Decanter sets will often have generic labels embossed on the bottle or caps or a small plate on a chain. Bourbon, Scotch, Rum, Rye.
At most bars you can get by ordering the “house” brand of bourbon or scotch by just saying “scotch and soda” or “rum and coke”. Try to order rye they send the waitress back for a brand name. Of course, if you order by brand then the price doubles.
Why the difference.
Rye was probably the most popular hard liquor prior to around 1960 or so. Most drinks used rye, and if you look at liauor ads of the time, rye was featured at least half the time.
After the 60s, however, it fell out of favor, replaced by vodka and gin in popularity, and by Canadian Whiskey or American Whiskey in drinks that called for rye. At this point, it is very hard to find rye, and there are few manufacturers. I’d be surprised if bars still stock it – any drink made with rye can also be made with Canadian Whiskey (which has some rye in it, but not the 50% required to let it be called rye), and the traditional rye drinks (e.g., an Old Fashioned) are rarely ordered.
When I was growing up, my parents always had rye in the liquor cabinet. They probably haven’t had a bottle of it in 25 years.
The decanter sets just didn’t change with the times.
There are several bars in the Chicago area that stock rye, the Billy Goat near the Tribune Tower being one of them. The three brands of rye that you are most likely to find if you find a decent liquor store are Old Overholt, Jim Beam, and Wild Turkey. Old Overholt is my favorite “everyday” whiskey, and Sam’s Wine & Spirits in Chicago stocks it at something like $12/bottle, making it perhaps the best hard liquor value out there. Sam’s also stocks high-end ryes at $40-$50/bottle, but I forget the brand names offhand.
Glad to hear it. I suspect, alas, that those are the exception, and you have to go to a real high-end bar or liquor store to find it.
Most liquor stores around here don’t stock it, even though there’s usually a section on their shelves that says “Rye” – often covered with a sign announcing some other liquor.
FYI - In Canada rye is the generic name still used for Canadian Whiskey, whether it be CC (Canadian Club), Crown Royal, VO, etc. We usually never specify any brand, just a “rye and coke,” “rye and ginger,” etc.
I drink beer, but I’ve sure heard stories of dumfounded waitresses in the US trying to understand an order of “I’ll have a rye and ginger, eh.”
…them good-ol boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye, and singin’ this’ll be the day that I die…
When I go to the bar this Saturday night, I’ll ask the bar keep for a shot of his finest Rye and see what happens.
That’s funny; I associate Jim Beam & Wild Turkey with “non-decent” liquor stores and dive bars with limited selections! In this neighborhood ordering “the special” will get you a shot of Beam & a can of PBR for $3.
I don’t know Old Overholt at all & never recall seeing it. I wonder to what extent these things are still regionalisms.
Cheesborger!
Rye is a type of whisky made from rye. It’s probably the most popular whisky in Canada.
Old Overholt is a decent rye whiskey. Old Fashioneds and other rye drinks just aren’t the same when made with Canadian or bourbon whiskey. Much as I like rye, though, I just can’t abide that goshawful Rock and Rye.
Candian whisky is somewhat different that what’s referred to as rye in the States. To expand on what Reality Chuck said, Canadian whiskey is a blend, containing rye whiskey and perhaps some other whiskey, blended with neutral spirits. American rye is 100% whiskey, with at least 51% of the mash consisting of rye. Also, as noted by Reality Chuck, rye was much more popular than bourbon before the second half of the 20th century.
Let me clarify. Jim Beam and Wild Turkey both make ryes, but those are not the regular whiskeys associated with these brands. Jim Beam Rye comes in a bright yellow labeled bottle.
The Wild Turkey Rye labellooks like this. It is also a bit strong, at 101 proof.
Old Overholt is made by the same guys who make Beam, and is my favorite of the three ryes. It’s a very nostalgic brand–the type of whiskey you would expect stashed away in a harried chain-smoking newspaper editor’s desk back in the 30s and 40s.
Here’s a good Chicago Tribune article on Rye from 1999.
Old Overholt (one of the oldest brands of anything in the US) was hurt by it’s name. You’ve probably seen one or two old cartoons of the 30s and 40s that referred to “Old Overcoat” as a whiskey.
Rye was not regional – it was one of the first things you bought when you stocked your liquor cabinet in the US. But tastes switched to gin and vodka and rye was left behind.
“Aha!” I’m going to keep an eye out for these now, thanks.
So that’s what rock and rye is. I thought it was a rye and soda, with the brand name “White Rock” being substituted for generic “soda”.
Well, sort of. Rock & Rye is a generic term for a liqueur:
Hello baby, I’m gone, goodbye
Half a cup of rock and rye
Farewell to you old southern sky
I’m on my way - on my way
My dad, who started drinking in the Midwest circa 1955, associates rye with New York and New Yorkers. Is this just because he moved to NY circa 1963, or was there a regional taste at some point?
I’ve frequented NY area bars for 15+ years and rye is a nonentity unless you find some aficionado somewhere. NY has aficionados for everything.
Rye was a traditional drink for private eyes back in the glory days pre-1950s. Maybe all the writers were in NYC and just used local places for color, but PIs from Chicago to LA drank rye all the time and I never particularly associated it with New York.
The BEST ryes ever, even if the first one doesn’t say it on the label:
http://www.anchorbrewing.com/about_us/oldpotrero_18th.htm
http://www.anchorbrewing.com/about_us/oldpotrero.htm
Just pour a shot of the former over an ice cube, and let the aroma take you in. The other one’s just a great sipping whiskey.
The hamsters ate my post last night (presumably as a cocktail garnish). I’ll try to recreate it.
Several posters have mentioned gin and vodka overtaking whiskey, and especially rye, circa 1960. But even among whiskey-drinkers, rye was completely eclipsed by bourbon. I was quite surprised to learn that rye had once been more poular. Any idea why rye almost went extict, even among whiskey-drinkers?
I recently became interested in whiskey, and saw pulykamell’s and others’ earlier recomendation of rye. No one around here had heard of Old Overholdt, but I found one store that sells Jim Beam and Wild Turkey ryes. I opted for Wild Turkey. Am I drinking a good rye?
I rather like it, and my first reaction to it was very positive. (Dammit, why did the hamsters have to make me retype this? Now it’s before ten in the morning and I want a drink!) I can see. however, how rye could have been hurt by being an “in-between” choice. Bourbon and the other popular whisk(e)y, scotch, occupy opposite ends of the flavor spectrum. Bourbon is sweet and approachable (as hard liquors go), which is likely to appeal to most mainstream palates. Scotch is smokey and occasionally harsh, and captures the dark-roast coffee and bitter chocolate segment of the population. Rye is somewhere in between, with neither bourbon’s caramely sweetness nor scotch’s smokiness. It may be in some respects the best of both worlds, but it lacks an obvious market segment.
