Latitude Beverage Announces Wheel Horse Rye Whiskey

Latitude Beverage, best known for their 90+ Cellars brand of wine, has announced their newest alcohol brand called Wheel Horse Rye. This new rye was produced at the O.Z. Tyler distillery (Formerly the Green River Distillery) and is the first aged rye to debut since the reopening in 2016.

Terry Lozoff, Latitude Beverage's VP of Marketing and Spirits Director states:

America has seen a resurgence of rye whiskey over the past decade, and there's no end in sight to its impressive growth. We are excited to enter this category, and even more excited to be doing so in partnership with O.Z. Tyler; a distillery with roots dating back to the late 1800s, and that once produced whiskeys for historic brands like Ezra Brooks, Green River and Old Medley. We are proud that Wheel Horse is the first aged rye to come out of the fully restored O.Z. Tyler.

This new whiskey has a mash bill of 95% rye and 5% malted barley and comes bottled at 101 proof (50.5% alcohol). It was aged between 2 and 3 years and comes with an MSRP of $27.99 for a 750ml bottle. Wheel Horse Rye will be available starting this month throughout the Northeast as well as in Colorado, California, and Illinois

My Take

I'm all for new kinds of whiskey and bourbon and this has as good a shot as any other 2-3 year rye. This is one of the neat things about the explosion of bourbon is the ability of places like O.Z. Tyler and Bardstown Bourbon Co. that have the ability to source and store new brands and experimental mash bills at their facilities. It's the dream of all hardcore bourbon fans to create their own blend and have it mature in real Kentucky rickhouses.

As for Wheel Horse Rye, unfortunately, Ohio isn't on the road-map for this one so there isn't much to get excited about. I like that it's a high rye mash bill with a general age statement... even if it's only 2-3 years... at least the consumer knows what they are getting. I also like the price at $27.99. This is reasonable to try out a new brand. Hopefully, this will one day make it to Ohio.

If you see this out and about or give it a try, drop a note in the comments below with your thoughts.


Source: Latitude Beverage Company