Review: Pinhook Collaboration Series No. 4 Cask Strength Rye 2025 and Vertical Series Bourbon 10 Years Old 2025

Pinhook is one of those distilleries (a la Barrell) that has so many iterations on so many expressions that it’s difficult to keep up with them all. Today we’re checking in with two offerings from the busy blender, including its latest Collaboration Series offering and our first encounter with its Vertical Series Bourbon.

Pinhook Collaboration Series No. 4 Cask Strength Rye 6 Years Old 2025 Review

While the previous Pinhook Collaboration was an exotic single malt from Australia, No. 4 is a little more straightforward, a 6 year old rye (60% rye, 20% corn, 20% malted barley) distilled at Castle & Key, selected in collaboration with New Orleans-based bartender and writer Neal Bodenheimer. The barrels were blended live at the 2025 Tales of the Cocktail (though somehow I missed the event). Purchases support the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation and the bartending community to the tune of $5 for each bottle sold; 2000 bottles produced.

This rye showcases a rather mild nose, with a good mix of grassy, herbaceous elements and sweeter baking spices as complements. A buttery toffee note rounds things out, laced with vanilla. On the palate, the grassier side of the rye is more on display, with hints of fresh fennel up front. Cloves and allspice offer a respite from that in short order, with a midpalate that approaches baked apples and carrot cake. The finish is on the gritty, earthy side, as some muddier elements become dominant. The conclusion evokes flavors of graphite and a stronger clove character, meandering its way toward cigar tobacco and a reprise of well-dried grasses.

On its own the whiskey didn’t always thrill me, but if the goal was to create a bartender-friendly cask strength rye that would work in cocktails, I’d say it’s a job fairly well done.

121.9 proof. B+ / $80

Pinhook Vertical Series Straight Bourbon 10 Years Old 2025 Review

This is not to be confused with the Tiz Rye Time Vertical Series — which is rye, of course. This Vertical Series is from the bourbon Vertical Series, which we have somehow not reviewed to date. The idea’s the same: to watch what happens to barrels as they age, with releases of the same stock occurring on an annual basis until the whiskey runs out.

So, let’s dive in right at the middle, I guess, with a 10 year old released that is the 7th of 13 planned whiskeys to be released, one each year. All are MGP stock with similar fill dates and identical mashbills (75% corn, 20.5% rye, 4.5% malted barley), pulled from 1350 total barrels that were acquired years ago.

This 10 year old showcases a fairly sweet nose, heavy with notes of toasted corn with brown butter — later evoking more of a butterscotch quality. Things quickly get a bit dusty with notes of rosemary and sage as the nose develops, the rye (and time in barrel) perhaps doing more than their share of heavy lifting. The palate lands between the two worlds, with a grassy character that moves toward tobacco, then on to toasted rye bread. Quite restrained up top. Clove and cinnamon spices perk up after the more savory rush fades, with the finish returning to that well-browned butter, flecked with cinnamon.

At 10 years old, this whiskey is already starting to feel well-aged and a bit austere, to the point where I would question whether it’s ready to age for another year, much less six more years. Not that I’m not game to find out how it all goes.

115.9 proof. B / $90

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