I Rye Awake Thinking About Whiskey
In US history, rye whiskey was predominate in the northeastern states such as Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland. With the industrial revolution, Pittsburgh was the center of rye whiskey production in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Research shows that in and around 1808, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania farmers were selling half a barrel for each man, woman and child in the country which had about 7 million residents at the time. Near the end of the 1880s, Joseph F. Sinnott's distillery, Moore and Sinnott in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, was the largest producer of rye whiskey producomg 30,000 barrels a year. Sinnott sold rye in 17 states. Old Overholt survived but moved to Kentucky. I recently bought a bottle and think it is better cocktail whiskey than a sipping whiskey.
Forward progress into the early 21st century expaned the number rye whiskey brands like Campari Group (Wild Turkey Rye), Diageo (George Dickel Rye and Bulleit Rye), Heaven Hill (Pikesville Rye and Rittenhouse Rye), Suntory Global Spirits (Old Overholt and Jim Beam Rye), The Sazerac Company (Col. E. H. Taylor, Sazerac Rye, and Thomas H. Handy), and a host of smaller companies. A particularly large producer is Midwest Grain Products or more popular use of MGP is located in Indiana (formerly known as Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana).
Rye hasn't been the big seller and recently undergoing a small but growing revival. Brown-Forman began production of a Jack Daniel's rye whiskey and released unaged and lightly aged versions as limited editions. A reconstructed distillery at Mount Vernon (the estate of George Washington) sells a rye that is similar to the whiskey President Washington made. His rye was was one of the largest producers of rye whiskey averaging 11,000 gallons annually. Maryland in 2023, Maryland named Maryland rye whiskey as the state's official liquor. Perhaps need to try it.
There are a couple different rye whiskeys. American straight rye whiskey is known to be divided by regional styles, which differ in the rye content of the mash and subsequent flavor profiles. Typically, the more rye in the mash bill, the spicier the whiskey should be, aging notwithstanding. To be rye whiskey it has to contain at least 51% rye. Maryland-style rye whiskey may contain 65-70% rye and 30-35% corn in their mash bill, and generally had a sweet flavor. Pennsylvania-style or it is called Monongahela rye, is traditionally made with a very high percentage of rye in its mash bill, upwards of 95%, and is generally spicier. Kentucky-style rye is characterized by even sweeter profile than Maryland-style with its mash bill is normally 51-55% rye with the remaining grains being a mix of corn and malted barley. Because of its relatively low rye content, it is comparable to high-rye bourbons. I love the Peerless High Rye! Get one if you can.
Why is it called rye whiskey? Wheated whisky was to most common whiskey because the grain was abundant then came along the Dutch and German immigrants arrived from Canada. They started adding rye grain to the wheat mash. The first commercial rye distilleries started production in the 1750s, with Mennonites like Johann and Michael Shenk, and later John Kratzer and Abraham Bomberger having larger success. I am contemplating buying a Shenk just this week. With popularity, people simply call it “rye”.
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