I like both the Sazerac and the Vieux Carre. Quite nice.
The Old Fashioned (or better yet the Maple Old Fashioned) is a good drink too.
Unless you’re actually playing in the match, that’s not an excuse. Taste away!
See if you can find a Rittenhouse or Pikesville rye. Bulliet rye (which I like) is a little idiosyncratic. They source it from Midwest Grain Products in southern Indiana (Bulleit has no distillery of their own) and MGP originally intended their particular recipe to be blended into Canadian whisky from when it was a Seagram’s facility. As such, it’s 95% rye and has some unique dill notes. Most ryes are more in the 50-70% rye range.
Oh! Thanks!
ps: I’ve been swilling coffee, not rye, since 4 am. Exciting rugby match… South Africa not only held their own against England (who’d beaten the formidable All-Blacks to make the finals), but went on to win… 32-12!
I think I’ve bought a bottle of Bulleit rye a year or so ago from Trader Joe’s. Recently, I thought I’d get another. I don’t remember how much I paid for the first bottle, and I don’t remember how much they are now; but it seemed to me that even at TJ’s, Bulleit rye was a little expensive. I think it’s less expensive than, say, Maker’s Mark bourbon, but it’s more expensive than a large bottle of vodka.
Anyway, I drank the Bulleit on the rocks.
A Boulevardier is a delicious spin on a Negroni made with rye.
Yes, spicy is right as you mentioned before and I agreed. I’ve never really understood the mellowness concept though. I didn’t drink whiskey for long, and I ended up with Jim Beam because it was sweeter and less spicy than rye or scotch. I was looking for something to drink straight, and that spiciness and tang were what I was looking for. Luckily I found good vodka, nearly tasteless, and it didn’t give me terrible hangovers like all whiskeys did.
So anyway, back to the subject matter, looking at the Rye Whiskey wiki I see that Canadian Rye may not have been made with rye. Canadian Club just seemed like scotch to me, but I may not be appreciating the nature of these whiskeys, Bourbon can have a lot of characteristics, but always seemed far sweeter to me than the other whiskeys.
ETA: Really wandering today 
I was wondering if there was some good way to describe what* mellowness* in whiskey is
Around here, Bulleit Rye 750 mL is $25-30, depending on where you shop. That’s what I would call about mid-range pricing, maybe on the low side of mid-range. About the same price as Makers, maybe a little lower, like you said, but I prefer it to Makers. That’s more than a reasonable price, I think, for that quality.
I had it in my head that I paid $9.99 for the first bottle, a couple of years ago. I agree with what you said, but I thought I’d paid less. (FWIW, there are some pretty high spirit taxes here in Washington.)
They’re entirely separate; bourbon is at its core, a corn whiskey that’s been aged in new charred oak barrels. It usually has some proportion of barley included in the mash bill for enzymatic action, and usually a varying proportion of rye and wheat as well. Some are “high rye” bourbons, meaning that the remaining non-corn portion of the mash bill is primarily rye- think Jim Beam or Bulleit. Others are “wheated” bourbons- think Maker’s Mark, Pappy Van Winkle and Weller. In general, rye has a distinctive flavor that’s described as “spicy”- think of the way rye bread tastes. Wheated bourbons don’t have nearly so much of that and are described as smoother, although to many high-rye fans, it’s just bland.
Rye whiskey is a forerunner of bourbon, and its mashbill is predominantly rye. So the flavors that distinguish a high rye bourbon are front and center in rye whiskey. It’s still aged in a more or less similar fashion, so it’s similar to bourbon.
Rye was the main whiskey in the golden age of cocktails however; most of the original nineteenth century whiskey cocktails actually called for rye- the Manhattan, the Vieux Carre, the Old Fashioned, and the Sazerac are all cocktails that were originally rye. As a matter of fact, there aren’t many old-time cocktails that are properly bourbon- pretty much all originated as rye, rum or cognac cocktails. Even the mint julep was originally made with rye whiskey and/or cognac, not bourbon. Bourbon was kind of considered trashy or lower-class for a long time- probably up to Prohibition, I’m guessing.
Canadian whiskey is typically high rye, but isn’t actually “rye whiskey” as defined in the US.
Definition aside, Crown Royal “Northern Harvest” clocks in at 90% rye and makes an excellent Manhattan.
I know my bourbon well. I used to drink Jim Beam straight because to me it was sweet compared to other whiskeys. The charred barrels add to the sweetness along with the high sugar content of the corn it’s distilled from. That charring converts starches in the wood into sugars just for that flavor. And then the barrels are used once and then used to age scotch helping to sweeten that. The trouble is that all whiskeys give me a hangover, the full body and head type hangover. Luckily I found good vodka. Once upon a time it was hard to find anything besides Smirnoff and Fleischmann’s, smooth as sand those two. I have a sensitive palate, something in grain whiskeys, something in poorly filtered vodka, something in a lot of grain based liquors just tastes to tangy to me, or call it spicy, whatever it is sure ain’t sweet.
While we’re here: Has anybody heard “Bulleit” pronounced by someone who works there? I’ve heard “bullet” and I’ve heard “bull-e-it.” Which does the company’s marketing department say is correct?
If you’ve not already done so, I recommend Barr Hill Vodka from Vermont. It’s distilled with honey. On the pricey side for vodka at over $50 for a 750ml bottle. Another delicious vodka for far less and with an interesting light taste of honeysuckle is Cathead Vodka from Mississippi, at about $20 per bottle. Very smooth. Both are a great domestic alternative to Titos. Belveder Smogory Forest from Poland is a great vodka as well.
What do you recommend?
*No longer need we miss
A charming scene like this…
In some secluded place to lie
Where I am wishing I would die
From drinking too much scotch and ale
'Til I was pale, then cocktails with rye*
Tom Bulleit, the founder, ought to be a good enough source. He says “bullet”.
That’s good enough for me. Thanks!
I personally wouldn’t shake a Manhattan.
I like to make a Brown Derby with the.
George Dickel has solid rye at a good price imo.
I’m not much of a whiskey drinker but I will occasionally get an Old Fashioned…with rye.
You never mentioned one important piece of information. Which bar in Chicago?