The history of Hughes Belle of Bedford dates back to the late 1800’s when Michael Hughes emigrated from County Carlow, Ireland to Juniata Township in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Like most distillers back in those days, Michael was a farmer who used his knowledge of distilling whiskey (a skill he learned in Ireland) to make extra money from his crops. When his sons were old enough they were taught how to make whiskey using Monongahela rye. After Michael Hughes passed away in 1862, his son John Hughes assumed the role as family distiller for the next decade. In 1872, John built his own distillery after purchasing a gristmill and ran it successfully for 7 years before selling to his 23 year son, Patrick. John remained working with his sons until he retired in 1886, now called the Hughes Brothers Distillery.
John’s younger son John Joseph Hughes left home in 1890 to build his own distillery at the age of 28 in another county. The Hughes Brothers Distillery grew into the largest distillery in the county as it was passed down to family members over the years. Barrels of rye were sold wholesale to taverns and hotels, and from their retail shop in Bedford city, Belle of Bedford pure rye whiskey was sold right up until prohibition. Like so many others, the Hughes Brothers brand shuttered in 1920 and never returned after Repeal.
In 2012 Cyrus Kehyari the great-great grandson of John J. Hughes, revived the once famous rye whiskey with the intention of staying as true to the original Belle of Bedford recipe as possible. Going back into distillery records, Cyrus learned that the original mash bill for Belle of Bedford rye was 90% rye, 10% malted barley. After consulting with well-known industry pros at the time such as Dave Pickerell, Cyrus was soon satisfied that the MGP 95/5 rye whiskey mash bill would suite his needs. Cyrus contracted MGP to run new distillate and aged it for 10 years in PA before it would be bottled to re-create the original Belle of Bedford label for release. The results of this new brand have been well received.
Taken: Neat in a Glencairn glass, rested about 10 minutes.
Selected by: Jay West for r/bourbon.
Distillery: Sourced from MGP.
Proof: 111.43 (non-chilled filtered).
Age: 10 years.
Barrel# : 3751, barrel char# 4.
Mash bill: 95% Rye/5% Barley Malt.
Price: $135.00
Appearance: Dark golden copper.
Nose
Dill, clove, fennel, cherry reduction, toffee, orange peel, vanilla, cinnamon spice and barrel char. This nose is fantastic! I knew this would be herbal forward but I wasn’t expecting there to be this much sweetness too. The balance between herbal, dark stone fruit, toffee and barrel char gives this nose a lot of character that you will not find in a younger expression, and with no ethanol to boot.
Palate
Nice medium mouthfeel. Good transfer from the nose with dill, fennel, toffee, stone fruits, cherry reduction and orange. A very controlled balance of cinnamon spice comes through mainly focusing on the mid and back palate and lasts way into the finish. There is a healthy amount of oak and char which becomes more pronounced but not overbearing through the sip. This is a very interesting and delicious sipper that drinks below its proof.
Finish
The finish is long with a lot of oak tannins and cinnamon spice lingering for what seems like forever. The tannins soon lean more towards tobacco than leather. Underneath you can still tease out some herbal notes and a bit of stone fruit sweetness. After the tobacco notes fade and I can still taste quite a bit of oak and spice on the back of the palate and in the cheeks with bigger sips. Despite the prominent tobacco note there is no bitterness and just a bit of dryness at the very end.
Conclusion
This bottle offers an experience I haven’t had with other MGP ryes. For the price and what this looked like on paper I was expecting it to be excellent and I wasn’t wrong. What I wasn’t expecting is how oak forward it is, and that’s something I enjoy. There are plenty of delicious notes in here to balance it out, but there’s no denying that this has a very oak driven finish. I can imagine how that could make this bottle a bit divisive if that’s not your jam. I’m impressed that the balance is so good after spending 10 years in such a heavily charred barrel. Someone must have been carefully looking after these barrels or this could have gone very wrong otherwise. This is an excellent and complex rye that I highly recommend.
Rating
8/10
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.
10 | Perfect | Perfect.
