Kings County Distillery has been one of the most exciting operations coming out of New York's craft whiskey scene, and their Empire Rye Cask Strength is exactly the kind of bottle that makes me pay attention. At 60.6% ABV, this is not a whisky that's trying to be polite — it's a full-volume statement from a distillery that clearly has confidence in what's coming off their stills.
Empire Rye is a designation specific to New York State, requiring at least 75% New York-grown rye grain in the mashbill. That matters. It's not just a marketing label — it ties the spirit to a specific terroir and agricultural supply chain, much the same way Straight Bourbon has its own legal framework. When you pick up a bottle labelled Empire Rye, you're drinking something with genuine provenance, and at cask strength, there's nowhere to hide. Every decision made in production — grain selection, fermentation, distillation cut points, barrel entry proof, warehouse conditions — is right there in the glass, unfiltered and undiluted.
At 60.6%, the barrel entry proof and maturation choices become critically important. A higher entry proof means the spirit interacts with the wood differently, pulling more vanillins and tannins early on. The fact that Kings County has released this without an age statement tells me they're bottling based on taste rather than a number on the label, which I respect. NAS gets a bad reputation, but in craft distilling it often means the distiller is selecting barrels at their peak rather than waiting for an arbitrary birthday.
Tasting Notes
I'll be honest — I want to let you discover this one for yourself. What I will say is that cask strength rye at this proof level tends to reward patience. Add water in small drops. Let it open up over ten or fifteen minutes. The experience at first pour versus twenty minutes later can be dramatically different, and that's part of the fun with bottles like this.
The Verdict
At £130, you're paying a premium, but you're also getting a cask strength whisky from a craft distillery with genuine New York credentials. The Empire Rye designation means something — it's not just rye whiskey that happens to be made in New York, it's rye whiskey made predominantly from New York grain. That agricultural commitment costs money, and it shows in the price. For what you're getting — an uncut, unfiltered, full-proof expression with real regional identity — I think the price is fair. Not a bargain, but fair. This is a bottle for someone who wants to understand what American craft rye can be when a distillery stops chasing volume and starts chasing quality. I'm giving it a 7.8 out of 10. It's a genuinely rewarding pour that earns its place on a shelf of serious rye whiskeys.
Best Served
Pour it neat first — you owe it that much at cask strength. Then try it with a few drops of water to see how the profile shifts. Once you've got a feel for it, this is a phenomenal base for a Manhattan. The high proof means it won't get lost behind the vermouth, and that rye backbone will cut through the sweetness beautifully. Use a 2:1 ratio, a quality sweet vermouth like Cocchi di Torino, and a couple of dashes of Angostura. Stir it properly — thirty seconds minimum — and strain it into a chilled coupe. Trust me on this one.
