22 whiskies reviewed to help you rye your heart out 

The rye renaissance that began two decades ago is in full bloom, with more choice available now than at any other time in the last century. 

That variety is on full display in this tasting, which includes ryes from all over North America, each highlighting a different point on the broad spectrum of flavors that the spicy, herbaceous, earthy grain can impart.

Read on to discover:

• Nine craft ryes that showcase the range of today’s small producers, not only in quality but in flavor as well. Look for exceptional bottles from Colorado, Kentucky, Texas, Nevada, and even our nation’s capital.

• A trio of barrel-proof ryes with powerful flavors, including a standout single barrel from one of the Mountain West’s most interesting new distilleries.

• Seven cask-finished rye whiskies that incorporate everything from sherry and red wine barrels to a spirit so obscure we had to google it.

• Two older-than-average ryes with classic flavors—one with a very pleasing price tag.
• And one more to round things out!

If you’re looking for a sweeter sip, check out our recent tasting briefs for American whiskey. Scotch fans, we've got you covered too.

Happy drinking, friends.

Diverse Craft Ryes

291 All Rye 100% Rye Malt (Batch 1)

Intensity from start to finish, with a deeply aromatic nose of white grape juice, blackberry jam, mango, and spiced toasty oak. Add water generously to tame the heat and tannin, and unlock vivid chile spice, coffee bean, dark chocolate, and charred oak, which carry into a smoky finish. Not a conventional rye, but a deeply enjoyable one.

Bardstown Bourbon Co. Origin Series Straight Rye Finished in Toasted Cherry Wood and Oak

Bardstown puts a Kentucky spin on the mashbill that Indiana made famous: 95% rye, 5% malted barley. Candied stone fruit, light citrus notes, hibiscus, cloves, and nutmeg jam on the nose, with a veritable cornucopia of spices on the palate, from spearmint and black pepper to clove, allspice, and other warm baking spices, all vivid and layered. There’s also dried orange peel and cooked stone fruit. A soft, round finish with fragrant mint, dry-roasted nuts, a drizzle of dark chocolate, and incense-heavy oak.

District Made Straight Rye

On the nose, brightly sweet strawberry and grape Kool-Aid mingles with raisin-studded coffee cake and fresh pine needles, a combination that works even better on the generous palate. Cinnamon, cloves, raisins, blackberry jam, and root beer, trickling over polished oak, lead into a finish where spice and oak vie for pride of place. Spice wins out, with a late hit of licorice at the tail end.

Frey Ranch Single Barrel Straight Rye (#260)

Perfumy, sweet, and herbal nose: just-picked nectarines in a colander with sun-warmed basil and thyme. Water is necessary to get past the intensity of proof; once added, herbal oak, chopped herbs, and herbal tea dominate a palate that also features brown sugared pecans and sweet pine.

Still Austin The Artist Straight Rye

The term "delicate" is usually reserved for light-bodied, low-proof whiskies, but here it applies to a rye with a generous ABV and no lack of texture. The nose is retiring and floral-forward: rosewater, lilac, dried apricot, and the gentlest whiff of spice. The potpourri effect continues on the palate, a cinnamon shortbread cookie topped with strawberry jam and nutmeg cake studded with prunes. It all fades to a restrained oak finish, which lingers in a sweet and spiced glow.

Sagamore Spirit Bottled-in-Bond (Batch 2A)

After years of bottling contract-distilled rye, Sagamore Spirit can now offer its own, made at its Baltimore distillery. The nose mixes dried and candied orange peels with thyme, sage, black pepper, and balsa wood. A spiced, peppery palate offers more orange, semi-sweet chocolate, and balanced oak. This is a down-the-middle rye, well proportioned and enjoyable.

Redwood Empire Rocket Top Bottled-in-Bond (Batch #002)

The nose is structured and well-defined, rich in toasted oak spices and vanilla, with cinnamon, nutmeg, and a clay-like earthiness; water brings out rounded berry and banana notes. Dry on the palate, and well-spiced, sweetened by dried apricots, milk chocolate, and roasted pecans, with tart dried cherries and earthy tea leaf. Pepper and nutmeg on the lingering finish, with roasted coffee beans imparting welcome bitterness. If adding water, give it time to integrate.

Watershed 6-Year-Old Straight Rye (Batch 001)

The first rye from this Ohio distillery comes in with a deeply piney nose and notes of black licorice, boiled peanuts, clay, and cacao nibs. Zesty, sweet pine and black pepper-coated nuts mingle with grapes on the palate; water brings out lemon peel and a brighter fruit character. Licorice, lightly roasted walnuts, pine, and oak on the medium-length finish. Takes generous water.

Frey Ranch Bottled-in-Bond Straight Rye

Butterscotch haystacks and orange in warm apple cider lead an autumnal nose and point to the palate's cooked orchard fruit, mulling spices, and stewed orange peel, sprinkled with dried mint and black pepper. Mint tea, allspice, semi-sweet oak, and a slight char on the finish.

High-Proof Ryes

291 Barrel Proof Single Barrel Colorado Whiskey (#955)

A finishing period with aspen staves inserted into the barrel gives this and other 291 whiskies pungent, powerful wood spice character, often buffeted by wisps of smoke. Here there's also chai spices, candied premium nut mix, and Lapsang Souchong. More exotic spice, tea leaf, and smoky barrel char on the palate, which benefits from a generous addition of water to bring out the underlying rye character, piney and fresh. Long, lingering finish.

Uncle Nearest Single Barrel Rye (#001)

An unusual profile, with the tart, yeasty aroma of cloudy apple cider, as well as butter pecan ice cream, butterscotch, and black licorice. Heavy with stewed apples spiced with cinnamon and allspice, plus bittersweet oak, baker's chocolate, cooked pears, and diner coffee when water is added. The finish remains apple-forward and spiced, with coffee and a hint of herbs. The rye was distilled in Canada and aged in New York and Tennessee.

Uncle Nearest Uncut/Unfiltered Straight Rye

Distilled in Canada and aged in New York, this is an oddball rye that falls outside even the most wide-ranging flavor profiles for the grain. An initially vinous, acidic nose of stewed fruit tangles with pleasant aromas of ripe strawberry and orange gum drops, which are also present on the palate alongside black licorice and a meaty umami note. Beef jerky and chocolate-covered walnuts on the finish. It benefits from a generous addition of water.

Barrel-Finished Ryes

Jack Daniel's Distillery Series Tennessee Rye Finished in High Toast Oak Barrels

A nose that’s rich with all the cooked dark fruits: blackberry cobbler filling, raspberry purée, spiced stewed prunes, plus brown sugar, dark chocolate-covered caramels, perfumy spiced orange peel, and polished antique oak. Lush and textured on the palate, a barrel-aged ganache, with spiced dark fruits, mocha, Coca-Cola, chocolate-covered cherries, and gooey maple syrup. Mexican chocolate, spiced blackberry jam, and polished oak on the lengthy, lingering finish. Takes water well but doesn’t need it.

WhistlePig The Boss Hog IX Siren’s Song (Barrel #51)

WhistlePig has done some wild things for the sake of its cask-finish program, many of which show up in the annual Boss Hog limited edition. For 2022, the distillery made its own tentura, a traditional Greek liqueur flavored with herbs and spices, to season casks that were then used to finish some of the rye in the blend. The result is off the wall but works: a wild nose of mulled wine and gingerbread, sweet with raisins, orange peel, dried ginger, brown sugar, and cloves, and shot through with pine resin. The evergreen-spice matchup, redolent with dried figs and eucalyptus, continues on the palate, which retains a pleasant austerity to temper some of the exotic flavors. More baking spices, herbs, pine boughs, and sweet dried fruit on the finish.

Old Elk Rum Cask Finish Rye

Old Elk's rye all comes from MGP, where master distiller Greg Metze spent most of his career before joining the startup brand. His intimate grasp of the whiskey shows in the deftness of this rum cask finish, which rounds out a core of herbal spice with sweet pastry notes and a luscious texture. Vanilla-soaked raisins, semi-sweet chocolate, pastry cream, cinnamon, allspice, and rich oak balance each other in a mature yet still exciting whiskey that's compelling from nose to finish.

Pursuit United Blended Straight Rye Whiskeys Finished with Sherry French Revere Oak (Batch 11CC)

An impressive melding of ryes from Kentucky and Maryland, finished with sherry French oak, which comes out on the first whiff of brown sugar syrup in iced tea, gingerbread spices, maple syrup, and sarsaparilla, along with dried marigolds and oiled tack. An herbal-sweet palate with robust body showcases lemon balm, black pepper, nutmeg, and mouthwatering spiced oak, which fades to a rounded completeness on the finish. Nice development in the glass.

Noble Oak Double Oak Rye

Aromas of a dense pine forest, along with licorice, anise, and a touch of rubber, lightened by candied apricot. Dark and savory flavors of aniseed and licorice tea, pillowed by spiced berry and plum jam, give way to a medium-long finish of coffee bean, charred oak, and persistent pine and licorice. Finished with port cask staves using Noble Oak's proprietary process.

Jack Daniel's Distillery Series Straight Tennessee Rye Finished in High Toast Maple Barrels

Tart plum jam, boysenberry syrup, antique oak, finely ground black pepper, and Jordan almond on the nose. Chewy and chest-warming palate, with mocha, black pepper, Cherry Coke, tarragon, mint, and an unusual combination of barrel notes that suggests both age (rancio) and non-standard cooperage (chili powder). Dry and oak-driven on the finish, with more chili powder, barrel char, mint leaf, and black pepper.

Savage & Cooke Lip Service

Dave Phinney finished three-year-old rye from Indiana in Grenache barrels from Maury, France. The whiskey has a reticent nose with soft aromas of peach jelly, white flowers, and vanilla. The palate is sweet with stone fruit—peach, nectarine and apricot—white grape juice, honeysuckle, and soft spice, layered with bitter oak that keeps the sweetness in check. A medium-length finish is focused on oak, with lingering fruity essence.

Well-Aged Ryes

Sagamore Spirit 8-Year-Old (Batch 2A)

The nose is fragrant and rich with sweet raisins, maple syrup, brown sugar, gingerbread, semi-sweet chocolate, and vanilla, giving way to a chewy, dark palate with mint and sage, dark chocolate, and pain d'épices spice character. A top note of pine resin emerges when water is added. Persistent mint and sage carry through to the lengthy finish, alongside dried ginger, aniseed, oak, and coffee bean.

Knob Creek 7-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Rye

Knob Creek’s first age-stated rye is fresh with herb garden aromas of mint and tarragon and rounded with fragrant oak and concord grapes. Savory, full, and muscular on the palate, with mint-chocolate, roasted walnuts, generous dark oak, dried ginger, and baking spices. Spiced and a touch bitter, but balanced, with black pepper, mint tea, oak, and coffee bean on the medium-length finish.

And One More to Bring Up the Rear

Uncle Nearest Straight Rye

Herbal tea, anise, cedar, and sweet cherry pie filling on the nose. Cherries, sliced orange, dry oak, and bolstering spice—black pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon—on the palate. The finish has generous dry oak, aniseed, and traces of orange candy. The rye was distilled in Canada and aged in New York and Tennessee.