached. Thank you.