Why Rye? Rye not?

[Capn Jimbo]

Rye? Rye not?


For those of you who appreciate history and tradition, or if you just want to better understand and appreciate rum, it's history benefits both. For example, knowing that Barbados was the de facto home of rum, to be supplanted by distillation expanding to Jamaica (where dunder and double distillation originated) will help you to understand these two styles.

It is fair to say that at least until the American Revolution, rum was the oil of its time, centered in the Caribbean just like oil in Saudi Arabia. Some of the wealthiest men in the world were based in Barbados, and many of our own early leaders and politicians hailed from there. Rum was both King and Queen of the times. Jamaican rums were the best and were provided at all important American political events.

But rums were not exclusive.

In the American South, especially in Virgina and the Carolinas distillers turned apples, cherries and peaches into brandies. Still rum was dominant and appeared in all manner of drinks and concoctions. Even George Washington got into the act, and established his own distillery. His spirit?


Rye.

Per Charles Columbe what finally caused the saga of rum to decline was taxes imposed by the British which forced American distillers to pay a heavy tax or molasses, or...

Cheat.

Which is something that Americans are good at. Rye wheat was common, and grew easily and widely. And distilling from grain was familiar especially to many Irish and Scottish Americans. Thus Rye Whisky appeared and soon eclipsed rum. Rye dominated American spirits until about 1960.


Why should I care?

As we (and many leading spirits tasters) have long held, it behooves any who hope to really understand spirits to learn to taste and appreciate others. In this case, it is instructive to understand the attraction of the spirit that replaced rums.

There's good reason.

After all, rum could have been replaced by beer, wine, corn whisky, brandy or other spirits. But it was rye that prevailed. And because we wanted to know why, Sue Sea and I decided to try some ryes. We did, and...

Now we understand. Read on...

[Capn Jimbo]

Rye? Here's why...


OK. Enough for the history of when rye took over from rum, and why. Now why...

To satisfy our curiousity (and to fulfill the need to experience other spirits to better appreciate rum, I was driven to try rye. If it worked for George Washington, it'd work for me.

So it was into research mode. What did I find, you ask?

Although rye, like rum, once dominated American tastes, it too was supplanted by another spirit - in this case corn and wheat based whiskies. Think Jack Daniels and Jim Beam. And although both rum and rye claim a modern rebirth, and while rum did experience a blip, rye did not (thanks to Chuck Cowdery). Yes there are ryes - much appreciated at that - but darn few of them. Jim Beam dominates rye, but compared to their other whiskies, it's a off Broadway production in a Soho warehouse.

The other issue is cost. Many - unlike rum - sell in the $35 to $55 range, but like all spirits there are a fewer lower shelf (but not lower quality) products. In this case I found three likely suspects that fulfilled our usual goals of good quality at fair, if not lower prices. Here they are:

1. Old Turkey Straight Rye at about $23,
2. Jim Beam Rye at about $21, and...
3. Old Overholt at a loose change $12 (you read that right).

Of these two garnered very favorable reviews from Dave Broom and friends over at Whisky Magazine. One was indentified as an excellent entry rye for beginners and one an in-your-face rye for rye lovers. Two of the ryes used the same distillate but different aging and barrels (and boy did it show).

Next: our tasting and comparison to rum (and why you must try rye)... click (here).

[Jwilly019]

1. Old Turkey Straight Rye at about $23,
2. Jim Beam Rye at about $12, and...
3. Old Overholt at $12 (you read that right).

Of these two garnered very favorable reviews from Dave Broom and friends over at Whisky Magazine. One was indentified as an excellent entry rye for beginners and one an in-your-face rye for rye lovers. Two of the ryes used the same distillate but different aging and barrels (and boy did it show).

While JB Rye and OO share several similarities, the same distillate chief among them, they don't use different barrels per se. The distillery may be looking for different flavor profiles for each line, marking certain barrels for extended aging in order to become JB Rye. However, as I'm sure you're well aware, each barrel is a new, charred oak barrel, as required by law.

A couple other bargain ryes I'd recommend if you can find them would be Sazerac Rye (sometimes referred to as Baby Saz) and Rittenhouse BiB. Both can be had for about $20 each. This would allow you to taste 2 additional distilleries as well.


*******
Capn's Log: Thanks for the great information. Chuck Cowdery confirms your point that both Beam and Old Overholt are the same distillate, but different barrels and "perhaps age". Even more interesting are the limited numbers of cases made:

Beam: 42,365 cases (meaning a very small category).
Old Overholt Rye: which Beam makes, 18,804 cases.
Beam's Ri 1: 3,746 cases.

The three Beam ryes are 87 percent of the category (as reported). Then...

Templeton Rye: 3,351 cases.
Wild Turkey Rye: 2,750 cases.
Sazerac Rye ("Baby Saz"): 1,158 cases.
Rittenhouse BIB: 254 cases.
"86": just 183 cases.

[NCyankee]

I would also add Bulleit Rye, if you can find it for a decent price - I have seen it anywhere from $20 - 35. Though it is 95% rye in the mashbill, it has a much smoother mellower profile than the Ritt 100 or Wild Turkey, similar to the Sazerac - not nearly as spicy as you would expect from that much rye.

I have heard very good things about Russell's reserve but it is rather pricey here at $34.

The Ritt 100 is quite a bargain in the Atlanta area, a friend brought me back a couple bottles for $15. The Beam Rye is $18 here in NC.

I tend to sip the Sazerac and Bulleit and mix the spicier WT and Ritt 100s. The Old Overholt sits on my shelf reminding me that sometimes you get what you pay for - in this case, $10.