# Please recommend a good rye whiskey and the best way to drink it.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-good-rye-whiskey-and-the-best-way-to-drink-it/545157
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** liquor-alcohol
**Created:** [July 1, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-good-rye-whiskey-and-the-best-way-to-drink-it/545157 "2010-07-01T03:24:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-good-rye-whiskey-and-the-best-way-to-drink-it/545157/1 "2010-07-01T03:24:54Z")
Straight up goes without say.
I’m looking for any other mode of consumption that abides by the principle: “If not tasted then wasted”.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-good-rye-whiskey-and-the-best-way-to-drink-it/545157/2 "2010-07-01T03:42:56Z")
Try a Russell’s Reserve Manhattan.
2 jiggers Russell’s Reserve Rye
1/2 jigger sweet vermouth
2-4 dashes Angostura bitters, to taste
Stir over ice and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-good-rye-whiskey-and-the-best-way-to-drink-it/545157/3 "2010-07-01T04:12:17Z")
The best way to drink it? In pint gulps, through a beer-bomb funnel.
Try it. I’ll be standing over here out of projectile-hurl range. 😉
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### Author:  [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-good-rye-whiskey-and-the-best-way-to-drink-it/545157/4 "2010-07-01T04:21:53Z")
I’m particularly fond of Thomas Handy. Have drunk it neat (and slowly!) but I’ve found that a chaser of Strongbow Cider (or Woodchuck Dry) complements it quite nicely.
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### Author:  [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-good-rye-whiskey-and-the-best-way-to-drink-it/545157/5 "2010-07-01T04:29:02Z")
> [@Oly](#):
>
> Straight up goes without say.
>
> I’m looking for any other mode of consumption that abides by the principle: “If not tasted then wasted”.
My current two favorites, in fact my all time favorite bottles _period_, are the Black Maple Hill 23yo and 18yo. I’ve heard excellent things about the Sazerac 18yo, and mixed reviews of their 6 or 8, I forget which. The Van Winkel Family Reserve Rye 13yo is great, if a little less intense than the others. I have a bottle of the Thomas Handy unfiltered and uncut rye, but at 130 proof, I’ve been afraid to open it. But it’s supposed to be excellent. I also have the Old Potrero from the Anchor Steam folks, it’s good, but completely different as it’s not aged in charred barrels so it’s trying to be something different.
Hated the new boutique Jim Beam product, ri(1) or however the hell they spell it. But there’s a special place in my heart for Old Overholt. It is a very good rye, so cheap that is got the bum liquor taint. But I think it’s the best deal in the liquor store.
I only ever drink it neat, or maybe with a little ice or water for the high octane guys.
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### Author:  [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-good-rye-whiskey-and-the-best-way-to-drink-it/545157/6 "2010-07-01T04:34:36Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#):
>
> I only ever drink it neat, or maybe with a little ice or water for the high octane guys.
I call bullshit on myself. I like a good rye in a manhattan. And anything with rye from Zig Zag in Seattle. I just don’t bother mixing drinks myself.
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### Author:  [@thisiswaters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thisiswaters)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-good-rye-whiskey-and-the-best-way-to-drink-it/545157/7 "2010-07-01T18:52:20Z")
WhistlePig Straight Rye Whiskey has been getting a lot of press recently. I got to try it at Indy Spirits last week, and it’s real good stuff. I guess WhistlePig with a little ice would be my choice, at the moment.
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### Author:  [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-good-rye-whiskey-and-the-best-way-to-drink-it/545157/8 "2010-07-01T22:37:57Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#):
>
> Hated the new boutique Jim Beam product, ri(1) or however the hell they spell it. But there’s a special place in my heart for Old Overholt. It is a very good rye, so cheap that is got the bum liquor taint. But I think it’s the best deal in the liquor store.
>
> I only ever drink it neat, or maybe with a little ice or water for the high octane guys.
I second Old Overholt - a real bargain.
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### Author:  [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-good-rye-whiskey-and-the-best-way-to-drink-it/545157/9 "2010-07-01T23:33:51Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#):
>
> My current two favorites, in fact my all time favorite bottles _period_, are the Black Maple Hill 23yo and 18yo.
I second Black Maple Hill 23 yo rye as the finest whiskey I’ve ever tasted. Absolutely delicious. I drink it neat, a quarter ounce at a time.
Michter’s makes a very good rye. Their 10 yo single barrell rye gives Black Maple Hill 18 yo a run for the money, but comes up just a tad short.
I like [Rittenhouse](http://www.heaven-hill.com/pr-recent.shtml?article=NTM4NnN1cGVyNTM4M3NlY3JldDUzOTA=) Bottled-In-Bond Rye in a Manhattan, as well as Russell’s. Folllow **silenus’s** recipe.
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### Author:  [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-good-rye-whiskey-and-the-best-way-to-drink-it/545157/10 "2010-07-02T04:09:20Z")
My tolerance for rotgut cried uncle a while ago, while my propensity to be a cheapskate gets more entrenched by the year. They used to get along so well together.
Sounds like Old Overholt might thread the needle. Thanks for the recs.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-good-rye-whiskey-and-the-best-way-to-drink-it/545157/11 "2010-07-02T04:22:26Z")
Skip the Overholt and try Pikesville. Much tastier, IMO.