Bourbon Pursuit is one of the most established names in contemporary bourbon journalism. Hosted by Kenny Coleman, Ryan Cecil, and Fred Minnick, Bourbon Pursuit is the self-proclaimed “official podcast of bourbon”. They provide weekly episodes every Thursday, including Whiskey Quickie reviews on Tuesdays and recent news on Fridays through This Week in Bourbon. Their podcast is available for listening on multiple platforms, including Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google, Pandora, Amazon, YouTube, and many more. Several publications have also featured Bourbon Pursuit, such as Rolling Stone, Esquire, Forbes, Gear Patrol, and Whiskey Advocate.

Bourbon Pursuit is such a well-respected name in the bourbon industry that Ryan and Kenny have selected numerous barrel picks spanning multiple producers. Although they have a paid barrel pick program, many of these picks are available to the public on Keg N Bottle. With so much reach and experience, it’s of little surprise that they’ve started their own whiskey brand. Rather than going for the “Bourbon Pursuit distillery” approach, Ryan and Kenny decided to assume the non-distilling producer (NDP) role by releasing their own blends and single barrels. Thus, Pursuit Spirits came to be.

Pursuit Spirits consists of two sub-brands, Pursuit Series single barrels and Pursuit United blends. The blends are currently more popular thanks to their greater availability and distribution. Pursuit United hit the market with a bourbon and rye, both of which are regularly available on Seelbach’s if not sold in your area. The rye, which I’m covering today, contains a blend of rye whiskeys from Kentucky and Maryland. The Kentucky portion (95% rye, 5% malted barley) comes from Bardstown Bourbon Company while the Maryland share is a combination of high-rye (95% rye, 5% malted barley) and low-rye (52% rye, 43% corn, 5% malted barley) sourced from Sagamore Spirit. Exact portions are undisclosed.

Pursuit United Rye’s bottling strength is 54% ABV and retails for $65. I tried it through a sample from a fellow whiskey fan.

Nose: A touch floral with light citrus, brown sugar, and mild baking spice. Hints of fresh cracked pepper, too. Lightly tropical dried fruits, thinking green apple, unripe banana, and a whisper of clove. After sipping, light brown sugar and creamy vanilla notes move to the top. The rye notes aren’t particularly strong, making me think the low-rye Sagamore might be acting as the base.

Palate: The rye is more telling upfront than the nose, bringing an initial pop of lemon, black pepper, and green apple, but it soon mellows out into a slightly more bourbon-adjacent profile. Mid-palate sees a dark honey flavor creep in before toasted oak sets the finish up.

Finish: Medium overall. Light brown sugar, banana cream, and toasted oak. Some lingering vanilla and lemon elevated by a lengthy combination of oaky warmth and mild spice.

What struck me the most while sipping Pursuit United Rye was how similar it drank to lower-rye rye whiskeys. Looking at the mashbills, I suspected the whiskey to taste closer to something like New Riff Rye, considering a more-or-less equal blend of the mashbills effectively translates to less than 20% corn. So now I’m wondering if the low-rye Maryland portion is acting as the blend’s base while the high-rye whiskeys play supporting roles.

Pursuit United Rye is a well-crafted product with a familiar personality, one that feels like it’s trying to ride the line between low-rye and high-rye in hopes of satisfying fans of both. Although I suspect proponents of barely-legal ryes will enjoy it the most, there’s ample appreciation to go around. It doesn’t veer too far in any particular direction, which means Pursuit United Rye could be a great option for warming bourbon fans up to whiskeys with a bit more rye influence than the likes of Rittenhouse, Sazerac, or Elijah Craig Rye. I wouldn’t call it a must-have or must-try, but I’d happily accept a pour if offered.