Review: Smokeye Hill Barrel Proof Rye 5 Years Old

Smokeye Hill is a Colorado-based producer that made a semi-viral splash in 2024 with their barrel proof bourbon with blue corn in the mashbill. I was personally and pleasantly surprised at that release’s quality, and it holds up as one of the more captivating new bourbons I tasted last year. (We also thought their 93 proof version was an engaging, if polarizing, pour.) In October 2025, the company announced their first rye whiskey, which also features a four-grain mashbill and a blue corn component — and something of a head-scratcher in the labeling department.

First, let’s outline the stats. Smokeye Hill Barrel Proof Rye comes from a “proprietary four-grain mashbill of rye, blue corn, yellow corn, and malted barley.” It’s contract distilled in Indiana (one might guess at Ross & Squibb, formerly MGP), then barreled and aged in Colorado Springs, at around 6,100 feet of elevation. This expression was aged for five years in 30 gallon American oak casks across a combination of numbers 2, 3, and 4 char levels. Barrel proofs vary batch to batch across a fairly tight range from 131.2 to 131.7. (We reviewed this at 131.2.) The inaugural release comprises fewer than 1,400 cases.

That’s all straightforward enough, if a little unconventional. (Hooray for something new!) But when it comes to how to categorize this whiskey, things get a little puzzling. According to Smokeye Hill Founder Blake Johns, “a percentage of our flagship bourbon is blended in, ensuring that the signature Smokeye Hill profile shines through.”

Since it contains a component that’s not a straight rye whiskey, that would make this product a blended rye whiskey. On their website, Smokeye’s rye is referred to as “Smokeye Hill Barrel Proof Blended Rye Whiskey.” But on the packaging we received (and the label depicted in Smokeye Hill marketing materials), the product is clearly labeled a “Straight Rye Whiskey” — a designation the inclusion of even a little bourbon in the blend should preclude. Mislabelings aren’t particularly uncommon in American whiskey, and it’s not unheard of for approvals to slip through governmental cracks. But it’s an interesting (if relatively low stakes) quandary worth calling out.

We’ll set that aside for the time being and get to our review. Let’s see how it tastes.

Smokeye Hill Barrel Proof Rye 5 Years Old Review

The nose kicks off with a hefty amount of spice, along with pine sap, pipe tobacco, and dried cedar planks. There’s a nearly intense tannic quality, but it never quite tips over into varnish or tanned leather. That morphs into very dark, nearly burnt caramel. Brandy soaked (and then flambéed) figgy pudding rounds out the nose, a holiday confection that’s been torched with residual charred fruit sugar and ethanol. Grilled apple and peach slices round things out a bit, but the nose always maintains an edge of unbridled character.

The first sip is mostly dark, borderline-charred caramel — sweet and toasty, but not a ton else. Things really expand on a second taste, bringing a variety of dried fruit slices — from papaya and apple to pear and fig — along with a light dusting of zested lemon. After a few sips, that spice once again takes center stage, evoking allspice and Szechuan peppercorns for a mildly numbing sensation just after that fruit. Heavily spiced cinnamon apple butter builds here and remains dominant through to the finish.

A viscous mouthfeel really shows its stripes at the end, with sweetness like syrupy sun tea, sweet tobacco, and old apple brandy. Lingering oak tannins hit forcefully here, likely owing to some combination of the smaller cask sizes, variety of char levels, and maturation above 6,000 feet. It’s at this juncture the oak helps this rye really drink beyond its age, though at the same time, there’s a small element of young, dried wood staves it never quite shakes. That gives it a small amount of craft-like funk that some drinkers might not love. But frankly, I enjoyed this — classification mysteries aside.

131.2 proof as reviewed.

A- / $90

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