RUBICON RYE
Late 2023 batchMASH BILL – 100% rye
PROOF – 96
AGE – 6+ years
DISTILLERY – Dry Diggings Distillery
PRICE – $80
TOM’S FOOLERY BiB RYE
Single Barrel #420 selected by K&L (2023)MASH BILL – 70% rye, 30% malted rye
PROOF – 100
AGE – 8 years 7 months
DISTILLERY – Tom’s Foolery
PRICE – $66
Dry Diggings and Tom’s Foolery are two craft distilleries I follow with enthusiasm. They are in very different parts in the country—California and Ohio. But they share a certain integrity and modesty of scale. They’re tiny, family-run operations dedicated to making high quality whiskeys in quantities you can wrap your arms around.
I’ve always been a big believer in the impact of scale. Large scale distilleries can be more economically efficient, and produce good quality whiskey. But surely something is lost along the lengthy pipes, amongst the red tape, and between the international corporate handshakes. Smaller scale operations remain closer to the ground, and can better guarantee that “hand crafted” is not just marketing but the literal truth. And they can afford to put out more one-offs and experiments. Generally their prices must be higher, lacking the volume of mass production to bring costs down per bottle. So as consumers we’re paying for a certain process and a barrel-by-barrel level of attention, which often yields unique and idiosyncratic results.
That idiosyncrasy is also something Dry Diggings and Tom’s Foolery share. The Rubicon Rye can vary substantially from batch to batch in terms of age, how many barrels are included, how exactly the barrels are charred and toasted. And Tom’s Foolery switches up its mash bills constantly, drawing from grains grown on their own and neighboring farms. With literally a handful of hands touching each product from distillation to bottling, Dry Diggings and Tom’s Foolery whiskeys carry a distinctly personal touch.
So here we are, two weeks after uncorking the Rubicon and three pours into the bottle, and three weeks after uncorking the Tom’s Foolery and also three pours into the bottle. First I’ll taste them separately, and then side by side. These notes were taken using traditional Glencairns.
RUBICON
COLOR – medium-dark amber oranges; and if fire can be a syrup, that too…NOSE – rye spice, malt, faint cherry and baked apricot
TASTE – sweet syrupy cherry and caramel, rye spice and malt
FINISH – syrupy cherry, malt, dried rye grasses and seeds
OVERALL – there’s a late-summer burnt quality to everything, with the cherry, rye and malt notes nicely balanced
I’m struck most here by the balance of sweet and dry notes, with the fruits on one side and the rye and malt on the other. The last Rubicon Rye batches I had were older by roughly two years, and, though they shared similar notes as the current bottle, leaned drier, with more pine and maple in the mix. This bottle reminds me a bit more of the earlier, younger batches, where the cherry notes were much stronger. Though not as cherry forward as those, this 2023 batch strikes a nice balance. And it’s definitely a malt fan’s rye.
TOM’S FOOLERY
COLOR – medium amber oranges, with brassy highlightsNOSE – malt, dry grassy rye spice, bread loaf crust, dry dark chocolate
TASTE – both dry and syrupy, like a rye-malt syrup, the chocolate a bit milkier now and more prominent
FINISH – chocolate, malt, faint rye spice
OVERALL – arid and yet sweet, the rye and malt grounded in an easygoing flow of chocolate notes
Definitely a malt fan’s rye. I searched and searched for fruit notes and couldn’t find them. My mind tried to bend the truth and pull out some cherry. But no, the sweetness comes from oak and chocolate, which have very different impacts than fruit notes. This is dessert, but savory, sedate, and serious. I can imagine it making a good Black Manhattan, with the arid and chocolatey rye whiskey complimenting the rich herbal bitterness of the amaro.
Looking at them side by side, the difference in color is apparent. Interesting that the younger Rubicon reads darker. Perhaps it’s that intense Northern California heat, ripping color out of the barrel.
On the nose, each punches up the dominant qualities of the other. The Rubicon’s caramel, cherry, and now also maple, emerge quite readily; while the Tom’s Foolery seems even drier than before, its malt melding with dry oak wood notes.
On the taste, these distinctions continue. The Tom’s Foolery now shows its sweet side again, still steeped in chocolate and cream. The Rubicon is more complex by comparison, offering candy, fruit, syrup, and spice notes in one wave.
If I had to choose one to take with me camping, likely I’d go with the Rubicon. I like them both. The Tom’s Foolery is more challenging, with its strong emphasis on malt. It compels me to experiment with it in cocktails—which is not at all a pejorative. This Tom’s Foolery Rye offers interesting flavors to play with. The Rubicon will of course also serve cocktails well, without a doubt. But I’d say it’s complex without being so challenging.
This word, “challenging,” is often used as a mask for the more controversial “difficult.” In contemporary politesse, we are conditioned to avoid describing a person as “difficult.” So we say “challenging” instead, which suggests the opportunity we have to rise to the challenge and see what we can do. I’ll admit to being annoyed when people say “challenging” when really they mean “difficult.” Just be honest.
And here, I am being honest. I fully accept the challenge Tom’s Foolery offers me in this bottled in bond, single barrel rye whiskey. I can also imagine some drinkers finding the Rubicon challenging, maybe even difficult. One must appreciate the drier areas of whiskey—malt, chocolate, rye spice—in order to enjoy either of these bottles. Luckily I do. I grew up in the arid climate of California’s Sierra Nevada Foothills, and find it beautiful and fragrant. So these whiskeys appeal to a particular aspect of my life’s experience. Maybe they will appeal to you as well, whether as a familiarity or change of scenery.
Cheers!
Five O’clock Somewhere
So I went ahead and tried the Tom’s Foolery in a Black Manhattan. My hunch was correct. It was excellent. Not too sweet, not too dry, very syrupy and desserty without cloying. A rich, calm, chocolatey cocktail. Perfectly balanced. I highly recommend it.
And if you don’t have access to a Tom’s Foolery Rye, go for another drier and maltier rye option, like Rubicon, Old Potrero, Laws or Leopold Bros.
The recipe I used was this:
- 2oz Tom’s Foolery Rye
- 1oz Lucano Anniversario Amaro
- 1 dash Angostura bitters
- 1 dash Regan’s orange bitters
- Stirred on ice and served up in a chilled coupe
- Garnished with a Luxardo cherry
The Right Spirit 