From the brink of shelf elimination, from the ashes, rye whiskey has risen, and there’s now a larger selection of quality rye than ever before. And it’s happened in a flash, with American rye whiskey sales increasing 662 percent from 2009 to 2015, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. More brands are continuing to join the rye fray, whether they’re big players, small distilleries or non-distiller producers.
1. Know Your Rye Styles
All ryes are not the same, and there’s actually a spectrum of styles to know. As a category, just like bourbon or scotch, rye has a wide range of flavors.
Broadly speaking, two historical camps of rye are Monongahela, or Pennsylvania-style, and Maryland-style. While much of the production has long since decamped to Kentucky, Indiana (more on that below) and beyond, the styles still hold up. Instead of worrying about the region, though, think more about composition and taste.
Pennsylvania was a spicier rye, because that’s the only grain they were using. Many Pennsylvania-style ryes were originally 100 percent rye, but anything more than 80 or 90 percent rye likely fits the big, spicy high-rye flavor profile.
In Maryland, there was more corn integrated into what they were making. With lower-percentage ryes, corn is used to round them out a little bit. Corn adds a sweeter and rounder side to the bold, spicy characteristics of rye.
2. Order Up a Classic Cocktail
Rye’s rebirth is in many ways owed to the bartenders who re-popularized the spirit. Bartenders helped revive that, because it’s that constant search to have the cocktail the way it was originally made. When going through old recipe books and it calls for rye or it calls for a gomme syrup or this thing or that thing, we want to source it and make it the way it was originally supposed to be had.
As more bartenders began churning out old-school whiskey cocktails, rye became a frequent bar staple, and cocktails are often the best introductory tool to introduce a consumer to any kind of spirit or ingredient. It wasn’t long before bar customers ordering up perfectly stirred Manhattans were also asking about the whiskey being used and then searching for it on store shelves to bring home.
3. Ease the Transition from Bourbon
Many people have preordained ideals about bourbon or scotch based on what their fathers drank or what they saw on television, but with rye, most are forced to start from scratch, without any built-in loyalty.
For bourbon drinkers unsure of how to delve into this whole rye thing, consider the two points above: Know your rye styles, and look to cocktails. Recommend a great almost transitional rye to your bourbon drinking customers.
Find a mash bill with just 51 percent rye, bringing it much closer to the bourbon realm than one of its high-rye brethren. Many bourbon drinkers may already like the flavor of rye more than the realize too. If you enjoy spicier, bolder bourbons, then you’re enjoying its rye side, as opposed to bourbons with a softer wheated profile.
So there’s no reason to steer clear of rye or think that it’s in any way lesser as a grain than corn or lesser as a category than bourbon.
4. Separate Distillers from Non-Distiller Producers
Rye has been at the center of the “sourcing” firestorm in the American whiskey world for the past few years. As dozens of brands began sprouting up with aged rye whiskey, much of it was quite similar in nature, showcasing a dry, spicy side, distilled with a 95 percent rye mash bill and sourced from the same distiller.
The problem is that some of these brands left off that last detail—the small bit about how they didn’t distill the stuff. There’s nothing wrong with sourcing whiskey and being a non-distiller producer. The issue is only what was at times a lack of transparency and at other times downright fraudulent in terms of how certain brands were presented.
“here are people out there who will consider that as a negative, like, "oh, they don’t make it, they source it.” That doesn't have to be a negative, as long as there is transparency with regard to the sourcing. Actually, a lot of delicious products come out of that.
So how can you find out if a rye has been distilled by the brand selling it or if it’s sourced? On the back of the label, it should read ‘distilled in Lawrenceburg, Indiana’ or wherever. It should pay homage to the person who made it.
If you don’t see any “distilled by” statement and only see a “bottled by” statement, assume it’s sourced. Anyone distilling it themselves will make the distinction on the label. If fine print on the back of labels seems confusing, then do some quick research online. How old is the brand? If the distillery just opened in 2021 but it’s already selling a four-year-old rye, well, you can do the math.
5. Get Crafty, Because Rye Is Great Young
The good news for America’s young craft distilleries is that rye whiskey can generally reach a pretty high quality in a short amount of time. Rye is a versatile ingredient and shows well young. A lot of flavors come out of younger rye, and rye as a grain has these characteristics that shine through a little bit different from the corn in bourbon.
That’s part of the reason why so many craft distilleries are turning to rye whiskey. Not only is it popular and with less ingrained brand loyalty than bourbon, but they’re able to make serious headway in a short amount of time.
