Rye whiskey is often confused with Canadian whisky.   Most Canadian whisky may have been at one time majority rye whiskey, but this is not so today.   Like corn, rye whiskeys can be blended with non-whiskey neutral spirits, or can be the 100% real thing.  Some Canadian whiskies are blended, others are not.†   American straight rye is at least 100% whiskey, with rye making up at least 51% of the mash grains (usually corn and barley make up the rest).  Since I have rediscovered straight rye whiskey distilled in the States, I do not use Canadian varieties any more, even as mixers.  Since whiskeys almost never list ingredients I do not know which Canadian blends currently contain rye whiskey, although a reader assured me that Alberta Premium really is rye.

For more information (about fake rye) try Canadian Whisky.

George Washington made rye whiskey at his home, Mount Vernon, Virginia.  Indeed, the domestic rye whiskey industry had a proud tradition in the United States, particularly in the north-south neighboring states of Pennsylvania and Maryland.  Unfortunately it never quite recovered from Prohibition.  During and after Prohibition Americans turned to blended Canadian whisky to fill a demand that would take several years to mature in casks at home.  Also American tastes had dulled quite a bit during Prohibition, and the market share never reäppeared.  To this day the straight rye industry is far under appreciated.  With the introduction of some new labels, though, a renaissance of rye seems to be on the way!

A few years ago there were only about four brands of straight rye whiskey, today there are about ten!  However, most of these are hard if not impossible to find at many bars and liquor stores.  Do not accept imitations--American and Canadian blended whiskies do not compare.

For more information (about real rye) try Why Rye?.

Old Overholt

Made by Fortune Brands. If you are ready to grow beyond Bourbon, let Old Overholt be your first step.  4 year old, 80°.  Smooth, perhaps a bit light.  A drink for the mature--for whom the excitement of life has passed yet the best is still to come.  Can this and Gentleman Jack be on the same shelf?  A drink of memory--of fields and stars, of bread and the bread-of-life.  The sky is free, but the earth lives.  The earth brings all our needs, but the sky contains our dreams.  Ultimately earth cannot not prevent our desires from going where we cannot walk.  Old Overholt is of the earth, yet from there it leads my spirit far away.
· Suggest reading:  Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

Jim Beam Rye

Like Old Overholt it is made by Fortune Brands.  Unfortunately Beam lacks all the charm of its sibling whiskey.  80°.  Rough--although I have had no complaints with its use as a mixer in eggnog.

Wild Turkey Rye

A Pernod Ricard product.  At 101° it is slightly harsh and smoky--highly flavorful though.

Autumn falls through my throat.  Is it poison or medicine?  Does harvest cheat the winter or does winter punish the bounty?  The orange-brown-gold leaves fall brightly in the dying light.  See them abandon the tree for the earth.  In death there is life for some.  Gather your rye-seeds while ye may.
· Suggest reading:  Pied Beauty

Old Rip Van Winkle Old Time Rye

This honored Bourbon maker has been holding back on us.  This recently introduced are "new" rye, was born when Reagan was in the White House.  12 years old, 90°.  Flat surface, but below that the taste is deep.

Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye

The other aged "new" rye by this distiller.  13 years old, 95.6°.  Rich and a little sweet.  My best information indicates that Van Winkle purchased its rye stock from a third-party distiller.

Pikesville Supreme

Heaven Hill, the Bourbon maker and Cooley Irish marketer, distills this former Maryland label in Kentucky.  80°.  Sharp, crisp, delightful.

Rittenhouse

While Heaven Hill's Pikesville is a total success, this sister label poses a bit of a mystery.  My first impression was not positive, but it has grown on me.  In one tasting I found it better than Pikesville--go figure.  80°.  Tangy and a little flat, the flavor can seem distracted.

Olde St. Nick Rye

Currently this is an export-only product.  The distributor wrote to me in the winter of 1999 promising a domestic launch "soon."  My first guess as to what that meant was the summer of 1999, but that has come and gone.

A. H. Hirsch

A reader wrote that he has seen a 13 year old Kentucky Rye under this label.  By my best information Hirsch is a bottler and not a distiller.  I have not seen this product on local shelves.  Hirsch's Bourbon comes for Pennsylvania, so the source of its Kentucky rye is a bit of a mystery.  My best information indicates that both Van Winkle and Hirsch obtained their rye stock from the same unknown source--just different barrels.

Old Potrero Rye Whiskey

Capitol Hill, 1998 January 27:  While the rest of the country was watching the State of the Union Address, I was at the Dubliner a few hundred yards from the Capitol.  Oblivious to the President, I sat sampling my first glass of Old Potrero.  I found it to be clean, bright, and subtle.  Hardly there to the nose.  The taste reminds me of fine sandpaper--smooth on the most part with a tingling aftertaste.  The flavor seems quite compact, and I sense that aging will bring out much depth.  While the comparison to sandpaper may not seem flattering, note that this whiskey is 124° and aged only one year.  I know of no comparable product that could be as refined in such a short period of time at that strength.  Old Potrero is quite different from the straight ryes listed above.

Despite its old name, Old Potrero is a new rye.  Fritz Maytag, president of California's Anchor Brewery has been trying his hand at the still for the past several years.  The result is a pot-still, single malt, rye whiskey.  The relatively young first fruits were bottled uncut and unfiltered.  It is made entirely from germinated rye--no fillers!  Because current releases have been aged only one to three years the color is quite light, a bit of a surprise at first glance.  Until recently this micro-distilled rye could only be found in select restaurants (I do not know which) in a few big cities (San Francisco, Baltimore/Washington, Manhattan, London) with a price to match its limited supply.  I have heard reports that a few bottles are popping up with a $90 price tag in California and Maryland.  It may be several years before a bottle appears in a liquor store near you or me.  Hopefully the future will be bright for more available and aged versions of this label

Dead Ryes

Historical Labels

Guckenheimer

One reader has an old empty bottle in his collection labeled "Good Old Guckenheimer," straight rye distilled in Pennsylvania.  Today a blended whiskey is sold under this label.  My Grandfather-in-law obtained a small sample for me from Long Island, NY; it is made in Bardstown KY.  This blended product has a rye-ish taste, and it is not too bad in a Manhattan.  It earns no compliments though.

Michter's Whiskey

This whiskey was made in one of the oldest distilleries in American.  Located in Shaefferstown, Pennsylvania, the distillery opened in 1753 and made rye whiskey.  (The Jack Daniel Distillery is the oldest registered distillery in the country, licensed in 1866.  Prior to that, with a brief exception, American distilleries were not government regulated nor taxed.) Michter's closed around 1988 at which time it was making pot-still sour-mash corn whiskey, the final product of which may or may not have complied with Bourbon labeling requirements; Bourbon does not need to be made in Kentucky.  Stocks of this are currently sold under the A. H. Hirsch label (see my Corn Whiskey page).  It also sold column-still rye to distillers for bottling under different labels.  I visited the distillery many many years ago and due to my youthful age was not offered a sample at the end of the tour.  Sadly, by all accounts there is little hope of the distillery reöpening.  There is a small page about the Michter's distillery and one about it when it was known as the Bomberger distillery. I have heard that some rye has come for sale under the Michter name, but I have not seen any myself yet.