Recommend a rye whiskey

April 24, 2009 6:32 AM

Please recommend a rye whiskey.

I want to get my husband one or two bottles of rye whiskey for his birthday (he's expressed an interest in trying some, but doesn't know where to start). Any recommendations? Thanks!

posted by gaspode to food & drink (21 comments total)

Rittenhouse and Old Overholt are good places to start
posted by boots at 6:37 AM on April 24

Old Potrero or Sazerac Rye are both relatively giftworthy and not too difficult to find. I'll look forward to other recommendations here.

The Jim Beam rye is surprisingly good for its low, low cost--I might be a little weirded out about giving it as a gift. ("You got me a bottle of Jim Beam??")
posted by gimonca at 6:40 AM on April 24 [1 favorite has favorites]

(That first link is to one of a series of rye tastings in that blog, it turns out.)
posted by gimonca at 6:45 AM on April 24

i would recommend 40 creek barrel select. its a genuine rye, a steal at its price and has a super pleasant maple syrup taste to it (plus its made like 3 blocks from my house, not that that helps you). should be available everywhere.
posted by chasles at 7:10 AM on April 24

Seconding Sazerac. It's our standard. Also, Wild Turkey Rye is surprisingly good. You can go way up on price from there, but a lot of the expensive ones --i.e., the older ones, like 18 year rather than 6 year -- are kind of hard to find.
posted by kestrel251 at 7:14 AM on April 24

Wisers 18 year old is pretty good. It's a bit sweet.
posted by chunking express at 7:31 AM on April 24

Michter's straight rye
posted by allen.spaulding at 8:15 AM on April 24

I'm a fan of Templeton Rye myself. Should be easy to find.
posted by lholladay at 8:22 AM on April 24

Seconding Old Overholt as a good place to start. Also, for Xmas, my sister gifted me with a bottle of Tuthilltown Baby Bourbon (first New York based distillery since Prohibition!) and found it to be rather tasty. They have a rye in their product line, but I can't comment on its quality, though if it's anything like the Baby Bourbon then I'd definitely recommend it.
posted by bl1nk at 8:27 AM on April 24

I think Wild Turkey Rye is a bargain at around $18-20/bottle.
posted by prozach1576 at 8:34 AM on April 24

I've had that Tuthilltown Rye, and it was okay, but certainly not worth the price (though fun for the "Hey, "I'm drinking something locally-made!" thing). I dunno, I'm not much of a rye fan in general, so I may be the wrong person to ask, but I've found Sazerac to be just as palatable as the Tuthilltown, for a lot cheaper.
posted by Greg Nog at 8:36 AM on April 24

Old Overholt was where I started, but I think you're definitely looking to get something with nicer presentation since it's a birthday gift. Nthing Sazerac. Michter's is interesting, but the Sazerac is maybe more accessible?
posted by soma lkzx at 8:37 AM on April 24

Personally, I'd go for the Rittenhouse or the Jim Beam -- leaning towards the JB, if asked to choose between the two. I'm more of a scotch snob, so I'm (vaguely) out of my element, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better rye in my opinion. Sure the giftee might make a funny face seeing the works "Jim Beam" poke out at them from behind the torn wrapping... but it's really the drinking part that counts!

Ahh the joy of American whisky: quality doesn't only exist at the $50/bottle level. Maybe gift a pair or trio of different ryes?
posted by wrok at 9:01 AM on April 24

Depends on what you want. Rittenhouse is the best rye for mixed drinks that I've run across, but make sure you get the 100 proof and not the 80 proof. Old Overholt is also good, but not quite as amazing. For sipping on its own, Sazerac is great. Old Potrero is an amazing whiskey, but it is unlike anything else you will ever have. Exceedingly hard to mix, super tasty, but strong (120 proof, if I remember correctly) and with a very distinctive flavor. If you were going to spend about 50 bucks, I'd recommend getting bottles of Rittenhouse 100 and Sazerac, so he could enjoy the similarities and differences. And if he's at all a cocktail person, maybe a bottle of Cinzano sweet vermouth and either Angostura or Regan's Orange bitters for some tasty Manhattans.

You're lucky you're in New York City, where finding specific brands won't be hard. Rye distribution is not nearly as good as it should be.
posted by Schismatic at 9:12 AM on April 24 [2 favorites has favorites]

This is awesome. I'm definitely going to go with two different ryes.
posted by gaspode at 9:13 AM on April 24

Oh, and good point, Schismatic. The ryes would be for sipping. He's not a cocktail person and he drinks his whiskey neat.
posted by gaspode at 9:13 AM on April 24

Nthing Sazerac Rye. It is really the best bang for the buck I've ever had. It has an interesting "bite" to it, and tastes much more complex than its price tag would imply.
posted by MonsieurBon at 9:14 AM on April 24

(PS - I said "Sazerac", but I meant "Rittenhouse". Whoops!)
posted by Greg Nog at 11:47 AM on April 24

I'm going to second Templeton Rye, although to contradict what lholladay said, it is not easy to find outside of a limited area (Iowa and Illinois).

So, with that recommendation shot, I would say Sazerac is a decent start, although I've heard that their 18 year variety is even better, although hard to get outside of their home region as well.
posted by mikeh at 2:06 PM on April 24

So our local liquor store had a few ryes, and after taking this thread into account and talking to a guy there, I decided on the Rittenhouse and Jim Beam. My husband likes them both!
posted by gaspode at 5:57 PM on May 24

Thank you for the update!
posted by Greg Nog at 12:30 PM on May 25