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All About Rye Whiskey (Part 1)

Joe Blowe

By Joe Blowe
in Spirits & Cocktails

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lostmyshape

lostmyshape

Posted
Posted

yeah... i just saw it on the shelf, too, and was tempted until i saw the price. there's a review at drinkhacker. it's made by Beam, who also makes Old Overholt (and, of course, Beam Rye). the reviewer liked it, but for $48/750ml i haven't been able to justify making the purchase. Old Overholt (at $16/750ml) works just fine for me or Baby Saz. if i come across it at a bar, i might try it out. interestingly, the review says a (ri)2 and (ri)3 are on the way. stupid name that seems to be going for "hot and edgy", but that doesn't mean it's not a good whiskey. anyone with personal experience?

db_campbell

db_campbell

Posted
Posted
Has anyone tried a rye call Ri one.  Saw it on the shelf last weekend.  Really fancy, modern packaging.  Any good?  Really fancy packaging always makes me wary - I'd rather pay for good booze over than expensive marketing.

http://press.ri1whiskey.com/lpa

There was some action on this over at John Hansell's Malt Advocate blog about a month back. The consensus seemed to be nice, vibrant, and easily quaffable neat, but too readily lost in (most) cocktails. I found it for only $26 in Florida (about $20 below suggested), so I went ahead and picked it up, though haven't opened it myself yet.

FWIW, it's a Beam product (though not a part of the "Beam portfolio"), something you'd never tell from the packaging they've employed.

Alchemist

Alchemist

Posted
Posted

I tried it a bit ago, and was underwelmed, as was my spirit guru in Chicago. The packaging looks like a Vodka.

Toby

A DUSTY SHAKER LEADS TO A THIRSTY LIFE

slkinsey

slkinsey

Posted
Posted
it's made by Beam, who also makes Old Overholt (and, of course, Beam Rye).

I hope this isn't the "premium Overholt" we've been hearing about.

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thirtyoneknots

thirtyoneknots

Posted
Posted

The vodka analogy is apt, I think...lots of slickness to compensate for the lack of substance. With the price pushing into the realm of the Antique Collection, why wouldn't you want to just buy some Thomas Handy instead? Given these reports, I'd much rather have 2 bottles of Handy vs 3 bottles of Ri.

Andy Arrington

Journeyman Drinksmith

Twitter--@LoneStarBarman

eje

eje

Posted
Posted

Well, if you can find 3 bottles of Handy!

I think I might have missed my chance at the Antique Collection this year, due to a brief illness at my primary liquor store...

Anyway, I'd try it again, but was pretty underwhelmed with the (ri)1, especially for the price.

For mixing, I don't see it knocking the Rittenhouse, Sazerac, or Wild Turkey out of the shopping list.

And for sipping I'd rather spend the extra $10-15 and get a whiskey from the Antique Collection.

You know, not to mention a dozen or two other more reasonably priced rums, brandies, or European Whiskies.

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Erik Ellestad

If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck...

Bernal Heights, SF, CA

brinza

brinza

Posted
Posted

I have to concur with Andy and Erik here. I got the chance to taste the Ri at the Pittsburgh Whiskey Festival and I was not all that impressed with it--at least my impression of it didn't match the hype (and the price). Even less so when shortly thereafter I tasted (for the first time), the Thomas Handy. Holy cow, is that good.

Mike

"The mixing of whiskey, bitters, and sugar represents a turning point, as decisive for American drinking habits as the discovery of three-point perspective was for Renaissance painting." -- William Grimes

birder53

birder53

Posted
Posted

One local shop finally got in two cases of Rittenhouse BIB. We called them to hold two bottles for us which was a good idea because the two cases were sold out. $17.99 each. They said that two cases was all that they could get. Supplies must still be hard to come by.

KathyM

slkinsey

slkinsey

Posted
Posted (edited)

It's going to be quite some time before Rittenhouse is ever in particularly good supply in places like Santa Fe. It takes a little over 6 years to make the stuff, and it seems quite clear that the popularity of Rittenhouse BIB took the good folks at Heaven Hill a bit by surprise. From what I have been able to gather, part of their strategy is to keep distribution mostly confined to a a few key areas of the country where there is critical mass of mixologists and spirits geeks to keep it in the collective consciousness until such time as they have enough to distribute more widely without shorting these important markets. Considering that we only started getting Rittenhouse in NYC sometime in Spring of 2005, at the very quickest I wouldn't expect to see significantly more widespread distribution until we're into the next presidential campaign season. Which all a way of saying that Rittenhouse was always going to be pretty hard to come by in New Mexico, and that's not likely to change for several years at best.

Edited by slkinsey (log)

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eje

eje

Posted
Posted

Saw the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection at a local liquor store.

All bottles priced at $85.99!

Guess that's off the holiday shopping list...

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Erik Ellestad

If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck...

Bernal Heights, SF, CA

jmfangio

jmfangio

Posted
Posted

KL Wines has plenty of the Rittenhouse BIB at $19.99. The Hollywood store listed 70 bottles in stock this morning. 69 after I left :wink:

"Martinis should always be stirred, not shaken, so that the molecules lie sensuously one on top of the other." - W. Somerset Maugham

  • 1 month later...
slkinsey

slkinsey

Posted
Posted (edited)

Sure. You can sub applejack or cognac or even gin for rye whiskey in a drink if you like. But it won't be the same. Bourbon will be closer than some of these other choices, of course. But there will still be a difference.

Bourbon is overall sweeter and less spicy than rye whiskey. This is especially true of a bourbon like Maker's Mark, because it is a wheated bourbon and contains no rye grain whatsoever (many bourbons do contain some rye).

In related news... it's funny how you come back to things. I've been using so much Rittenhouse bonded over the last several years that I'd forgotten about Old Overholt a bit until a friend brought over a bottle. There is a really distinctive, almost "woody" quality that I really like about Old Overholt. Oh, how I wish they would release a 100 proof bottling.

Edited by slkinsey (log)

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MattJohnson

MattJohnson

Posted
Posted

If you can't find rye at your liquor store, look for Bulleit bourbon. Its usually not really that expensive and if I recall correctly has quite a bit of rye in it.

brinza

brinza

Posted
Posted
If you can't find rye at your liquor store, look for Bulleit bourbon.  Its usually not really that expensive and if I recall correctly has quite a bit of rye in it.

Definitely. A much better sub for rye than Maker's Mark would be.

Sam, do you find that the Rittenhouse is closer to Sazerac than to other ryes (such as Old Overholt or Jim Beam)?

BTW, is Bulleit pronounced like bullet, or bull-eet?

Mike

"The mixing of whiskey, bitters, and sugar represents a turning point, as decisive for American drinking habits as the discovery of three-point perspective was for Renaissance painting." -- William Grimes

slkinsey

slkinsey

Posted
Posted

I would say that those three ryes (I don't care for Jim Beam) are all pretty different.

I've always thought it was pronounced bull-ite.

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KatieLoeb

KatieLoeb

Posted
Posted
Quick question, can I sub Maker's Mark for Rye Whiskey in a mixed drink?

What they all said. To me the Bulleit is about the halfway point between a wheated bourbon and a good rye. In a very good way. I'm a big fan of Bulleit.

I always thought it was pronounced Bull'-it, like bullet. :unsure:

Katie M. Loeb
Booze Muse, Spiritual Advisor

Author: Shake, Stir, Pour:Fresh Homegrown Cocktails

Cheers!
Bartendrix,Intoxicologist, Beverage Consultant, Philadelphia, PA
Captain Liberty of the Good Varietals, Aphrodite of Alcohol

jmfangio

jmfangio

Posted
Posted
Quick question, can I sub Maker's Mark for Rye Whiskey in a mixed drink?

What they all said. To me the Bulleit is about the halfway point between a wheated bourbon and a good rye. In a very good way. I'm a big fan of Bulleit.

I always thought it was pronounced Bull'-it, like bullet. :unsure:

I love the stuff - it's my staple bourbon. I always pronounced it like 'boo-lay', but I just did a bit of Googling and the consensus seems to be that it's pronounced 'like what comes out of a gun' which, I'm sure, goes over well in its native Kentucky.

"Martinis should always be stirred, not shaken, so that the molecules lie sensuously one on top of the other." - W. Somerset Maugham

shantytownbrown

shantytownbrown

Posted
Posted

I am enjoying Mitchers 4 yo US1 American Rye (about $20) at the moment, have a bottle of Sazerac as well, but i have to say i like the Mitcher's a bit more..fantastic manhattan w/ Punt e mes

would love to try the 10yo bottling of mitchers but wont spring the $70 for it..at least not right now

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