How the revival of these premium brands is helping rye reclaim its status as America’s top whiskey.
In the nineteenth century, American whiskey was rye whiskey. The finest stuff from Pennsylvania, known as Old Monongohela, was aged in barrels and world-renowned. Rye was strong and spicy. It was the staple of our earliest and manliest cocktails, notably the Manhattan. Hell, George Washington made rye — and you can’t get more American than that.
But somewhere between Reconstruction and Prohibition, Southern bourbon became a hot issue, buoyed by a glut of corn (of which bourbon is made) and by bourbon’s sweeter, more generic appeal. By the dawn of the twenty-first century, a mere handful of ryes remained on the market.
Today, thanks to a resurgence in the past few years, we are suddenly in something of a rye renaissance, with connoisseurs returning to the spirit for both its sophisticated sipping qualities and to add authenticity to classic cocktails. Just as U.S. law stipulates that bourbon be made from a minimum 51 percent corn, so must rye be made from at least 51 percent rye grain — and this remains the source of rye’s distinctive, spicy flavor. Best of all, because demand for rye was so low for so long, some very old batches, having patiently waited decades to be appreciated, are now emerging like breakout penny stocks. Snatch them up before every market watcher discovers how great this old-school whiskey really is.
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