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Rye Whiskies

No: rye
Operating Status: n/a

Gleaned from the Malts mailing list:

Q: Can somebody please tell me about available SINGLE Rye whiskies? [jvds]

Production

It is nearly impossible to produce a single rye, because you need the enzymes for fermentation only found in barley. Normal American Bourbon distillers add at least 10% of malt for the enzymes. On the other hand, you might be able to crack the starch to sugar by only heat and pressure. But I do not know if that is enough. [hl 4.98]

There are three commonly available rye whiskeys on the US market. Wild Turkey Rye (WTR) (excellent), Jim Beam Rye (never tried), and Old Overholt Rye (never tried). However, these whiskeys, unlike the Old Potrero (OP), are not 100% rye. Further, the OP is also 100% malted rye unlike the others on the list. In the US, the appellation SINGLE RYE WHISKEY really doesn't mean much since it is a universe inhabited by a single "craft" micro-distillery. With the exception of the OP, all the other ryes are "blended" whiskeys. Stefan Gabanyi's excellent tome "Whisk(e)y" has more information on the exact % of rye used in these whiskies. [bm 4.98]

See combined entry for:

I can easily understand that adjuncts may be neccessary to achieve fermentation of the starches in the rye grain, but does the Sefan Gabanyi book really say that the rye distilate is blended with other spirits? This seems unfortunate (though if Wild Turkey Rye were any more powerful, it might just be too much, at least at 8yo). [bm 4.98]

History

It was prohibition that brought them to prominance in the US. Prior to that black period, most American whiskey was made from the readily available and easily fermented corn. In Canada, where the growing season was shorter, Rye was prefered for spirit production. When prohibition shut down most legitimate Bourbon production, Canadian Rye began streaming south across the border. After prohibition's repeal, many Americans had acquired a taste for Rye, and it became a popular product with many American distilleries. Its popularity fell off in the 50's.

Canada is, not surprisingly, the single greatest producer of single Rye whiskey, but strangely markets not one of them. The blended Rye whiskies now available generally contain not more than 5% to 8% Rye, with the rest being neutral spirit.

Qualities

Rye whisky is made to be an in-your-face, hard-knuckled, Bogie-in-Casablanca, kind of drink. Slightly bitter, kind of spicy, pretty hot going down. The perfect kind of "shot glass" whiskey. Of course, there's good whiskey and rot gut in any kind of style. [bm 4.98]

Seagram's have a huge library of aged single ryes of various ages which they painstakingly nose and taste and select for blending, only to add a huge amount of neutral spirit and caramel and bottle it as Royal Wedding, or some other [inferior product]. If you want to try an OK Canadian blended Rye, try Alberta Springs or Canadian Club Classic. But stick to Wild Turkey Rye for the real McCoy, assuming you can take it without too much mouth pain. [gsg 4.98]

The legal definition of rye whiskey in the US dictates that it must contain at least 51% of rye in the grain bill. It is my understanding that in the US, the rye is not fermented and distilled separately and then "blended" with neutral grain alcohol, it is merely part of the total grain bill used in the mash. For the aforementioned WTR, the total grain bill is 65% rye, 23% corn, 12% barley malt, to this wash (fermented mash) the "sour mash" is added which is basically leftovers from a prior distillation. I believe that all of these whiskeys are "straight" whiskeys which prohibit blending with neutral spirits. [bm 4.98]

Listings

Here are the listings in BC -Canada [jd]

The latest BCL guide lists the following Canadian Rye Whiskys:

[jd 18/q4.98]

There was an excellent article in Malt Advocate in the 1Q98 about the development of the Rye Whiskey industry in America. [bm 13/q4.98]

Search Dr. Do'g's index for the history of Rye Whiskies
There just might be some news about Rye Whiskies in The "Scotsman" newspaper