There was a time when rye whiskey was the king of American distilling. The grain was introduced to the continent by Dutch and German settlers around the turn of the 17th century and by 1648 an Englishman, Emmanuel Downing, was the first to commercially distil rye whiskey in his stills in Salem, Massachusetts.
Downing’s attempts weren’t successful – rye mashes have a tendency to become sticky and difficult to work, and the inexperienced distiller turned his attention to molasses-based rum, but the seed was sown and soon rye whiskey distilleries were commonplace across New England. Even George Washington produced rye – it’s noted that his Mount Vernon distillery produced nearly 50,000 litres a year by the turn of the following century.
According to the Sazerac Company, in 1810 the state of Pennsylvania “produced and shipped 6.5 million gallons of rye”, nearly three times the output of Kentucky bourbon.
Throughout the 1800s, rye continued to reign as America’s whiskey, but by the turn of the 20th century, it was already on the decline.
“As you get into the early 1900s, Kentucky started to become a major region for whiskey production and the preferred crop grown in the area was corn, not rye, thus bourbon was the whiskey being distilled,” explains Keegan Giannoni, senior portfolio manager at Infinium Spirits, owner of Templeton Rye.
“The Noble Experiment, also known as Prohibition, is what killed the rye category,” he says. “When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the remaining distilleries were much more well funded in Kentucky than, say, Pennsylvania and Maryland, where rye was mostly made.
“On top of this, corn was subsidised after the repeal in 1933 while rye was not – the final nail in the coffin to many of the smaller, farm-owned rye distilleries. The rest is history, bourbon quickly took off as rye died out.”
And besides, by the time of repeal, tastes had changed. As David Wondrich wrote in a 2016 Daily Beast article: “The old, thick-bodied, rich and spicy style of Eastern rye was falling out of popular favour. The drinkers who came of age during Prohibition were used to Canadian whisky and Scotch whisky and blended American whiskey.”
So, rye whiskey effectively disappeared. For the remainder of the 20th century, a few exceptional brands could be found if you knew where to look, but really by the 1980s, the spirit had become an apparition.
“Fast-forward to 2006, the craft cocktail culture really took off in America, starting in places like San Francisco and New York,” continues Giannoni.
“As bartenders across the nation began to dive into the history books on cocktails, they quickly began to realise that many of their favourite classics were actually originally made with rye, instantly creating more demand for the category as they leaned into the buzz of this heritage trend.”
Larger brands caught on to the demand and within a few years the category was back. Templeton and Sazerac Rye both launched in 2006, High West began distilling rye in Utah a year later, and in 2008 Maker’s Mark head distiller Dave Pickerell left the company to establish Whistlepig.
“Our entrance into the rye category in 2011 coincided with a shift in cocktail culture in the US that saw bartenders gravitate towards rye’s flavour profile because it stands up distinctively in classic cocktails,” says Johannah Rogers-Omishore, global brand director at Bulleit Frontier Whiskey.
“Our bartending community loved our high-rye mash bill bourbon and were excited to see us produce a rye expression. The result, our 95 Rye, launched the rye category at scale and we’re proud that it remains the number one-selling rye in the US.
“But another contributing factor is the massive expansion of all North American whiskey. Since 2015, over 1,200 brands have launched, which leads to more educated and curious consumers who enjoy exploring all whiskey categories.”
Following the entrances of the early re-adopters, some of American whiskey’s biggest forces began to release ryes. George Dickel Rye and Knob Creek Rye launched in 2012, and Jim Beam launched its rye in 2015 with Basil Hayden’s and Jack Daniel’s following suit two years later.
“Large brands noticed this trend and began investing in rye whiskey production, with modern marketing appealing to contemporary tastes,” says Richard Ryan, co-founder of Drinksology Kirker Greer, owner of Bowsaw Straight Rye.
“The broader whiskey boom in the early 2000s encouraged consumers to explore different styles, and rye’s distinctive spicy profile offered something unique.
“Rye whiskey’s comeback was driven by a renewed appreciation for heritage, the craft cocktail scene and a broader whiskey renaissance – restoring its place as a beloved and respected spirit.”
Bartending renaissance
According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US (DISCUS), between 2009 and 2022, rye whiskey grew from around 88,000 nine-litre cases to 1.6 million, an increase of more than 1,700% .
The renaissance of classic bartending that began in New York and San Francisco eventually spread around the world, and rye with it, a symbol of the movement’s appreciation of its history.
“Even outside the US, London’s cocktail bars have embraced rye whiskey, contributing to its global resurgence,” says Ryan McFarland, chief commercial and strategy officer at Drinksology Kirker Greer.
“The connection is clear – cities with rich cocktail traditions have been pivotal in bringing rye whiskey back into mainstream popularity. I’d say that trend will continue to move east into the key Asian cocktail hubs like Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul over the coming years… These mature cocktail cultures are home to some of the world’s best bars and creative bartenders.”
But the conditions that were present for the resurrection of the category have changed.
Largely, cocktails have shifted away from stirred down and brown and towards brighter flavours and lower alcohol. The Drinks International Cocktail Report, which includes a poll of the world’s best bars for their bestselling classic cocktails, has witnessed how rye-based cocktails have lost some shine. Back in 2015, the category had three of the top five bestselling classics, the Old Fashioned in first place, Sazerac in third and Manhattan in fourth.
Jump forward a decade to the most recent ranking and now there’s only one traditional rye cocktail in the top 10, the Old Fashioned in second place. Meanwhile, the Manhattan has fallen to 12th and the Sazerac, once the third most ordered classic cocktail in the world’s best bars, has dropped to 43rd.
Rye has already fallen out of the limelight once in its history, could it be happening again?
“It depends on how you look at the trends,” says Giannoni. “The spirits industry, in general, is certainly having a moment and leaning into lower-abv products and serves, based on new consumer preferences, but when you look at American whiskey in particular, the trends are opposite.
“American whiskey 90 proof and above is growing while those proofed 80-89 are declining, so the whiskey consumer is preferring a higher-proof spirit.”
And while rye is a time capsule, modern bartending hasn’t remained beholden to pre-Prohibition era classics.
“I would argue that rye is already a versatile cocktail ingredient with a reach beyond the stirred boozy classics,” says Ryan. “Fundamentally, rye lends itself well to lower-abv cocktails due to its strong flavour profile that continues to work well as a flavour modifier when diluted with other lower-abv ingredients.”
Rogers-Omishore continues: “Rye’s distinctive flavour is central to its revival and will remain the driving force behind the broadening of its fan base. We don’t expect to see a downward shift in this trend.”
Maybe its classic serves are becoming a bit outdated in a moderation-favouring consumer base, but rye whiskey isn’t befalling the same fate.
Since 2006, the category has grown each year, even through the pandemic when bars were forced closed. The category may never reach the heady heights of its pre-Prohibition heyday, but nearly 20 years on, the revival is still gathering steam.
