Rye whiskey
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Rye whiskey describes two types of whiskies, theoretically distilled from rye.
In the United States, "rye whiskey" is, by law, made from a mash of at least 51 percent rye. (The other ingredients of the mash are usually corn and malted barley.) It is distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof, and aged in oak barrels. The whiskey must be put into the barrels at no more than 125 (U.S.) proof.[1] Rye whiskey was the prevalent whiskey of the northeastern states, especially Pennsylvania and Maryland, but largely disappeared after Prohibition, with only a few remaining producers.
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[edit] Canadian/Rye differences
Canadian whisky is often called "rye whisky" in Canada and the United States, as historically much of the content was from rye. Today, however, most Canadian whisky is blended with only a small portion, if any, coming from rye. Popular brands are Canadian Club and Crown Royal. In Canada, several brands of higher-proportion Rye Whisky are sold in contrast to Canadian Whisky, notwithstanding the confusion in common usage. The only remaining 100% rye Rye Whisky made in Canada is Alberta Premium.
[edit] Distillers
In 1996, Fritz Maytag of the Anchor Brewery in San Francisco, California, began distilling Old Potrero Single Malt Whiskey under the label Anchor Distilling. The whiskey is made from 100 percent malted rye, and is one of the few single malt whiskeys produced in the United States.
Other prominent rye whiskey distillers in the United States include Jim Beam and Austin, Nichols, which markets its product under the Wild Turkey brand at 80 and 101 proof. Other brands include Old Overholt, Sazerac, Van Winkle Family Reserve, Rittenhouse, Michter's and Pikesville.
[edit] Specialities
"Rock and Rye" is a liqueur made from rye whiskey with fruit flavorings (primarily citrus), with a bit of rock candy (crystallized sucrose) in the bottle, or alternatively a toddy made with rye whiskey, bitters and rock candy.
[edit] Rye Bottlings
- Wild Turkey
- Jim Beam
- Old Overholt
- Red Hook Rye 23 Year,
- Rittenhouse Rye 80
- Rittenhouse Rye 100 BIB Bottled In Bond
- Vintage 23 Year
- Vintage 21 Year
- Michters
- Michters 10 Year
- Old Potrero
- Old Potrero 18th Century
- Old Portrero Hotaling
- Pikesville
- Sazerac 6 Year
- Sazerac 18 Year
- Classic Cask 21 Year
- Van Winkle Family Reserve 13 Year
- Templeton Rye
[edit] Rye Whiskey in Popular Culture
- In the song "mississippi half-step uptown toodleloo" by The Grateful Dead the chorus contains the drink "rock and rye":
Half-step
Mississippi Uptown Toodleloo
Hello baby, I'm gone, goodbye
Half a cup of rock and rye
Farewell to you old southern sky
I'm on my way - on my way
- In the movie Animal House, Boone orders a double rock and rye and seven Carlings.
- In the movie American Pie: The Naked Mile, Dwight Stiffler participates in a shot-for-shot contest with rye.
- In the folksong "Jack of Diamonds," the whiskey referred to is rye:
Rye whisky, rye whisky,
Rye whisky, I cry,
If you don't give me rye whisky,
I surely will die [...]
- In Don McLean's song, "American Pie," the "good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye."
- Alternative lyrics for the song "Guys and Dolls," from the musical Guys and Dolls, tell of a "mouse" fetching rye for her man (Bobby Darin's recording of this song, for his 1960 album This is Darin, includes these lyrics):
When you see a mouse
Hurry, scurry out of the house
And she runs twenty blocks for cigars and rye,
Call it dumb, say it's clever,
But you can give odds forever
That the doll's only doing it for some guy.
- In the movie The Big Sleep, Humphrey Bogart's Philip Marlowe offers rye to a bookstore clerk played by Dorothy Malone. Rye is also the drink of choice of Ray Milland in the movie The Lost Weekend.
- In the song "Friday the Thirteenth" by Royal Crown Revue the singer is complaining about his car being borrowed by a friend. The friend tells the singer, though a third party, that to compensate for borrowing the car he fill the trunk with "a pint of rye and a case of slim jims."
[edit] References
- ^ "Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits," Title 27 Code of Federal Regulations, Pt. 5.22., 2006 ed., 48-49.
