What do you think of when you think of rye whiskey? Is your head filled with images of hard-drinking cowboys or hard-bitten detectives? Bottles in brown paper bags littering Skid Row? Or do you think of a Manhattan, properly made with rye whiskey, in a swanky Prohibition Era club? Or just a glass of your favorite rye neat?

If the last image isn’t the first to pop into your head, by the end of our Ultimate Guide to Rye Whiskey, we hope it will be.

So, what is Rye Whiskey anyway?

To define rye whiskey, we turn to our favorite legal document, The Standards of Identity. Rye whiskey must have 51 percent or more rye in its mash bill (aka recipe).

Fifty-one percent is the magic number.

Fifty-one percent corn = bourbon. Fifty-one percent rye = rye whiskey. Fifty-one percent wheat = wheat whiskey, and 51 percent malted barley = malt whiskey. There is even a classification for rye malt whiskey, which requires (you guessed it) 51 percent or more malted rye. It’s an uncommon whiskey style, but like rye whiskey, one that is returning.

Unlike corn whiskey, the only difference between rye whiskey and bourbon is the mash bill. Everything else, including the requirement of aging in charred new oak barrels, is the same.

There can be some confusion with the high-rye bourbons produced by Basil Hayden, Four Roses, Old Forester, and Woodford Reserve. Each has a mash bill with 18 percent or more rye; the rest is primarily corn. The extra rye gives these bourbons a spicy kick that’s similar to, but not to be confused with, a rye whiskey.

And while we are clearing things up, Canadian rye doesn’t always meet the U.S. standards for rye. Surprisingly, Canadian rye might not even have a drop of rye in it.

Once upon a time, all Canadian whiskey was made from rye. Gradually, they moved to corn, which is cheaper and easier to distill. The Canadian government never changed the regulations, so any whiskey produced in Canada can be labeled as rye, even if it doesn’t have any rye in the mash. It’s an oversight that should be remediated, but until it is, always check the label. 

Why is Rye so Different From Bourbon or Scotch?

Rye Whiskey’s uniqueness starts with the kernel.  

Unlike animals that use skeletons (endo, like us, or exo, like crabs), plants have cell walls that give the plant structure and strength. The cell walls of the rye kernel have compounds called beta-glucans. It’s a complex sugar or, to be technical, a polysaccharide that gets gummy when mashed. The kernel’s cell walls also contain arabinoxylans (hemicellulose, cellulose’s weaker younger brother), and lignin, a structural polymer that cross-links with arabinoxylans to create a more rigid cell wall. Both compounds add to the viscosity of the mash.

And we care because…?

When rye is mashed, these compounds create a gooey mash that is difficult to work with. This makes rye harder to distill than corn. But it is worth it because the compounds that make rye troublesome to produce are what make it so unique. They create that flavor profile--a mix of oak, smoke, fruit, and spice--that makes rye whiskey so unique.

The warm, baking spice notes are products of the enzymatic breakdown of arabinoxylans and lignin, which produce hydroxy-cinnamic acids. Like the name suggests, cinnamic acid is responsible for developing notes of cinnamon, anise, and clove, the “baking spices.” This spiciness is the main character of rye whiskey. It’s what differentiates it from the sweeter, smoother, and rounder profile of bourbon.

It makes one wonder why rye whiskey nearly disappeared.

History of Rye Whiskey in America

The history of rye is one of ups and downs, bad luck and good. It starts as European settlers moved in.

Rye, a member of the grass family that includes corn, barley, wheat, millet, and rice, is winter hardy and did better in the colonies than wheat or barley. The rye German immigrants brought with them from the regions of Palatinate and Hessen could handle the cold and the acidic soil found in the mid-Atlantic states. German rye flourished in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland.

In the early days, colonists fermented anything they could get their hands on. They also enjoyed the fruits of their southern neighbors’ labor in the form of rum. They really enjoyed their rum, with consumption estimates running as high as 3.7 gallons per person per year. (That’s 315 shots a year, which averages to a shot a day with Sundays off). When the British began taxing molasses, rum’s base ingredient, the colonies started looking for a homegrown substitute. Rye whiskey was waiting in the wings.

From the River Monongahela

The most popular rye whiskey of the era originated on the river Monongahela (MO-non-gah-HEEL-a) and its tributaries which ran through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland. The rye whiskey made there took the place of rum. In the 18^th century, it became the preeminent beverage of the new country. Most Monongahela whiskey was made with a mix of malted and un-malted rye and a sweet mash.

Sweet mash is when fresh yeast is used, rather than the more common sour mash process. Sour mash is like using a sourdough starter rather than a yeast packet. Both Overholt and Rittenhouse were originally Monongahela ryes, but their mash bills have changed over the decades as time and tastes have adjusted. Most rye aficionados feel Dad’s Hat Classic Rye, made in Pennsylvania, is the closest to historic Monongahela rye. It has a mash bill of 80 percent rye, 15 percent malted barley, and 5 percent malted rye aged in charred quarter casks for six months.

Maryland Style Rye Whiskey

“Maryland Style” rye, unlike Monongahela rye, trends closer to the 51 percent minimum rye requirement with a substantial percentage of corn in its mash bill. It tastes more like a high-rye bourbon than its Monongahela sibling. Although, as in many things, there are debates about what “Maryland Style” rye really is.

George Washington’s Rye Whiskey is usually considered typical of the Maryland style, even though it is produced in Virginia. Fun fact: In the early 1800s, Washington’s distillery was one of the largest in the country, producing 11,000 gallons of whiskey a year. The whiskey, once distilled at his Mount Vernon estate, is now back in production in the reconstructed distillery finished in 2007. They use Washington’s original recipe with a mash bill of 60 percent rye, 35 percent corn, and 10 percent barley.

Prohibition and Subsidies and Bad Press, Oh My!

Prohibition, which ran from January 17, 1920, to December 5, 1933, collapsed the market for rye. And it has taken almost a century for rye whiskey to regain its footing.

After the repeal of Prohibition, rye disappeared as it faced the glut of corn created by federal subsidies during the First and Second World Wars. Why bother with low-yield, temperamental rye when you can use cheap and easy corn?

Then somewhere along the line, the bad press began. In the eye of the public, rye became the cheap drink preference for drunks, gangsters, and good ol’ boys.

And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"

~ “American Pie” by Don McLean

During this time, vodka and gin rose in popularity, and “brown” spirits, including bourbon, took a significant hit. Some credit the rise of “clear” spirits with the popularity of martinis “shaken, not stirred.”

The Survivors

A few rye whiskeys, like Old Overholt, made it through Prohibition and are still being produced today.

For Old Overholt, it was luck.

Originally a Monongahela rye, Overholt was produced by the Oberholzer family. In 1810, they made the jump from family distillery to business. Soon they were producing 50,000 gallons of rye whiskey a year.

The distillery didn’t stay in the family, though. And as luck would have it, when Prohibition began, the Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was a majority shareholder. Mellon was instrumental in getting the Overholt distillery a “medicinal” license. It was a conflict of interest that would eventually force Mellon to sell his stock. With the license, Overholt could sell their “medicinal” whiskey in bottled-in-bond pints with a dosage cap and ship them to pharmacies across the country. To get your whiskey, all you needed was a prescription.

Post-Prohibition, the distillery and its namesake brand went through many changes in ownership and location, eventually settling down in Kentucky.

Old Overholt is still available; you probably recognize its bottle tucked away on the shelf of your local bar. The label still has the intent face of Abraham Oberholtzer, an “unruly Mennonite” who kicked everything off in 1810. As the label states, it is a rye whiskey “Born in PA and Made in KY.” 

David Wondrich’s article about the history of Old Overholt is a must-read.

Rye Resurrected

These days, rye is cool again. That’s partly thanks to the anniversary of Prohibition, which spurred the revival of pre-Prohibition cocktails. And it’s partly because young rye is a thing.

Unlike bourbon, which needs to spend time in the barrel, ryes as young as six months are more than just drinkable; they can be scrumptious. This has encouraged craft distilleries to add rye or two to their offerings while waiting for their bourbons to mature.

From grain to bottle, distilleries new and old are shaking up the American whiskey market with their divergent approaches. 

The Grain-to-Bottle Movement

Rye distillers are catching up in the race to find heirloom grains. The trend started with corn. Craft distillers, looking for variables in the whiskey playbook to manipulate, found amazing new flavors with heirloom corn varieties. Then, they turned their attention to other grains like rye. Laws Whiskey in Denver uses a “semi-wild rye” they have been cultivating at 8,000 feet since the 1930s in their 100 percent heirloom San Luis Valley Ryes. Abruzzi, rye originally from Italy, is used by High Wire Distilling for their New Southern Revival Rye. It has a mash bill of 75 percent Abruzzi rye and 25 percent heirloom corn (most likely Jimmy Red).

How grain for whiskey is sourced also positively impacts the environment. More farms are moving away from monolithic crops like Yellow Dent #2 corn and ryes like Hancock, Musketeer, and Rymin. 

Rye whiskey, like bourbon, must be aged. This alters the flavor profile and gives the spirit its color. Un-aged spirits include vodka, gin, blanco tequila, and some corn whiskey.

Aging is essential to rye whiskey. But it can be drinkable as young as six months, and you are likely to come across bottles with and without age statements. Age statements are legally defined and represent the age of the youngest whiskey in the bottle. (Age Statement vs. No-Age Statement (NAS) is a whole other discussion. You can find our write-up on it here.) Straight Rye Whiskey is yet another legal definition seen on bottles. To label your spirit “straight,” you must age it for at least two years and not include any added color, flavor, or additional spirits.

Most bourbons and ryes are aged in virgin American White Oak barrels which are charred between 15 and 55 seconds (Level 1 = 15 seconds, Level 4 = 55 seconds. And just because a little is never enough, Buffalo Trace uses a Level 7 char that is 3 minutes and 30 seconds.) Charring isn’t used to introduce a smoky-tasting note, as you might expect. Rather, charring alters the wood’s structure to optimize the chemical reaction between oak and spirit. Notes of caramel or toffee in your whiskey? Thank the charred oak barrel.

For some distillers, one barrel isn’t enough. Finishing, sometimes called wood-finished or double matured, is when a spirit ends up in a barrel it didn’t start out in. Often these barrels are “used” fortified wine barrels, but distillers are experimenting with finishing spirits in all sorts of used barrels. As rye distillers take up this trend, they are finishing their rye whiskeys in ice cider casks, Jamaican and Barbadian rum barrels, and even virgin barrels made from South American teak.

On the Bottle - Terms to Know

Bottled-in-Bond A whiskey labeled Bottled-in-Bond is the product of the U.S., from one distillation season, by one distiller, at one distillery. It’s aged in a federally-bonded warehouse for a minimum of four years and bottled at 100 proof. Bonded warehouses come under the jurisdiction of the Treasury. (Which was how Andrew Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury, was able to keep Old Overholt alive during Prohibition.)

A Cask Strength whiskey is a spirit bottled straight from the cask without water to dilute it. While bottled whiskey has to be at least 80 proof (40% ABV), whiskeys stored in barrels have a much higher proof, usually not exceeding 125 proof. The first sip is often a doozy, as the alcohol overpowers the flavor. But as your palate adapts, the flavors begin to appear by the second sip.

Single Barrel is a whiskey that comes from a single barrel rather than several barrels blended to create an amalgamation. They are often unique and worth the price point.

Have We Convinced You?

Great! Here is a list of some of the best rye whiskeys to try.

Redemption Plantation Rum Cask Finished Rye won the World Whiskies Awards 2021 competition, where it was described as having “some delightful cherry to kick off, then wood, toast, and vanilla. It’s got a pleasant warming nose, followed by vanilla and spicy wood oak. The finish is long and complex, balanced and quite enjoyable.”

Our old friend Old Overholt almost swept the 2021 International Whisky Convention, taking 1^st and 2^nd place for their 114 Proof Straight Rye (90 points) and Straight Rye (89.47 points), respectively. Coming in 3^rd was Colonel E.H. Taylor’s Rye Kentucky Straight Whiskey (88.63 points).

The American Whiskey Convention’s 2021 Judge’s Choice Award went to a Rye: Lock Stock and Barrel’s 20-Year-Old Straight Rye Whiskey. Middle West Spirits’ Dark Pumpernickel Straight Rye Whiskey won for Straight Rye Whiskey.

Lastly, here’s the most unusual spirit on our list of must-try rye whiskeys--if you can find it.

San Francisco World Spirits 2021 gave the Best Rye Whiskey nod to truly new and unique rye. WhistlePig’s The Boss Hog VII: Magellan’s Atlantic won Best in Class. It is (take a breath, it’s a long list) a single barrel, cask strength, rye whiskey aged for 17 years in American oak, then encased in rare Spanish oak from northern Spain, then (told you this was long) finished in South American teakwood. Dying to try it? WhistlePig has an excellent finding tool listing restaurants and bars as well as stores.

But rye whiskey isn’t the only rye spirit making a comeback.

Rye’s Odd Kissing Cousins

Ever tried a malted rye whiskey? We hadn’t and didn’t think anyone was making one. A little checking led us to malted rye from Rogue Distillery in Oregon with a mash of 52 percent rye and 48 percent barley. Rogue is using 2-Row and Munich, barleys commonly used in beer, where Rogue got its start. It also features their proprietary yeast strain, Pacman, in addition to malted rye. It's even won an award; it received 92 points from The Tasting Panel magazine.

Rock and Rye is an odd-flavored rye whiskey with origins that are a little misty. The cocktail it is named for may have gotten its name from bartenders adding rock candy to “smooth out the spicy bite of a young rye.” Now it is winning awards. Glacier Distilling’s Trapline Rock and Rye won Best Flavored Whiskey at 2021’s International Whiskey Convention. Glacier has switched out the rock candy for honey and flavored their Rock and Rye with orange and spices.

The Cocktails

Pre-Prohibition rye cocktails were key to rye’s resurgence. The classic cocktails took advantage of rye whiskey’s spicy flavors to balance and complement other ingredients, from absinthe to vermouth. Here are some classics to try:

Ward 8 is a historic cocktail named after Boston’s Eighth Ward. There are a lot of variations, but we decided to go to old school. This one comes from Locke-Ober, where the cocktail originated.

Take 2 oz. of rye whiskey, 0.5 oz fresh lemon juice, 0.5 oz fresh orange juice, and a teaspoon of grenadine, shake with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with a maraschino cherry.

The Sazerac was initially made with French brandy but shifted to rye whiskey and never looked back.

One of our favorite versions begins with muddling a sugar cube, a dash of water, and a 3:2 mix of dashes of Peychaud’s and Angostura bitters in a mixing glass, then adding a 1:1 mix of rye whiskey and Cognac plus ice. Stir until well mixed (don’t shake) and strain everything into a chilled rocks glass rinsed in absinthe. Finish with a ribbon of lemon peel twisted over the glass just enough to express the lemon oil, then use for garnish. Complicated, but worth it.

Whiskey Ginger is the easiest of our classic rye cocktails, although the choices for ginger beer or ale can be daunting. Chill a highball glass, then fill it with ice, add 1.5 oz of rye whiskey and then top off with your favorite ginger beer or ale. (We like Cock N Bull.)

The Classic Manhattan never goes out of style. It is a 2:1 rye whiskey and sweet vermouth mix, with Angostura bitters to taste, shaken with ice, strained into a cocktail glass, and topped with a maraschino cherry.

Final Notes

We hope you enjoyed your guide to all things rye whiskey. Maybe we’ve even changed your mind about this historic and intriguing spirit. Rye is excellent young and is becoming a favorite of craft distillers. They will continue to experiment with both ends of the process, from heirloom grains to exotic cask finishes. So you can bet there will be more marvelously surprising rye whiskeys released in the years ahead.

Have a favorite rye whiskey story, bottle, or cocktail? Maybe a question about rye whiskey? Give us a shout-out in the comments.

Cheers!