Silver Springs Sweet Rye (Single Barrel)

Silver Springs Sweet Rye is a cask-strength single-barrel rye from Deep Spring Distillery in Chattanooga, Tennessee, built around a mash bill that balances rye with a higher proportion of corn than most ryes carry. That sweet-corn backbone softens the grain's signature bite without losing its peppery edge, and four years in number-three char barrels add caramel weight and oak tannin. The name revives Silver Spring, a corn whiskey label J.W. Kelly's original Chattanooga operation ran from 1900 to Prohibition, now reimagined as a rye for Chicago and Lincoln Park drinkers who want proof and complexity without the all-rye aggression. Deep Spring Distillery traces its lineage to J.W. Kelly, a grocer-turned-distiller who opened his Chattanooga storefront in 1866 and eventually ran more than ten labels tied to Tennessee history and geography. Silver Spring was one of those labels, a straight corn whiskey that disappeared when the country went dry in 1919. This modern revival swaps the mash bill to rye-forward but keeps corn as a structural player, mellowing the grain's natural spice and pulling forward molasses and burnt-sugar sweetness. The whiskey rests in heavily charred oak for at least four years, then finishes and bottles at the distillery without dilution, so each single barrel comes to proof as the wood and grain dictate. The nose opens with molasses, burnt sugar, and toffee, all signs of that corn influence meeting deep char. On the palate you get caramel, nougat, and hot cinnamon candy—the rye finally asserting itself as red-hot spice layered over brown-sugar sweetness. The finish is dry, long, and rye-driven, the corn stepping back to let the grain close clean and peppery. Pour it neat to appreciate the cask strength, or add a few drops of water to unfold the oak and soften the cinnamon heat. It works alongside dark chocolate, aged cheddar, or anything off a wood-fired grill—the char in the glass mirrors the char on the plate. Silver Springs Sweet Rye Single Barrel is available for pickup at Off Premise Chicago, 1128 W Armitage Ave in Lincoln Park, local Chicago delivery, or nationwide shipping.