I'll be honest — when someone hands me an English rye finished in Chardonnay casks, my first instinct is curiosity, not scepticism. East London Liquor Co has been one of the more interesting operations coming out of the English craft whisky scene, and this 2018 vintage rye bottled at cask strength tells me they're not interested in playing it safe. At 57.6% ABV and a price tag of £76.50, this is a bottle that asks you to pay attention.
Let's talk about what makes this unusual. Rye whisky production in England is still a genuine rarity. Most English distilleries lean toward single malt or grain whisky, so the fact that East London Liquor Co committed to a rye mashbill says something about their ambitions. Then there's the Chardonnay cask finish — white wine casks tend to impart a lighter, more delicate influence than your typical sherry or bourbon barrel. You're not going to get that heavy dried fruit or vanilla sledgehammer here. Instead, expect something that leans toward orchard fruit, gentle spice, and a certain brightness that rye grain delivers naturally.
The cask strength bottling is the right call. At 57.6%, nothing has been diluted or smoothed out for mass appeal. This is the whisky as the distillers tasted it from the barrel, and that kind of transparency is what I want from a craft producer. Add water a few drops at a time if you like — it'll open up — but try it neat first. You owe it to yourself to experience what that proof delivers before you start tinkering.
Tasting Notes
I don't have detailed tasting notes broken down for this particular bottling, so I won't fabricate them. What I can tell you is that rye grain at cask strength typically brings peppery heat, a certain dryness on the mid-palate, and a spice-forward character that sets it apart from malt whisky. The Chardonnay cask influence should temper that with softer, fruitier notes — think stone fruit, a touch of honey, maybe some floral quality. The interplay between assertive rye spice and gentle wine cask is what makes this bottling worth exploring.
The Verdict
At £76.50, this sits in that interesting middle ground — not cheap enough to be an impulse buy, not expensive enough to feel like a collector's piece. For what you're getting — a cask strength English rye with an unconventional finish — I think it's fair value. The English whisky category is still establishing itself, and bottles like this are the ones that will define what that category becomes. East London Liquor Co is making choices here, not just following a playbook, and that's exactly what I want from a craft distillery. I'm giving this a 7.8 out of 10. It's a genuinely interesting whisky that rewards curiosity, and it earns its place on a shelf that probably already has too many bourbons on it.
Best Served
Try this in a Manhattan. The rye spice is built for it, and the Chardonnay cask's softer fruit notes will play beautifully against sweet vermouth. Use a 2:1 ratio — two parts whisky, one part sweet vermouth — a couple dashes of Angostura, and stir it properly over ice for a good 30 seconds. Given the cask strength, the whisky won't get lost in the mix the way a 40% bottling might. If cocktails aren't your thing, pour it neat in a Glencairn with three or four drops of water and give it ten minutes to breathe. This isn't a whisky that reveals everything on the first sip.
