Rank 3 Recipe dropped from Operation Mechagon can be learned without acquiring rank 2 from Rustbolt through exalted.
I woke up this morning with a damn near panic attack. I was so busy crafting pots, flasks, and then in raid i made about 8 feasts, since that made sense I have been farming the mats and reputation (currently 18,000 into revered, almost there). I thought it was odd that it was saying I could craft more, but again was busy raiding. When I woke up today I looked into it, and realized wow, I really did stumble up on a bug.
I have literally been farming rep to make these. Now its giving me anxiety, and I am not sure how to go forward, this seems like a pretty major bug, as it is gated behind a pretty high rep requirement. I will open a ticket as well for further clarification.