Old Overholt 12 Year Cask Strength Rye Whiskey
The Stats
- Distillery: Jim Beam Distillery
- Location: Clermont, Kentucky
- Type: Straight Rye Whiskey
- Age: 12 Years
- Proof: 117 (58.5% ABV)
- Mash Bill: Undisclosed Rye Mash Bill
- Release: 2025 Limited Release
- Price: $110
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Old Overholt has been around long enough to feel baked into American whiskey history. It’s a name that predates trends, predates hype, and predates most of the modern rye resurgence altogether. But the Old Overholt 12 Year Cask Strength Rye doesn’t feel like a nostalgia play. It feels like a statement.
Bottled in 2025 at 117 proof, this is the oldest cask strength Old Overholt released to date. No finishes. No gimmicks. Just long-aged rye, turned up and left to speak for itself. It’s less about reinvention and more about refinement. What happens when a classic rye is given time, patience, and the confidence to stand on its own?
A Historic Rye, Fully Realized
At 12 years old, this rye feels complete in a way younger releases can’t consistently achieve. The extra time in the barrel brings depth without sanding off the rye character. It’s still unmistakably rye-forward, but now layered with maturity, balance, and restraint.
This isn’t Old Overholt chasing relevance.
This is Old Overholt reminding you it never left.
Tasting Notes
Aroma
The nose opens with caramel candy and butterscotch, quickly followed by bright berries and a cooling mint note. There’s a fruity sweetness at the front, almost candied, balanced by classic rye spice and a fresh, minty lift. As it opens up, it leans more rye-forward, with hints of grassy herbs and a clean, almost Four Roses–like high-rye character. Rich, pleasant, and surprisingly restrained for the proof.
Taste
The first sip brings a flash of dusty oak and old rickhouse character before pivoting hard into fruit. Strawberries lead the charge, joined by vanilla, caramel drizzle, and a subtle chocolate-covered berry note. The mid-palate shows its age: toasted oak, gentle dryness, and a structured warmth that feels intentional rather than aggressive. With subsequent sips, the rye character grows, herbal, minty, grassy, adding complexity without overpowering the sweetness.
Finish
The finish is warm, steady, and comforting. Toasted oak, lingering fruit, and rye spice carry through without heat or sharpness. It’s not explosive, but it’s confident, more winter-night pour than palate demolition. The kind of finish that invites another sip instead of demanding a break.
Artfully Bourbon Rating
9 / 10 - Excellent
Old Overholt 12 Year Cask Strength Rye feels like the natural culmination of the line. It brings together the fruit-forward sweetness of the 10-year and the structure of the 11-year, adding a layer of maturity that only time can provide. The balance is the real win here, rich without being heavy, rye-forward without being aggressive, and powerful without drinking hot.
At around $110, this is one of the better values in premium rye right now. It drinks like a finished product, not a concept, and it rewards patience with nuance and depth. For rye fans, heritage whiskey lovers, or anyone who appreciates a bottle that knows exactly what it is, this one earns its place on the shelf.
If you like this, also try: Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye. It hits a similar sweet spot with bold proof, mature structure, and a balance of fruit, oak, and spice, just with a slightly punchier, more barrel-driven edge.
