Military Rye Review: Six and Twenty Heirloom Rye

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History – Six and Twenty Heirloom Rye. Six & Twenty Distillery, located just outside of Greenville, South Carolina, is a veteran-owned business founded in 2011 by David Raad and Farmer Redmond. The pair met at Clemson University where they played rugby together. Before starting Six & Twenty Distillery with David Raad, Mr. Redmond’s primary claim to fame was that he is a descendent of infamous South Carolina Moonshiner, Major Lewis Redmond. Mr. Raad recognized a need for homegrown, high quality spirits in South Carolina, so he teamed up with his former teammate to try and provide exactly that to the Greenville area.

Six & Twenty Distillery gets its name from the 1700’s legend of a Choctaw Indian maiden named Issaqueena, who fell for Englishman Alan Francis. Eventually, Issaqueena was captured by the Cherokee and overheard a plan by the tribe to overtake Francis’ trading post. Legend has it that, in an effort to warn Francis, Issaqueena made a daring escape on horseback. Along her ride, she would name landmarks to help identify them. One of those landmarks was the Six & Twenty Creek, located near the present day distillery, and was named because it was located about twenty six miles from the Cherokee village.” (Source: Greenville Online)

“In 2020, David Raad would attend the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV) Accelerate Program. This program assists veterans in identifying areas within their business that need tweaking, in an effort to achieve a more sustainable growth. As a result of his involvement in this program, Mr. Raad was invited to Dallas, Texas to participate in the Institute of Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) Veteran EDGE Conference. At the end of the conference, after competing in the Accelerate Challenge, Raad was awarded the Disabled American Veterans’ Arthur H. and Mary E. Wilson Top Venture Impacting Veterans Award and its accompanying $10,000 prize.” (Source: Upstate Business Journal.com)

Six and Twenty Heirloom Rye Whiskey is unique due to its use of the Seashore Heirloom Black Rye Grain grown in South Carolina.

Value – It’s a little pricey, but it’s so unique that the price doesn’t bother you. There is honestly nothing in the rye whiskey market that tastes like this. It’s truly unique.

Appearance – Copper in color and has the typical Six and Twenty short and wide bottle shape. I actually really enjoy their bottles. It comes with a corked top and has a very large label. Nothing to complain about here.

Nose – Unique Rye Grain / Low Alcohol Fumes / Butterscotch / Caramel The nose is very unique. You’ll notice that the heirloom rye is so genuinely unique that it will change your mind about rye whiskey. It presents a possibility that the rye grain can give such different flavors based on the plant variety itself. Along with the rye, there is a very low amount of alcohol fumes, which is great. I also found notes of sweet butterscotch and burnt caramel. All of these notes were just wonderful.

Palate – Sweet / Smooth / Rye Grain / Pepper. Right away, you’ll notice how full bodied this rye is. It’s rich and thick, exactly what you want in a pour. It has a smooth butteriness to it that coats your tongue while applying a low heat level that leaves a pleasant, sweet rye grain note as you swallow. I also noticed a strange peppery note that comes at the back of the palate. All around, very unique.

Finish – Dry / Sweet / Lingering Oak. This finish doesn’t disappoint. It’s dry, which is typical of a rye whiskey. It has a low heat level that leaves you with a lingering oak and rye grain note. It retains its sweetness to the end, but turns into a very long and lingering oak finish. It’s great except for how long it is. Other than that, no complaints. 

Summary – I think that this rye is wonderful. It really shocks you at first because of how different the heirloom rye grain is, but after the initial shock, you keep sipping and love it. This is one of my favorite new ryes just based on its uniqueness. It’s full bodied and packed with smells and flavors. I think this is a fine product and everyone should experience this.

Uniqueness – 1-10 – 10

Appearance- 1-10 – 8

Nose- 1-20 – 14

Palate- 1-20 – 16

Finish- 1-20 – 14

Value- 1-20 – 15