Frey Ranch Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Frey Ranch Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottle. Image courtesy of Frey Ranch Distillery.
If you take a jump down to the “Specs” section, you’ll notice that this is a four-grain bourbon. There’s nothing too out-there about that, except for one thing: my first taste of Frey Ranch was a three-grain bourbon, a single barrel picked by Lost Lantern.
Why the two mashbills? Well, you’ll have to take a listen to my episode with Colby and Ashley Frey of Frey Ranch Distillery on the Whiskey Ring Podcast.
I don’t mean to skimp on the description - it’s just that the three-grain bourbon is no longer available, so I don’t want to tease you too badly on it.
The four-grain is no less special, though. Made from a singular mashbill from grains grown on Frey Ranch’s land, this bourbon is one that showcases the grain in all the right ways. Some “craft” bourbons - and yes, Frey Ranch still counts as craft - can be grainy in a bad way, carrying raw grain flavor or a yeasty flavor more reminiscent of brewed beer than distillate.
Frey Ranch’s Straight Bourbon Whiskey has none of those. The grains - non-GMO corn, winter rye, white winter wheat, and two-row malted barley - are grown on the farm by Colby and Ashley, Colby being the latest Frey family member to join the 165-year-old farming tradition in the Lake Tahoe/Fallon, Nevada area.
The area is naturally irrigated by two separate lines off the lake, bringing nutrient-rich soil. The land is treated like a family member - take care of the land and it will take care of you. After 165 years, the Freys know how to keep their land fruitful and producing, and produce it does.
In drinking this alongside their Frey Ranch Bottled-in-Bond Rye and the Quad Malt Bourbon, the differences in the grains become clearer. The mint and deep dark black licorice notes in the rye are here, subtle but clear. Sweet caramels alongside wild strawberries from the wheat pair well with a tobacco and popcorn profile from the corn, all buttressed with a solid body provided by the barley.
If there’s any room for improvement here without negatively impacting the grain’s presentation, I would say a slightly higher proof, closer to the BIB or ~100º; for now, though, it sits as a great grain-to-glass bourbon that represents the Frey Ranch ethos quite well. An easy buy for a fully farm-grown bourbon at $50.
They’re still - according to the Freys themselves - not in the black on the distilling side, but they’re getting close. They wanted to create a bourbon that was at least four years old at the outset (yes, I asked what they would have done had it been good earlier, and they were convincing that while it was good it got better) and that they could malt in-house, another rarity in bourbon (seriously, fewer than a dozen distilleries malt in-house).
They mill as small as they can to maximize grain surface area with a small hammer mill. They use champagne yeast for alcohol production with undisclosed other yeasts for certain flavors they’re targeting. Alfalfa planted between grain cycles reinvigorates the soil as legumes/nitrogen fixers that aerate the soil and provide an alternative revenue source. Sustainability isn’t a “focus,” per se; it’s just part of farming the right way - use common sense, go with what works, and, when in doubt, go back to your grandfather’s 5-year journal that recorded year-over-year changes down to the day.
The Freys are doing it right - and if you need any more proof, check out the lines that form when a new or limited release comes out. Or, like I did, wait to buy a wheat whiskey release (it sold out in four minutes when they expected it to last a few days). That kind of fan devotion doesn’t happen for the everyday, and Frey Ranch certainly isn’t your everyday farm-to-glass distillery.
Frey Ranch Straight Bourbon Whiskey: Specs
Classification: Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Origin: Frey Ranch Distillery
Mashbill: 66.6% Corn, 12% Malted Barley, 11.4% Winter Rye, 10% Soft Winter Wheat
Proof: 90 (45% ABV)
Age: 5+ Years Old
Location: Nevada
Frey Ranch Straight Bourbon Whiskey Price: $50.00
Frey Ranch Straight Bourbon Whiskey: Tasting Notes
Eye: Brewed black tea. Thin rims and large drops falling.
Nose: Grain-forward in a good way, sweet and earthy with the positive scents of a farm. Corn and wheat are sweet and smooth, the barley flavors light and more towards the toasted side. Rye mint and sage are hanging out in the back.
Palate: Astringent at first, a nutty caramel tuile coated with popcorn. Caramel wafers with a growing but controlled proof across the tongue. Mouthfeel is tobacco and leather-heavy with some fruit leather, drying while remaining silky and on the thin-side of medium. Smoky char at the end.
Finish: Medium length, tobacco and popcorn-heavy, coating and drying, with dried strawberries.
Overall: Certainly showcases the grain through and through in a great way, with less oak than I expected for a 5-6-year-old bourbon. I think a slightly higher proof would benefit the overall mouthfeel and length, but otherwise this is a decidedly great grain-to-glass bourbon that will be enjoyed by many.
Final Rating: 6.8
10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close
9 | Incredible | Extraordinary
8 | Excellent | Exceptional
7 | Great | Well above average
6 | Very Good | Better than average
5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary
4 | Has promise but needs work
1-3 | Let’s have a conversation
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