Rye

Maybe I'm nuts. Maybe I drank too much last week. But I had several shots of Russell's Reserve 6 year old rye whiskey last week, and damn, was it good.

Until that point, I had always thought of Rye as a mere footnote in Don McLean and Grateful Dead songs. This rye totally changed my mind. This particular one (my introduction rye) tasted to me like a meet-in-the-middle between bourbon's medicinal taste, and scotch's refined taste. Don't know if I would be able to drink as much rye as bourbon, but it would definitely serve a useful place in the liquor cabinet.

Anyone else have experience with this liquor?

Rye is my goto drink.

I'm a huge fan of Wiser's. At home I always have a bottle of their Small Batch and a bottle of their 18 year old (or Very Old, damned marketing change).

Ones that I'd stay away from are Canadian Club and Alberta Premium.

Also, some people swear by Crown Royal, but I just don't find it appealing, hell, I'd take a 5 Star over a CR.

I'm having some Bulleit Rye tonight. I like it.

I use Rye to make a drink called a Ward 8 (rye, sour mix, grenadine, maraschino cherry). It's cocktail from a long time ago supposedly created in Boston, MA at a restaurant called Locke-Ober which unfortunately closed a couple of years ago.:smiley6: I had always wanted to visit it and eat there because of the infamous "Ward 8" cocktail but I missed my chance.

Anyway, I use Rittenhouse Rye to make those and once in a while, I drink it neat. Rittenhouse is almost too good to be making silly cocktails with, Old Overholt (joking referred to as "Old Overcoat":smiley36:)is actually good enough for these but I would be hard pressed to drink that by itself.:smiley36:

Dad's Hat rye last night. Pretty good, I think I like the Bulleit better.

I enjoy Bulleit also, never had Dad Hat so I can't comment there.
It seems that Rye has almost passed the Scotch in my cabinet, and passed the Bourbons long ago.

Time to sample some rye

I screwed up a little, as my best friend did tell me to get the Dads Hat vermouth (vermouth barrel aged) version, but still. I'll get a bottle of that too eventually.

I have a bottle of Woodford Reserve Rye to try tonight.

Speaking of rye, "Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye" - which Jim Murray named 'best whisky of the year 2016' - is, in my opinion, proof that he either got a special bottle, was under the influence, just likes to stir controversy, or ... well, you get the idea. Don't go out of your way to get it.

OTOH, if you can find a bottle of Alberta Premium 25 year old or 30 year old limited editions ... great stuff. (Alberta Premium is one of the few 100% ryes distilled in Canada. The regular Alberta Premium is 5 years old and is ... raw. Alberta Springs is the 10 year old version and is ... less raw.)

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Originally Posted by badwhale

I have a bottle of Woodford Reserve Rye to try tonight.

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I had the Woodford Reserve bourbon at a cigar dinner about ten years ago. I remembered that I liked it. Of course there wasn't much competition, the supposedly other higher end one that night was Gentleman Jack which is not good IMO.

Ya gotta tell us how you liked the Rye.

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Originally Posted by CoventryCat86

I had the Woodford Reserve bourbon at a cigar dinner about ten years ago. I remembered that I liked it. Of course there wasn't much competition, the supposedly other higher end one that night was Gentleman Jack which is not good IMO.

Ya gotta tell us how you liked the Rye.

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I am not a Rye aficianado, having only tried probably a handful, but I think this is a very good drink. Good body, smooth (for rye / bourbon) and a nice sweet profile, red-hot fireball spice to it. Similar (in my newbiness) to Bulleit

I've been on a rye kick for a while, I currently have a bottle of Copper Fox small batch rye I'm sampling, very nice. I am on the list for Pappy Van Winkle, I hope that comes through. My standby rye has been Bulleit Rye for a while, but I found Sazerac recently and tried it, it very well might replace Bulleit as a staple.