Credit: Beam
Old Overholt 11 Year Old Rye is a rye whiskey produced by James B. Beam Distilling Co. and is part of the company’s Old Overholt brand family. It was released to commemorate the brand’s 210th anniversary in 2020 as a special release exclusive to Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The rye was distilled in 2009, and aged in Beam’s Warehouse E, which is located in the center of the distillery’s Clermont, KY campus. It is limited to a 50-barrel batch, and is non-chill filtered before being bottled at 92.6 proof.
It uses the distillery’s Kentucky-style rye recipe despite the brand’s ties to Monongahela, or Pennsylvania, style ryes. Beam doesn’t disclose the exact mashbill but it uses the same recipe shared by Knob Creek Rye and Jim Beam Rye, both of which are estimated to use 51% rye, 35% corn and 14% malted barley. By contrast, traditional Monongahela mashbills use a very high rye content and no corn.
Old Overholt is one of the oldest continuously-produced brands of whiskeys and traces its history back to the early 1800s. In 1810, Abraham Overholt began managing his family’s rye whiskey distillery in Western Pennsylvania, and although the brand has changed ownership several times over the years, it has been continuously produced ever since.
Reviews
Arriving in familiar packaging, Old Overholt 11 Year Rye doesn’t take advantage of its impressive statement, yet is an easy sipping rye that unfortunately will only be available to a select few.
Overall I found this to be a fantastic rye whiskey and one that I never thought could come out of Beam’s stocks.
