Review: Rabbit Hole Amrule Rye

Rabbit Hole‘s latest limited edition is called Amrûlé, the latter part of the name a reference to the maple brûlé barrels in which Boxergrail four year old sour mash rye whiskey is finished. What is maple brûlé? I had to look that one up: It’s a maple syrup barrel that’s been emptied and torched, creme brulee-style, to caramelize the remaining sugar inside. The whiskey spends an extra 9 months in this bruleed barrel before bottling at 52.2% abv.

“Amrûlé is my exploration of what happens when fire meets sweetness, when rye’s bold spirit encounters the quiet poetry of maple. It’s my effort to push boundaries without breaking faith with the craft. In those maple brûlé barrels, I found a new way to tell rye’s story, one that’s darker, richer, and deeply personal,” said Kaveh Zamanian, Founder of Rabbit Hole.

Rabbit Hole Amrule Rye Review

When maple syrup touches anything, the impact can be massive, and that’s entirely the case here. The nose doesn’t overwhelm with sweetness, but it makes a big impact, quieting the underlying whiskey — char, rye spices, gentle roasted peanut shell — though they all manage to sneak into the nostrils in one way or another. Time in glass evokes a lightly leathery character, evoking aged syrup or an earthier style of honey.

The sweetness that is more moderated on the nose is all but blown out on the palate, where a rush of Sunday morning pancakes straight up slaps you in the face. Warming, comforting even, the whiskey quickly settles into a groove of bright red fruit, thick with strawberry and cherry, that’s layered with vanilla, caramel sauce, and plenty of maple syrup with crushed pecans. The spice cabinet soon comes out for this one, reaching a crescendo on a finish that mixes up fruit, cinnamon, maraschino cherries, and gingerbread cookies. If ever a whiskey felt like something that from an ice cream shop, this is it.

As an avowed sweet tooth drinker, I love it. I can easily see how fans of more savory spirits may feel quite the opposite — especially considering this started out as a racy 95/5 rye.

104.4 proof.

A- / $84

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