Ha, ha... just kidding, I love me some bourbon too!!! But I REALLY love me some Rye! I didn't see a Rye exclusive thread (I'm sure there's one somewhere) so I figured I'd start one. I'd love to see your recommendations... and I'd also love to see cocktail recommendations. Rye was meant for cocktails as much as it was for sipping IMO. There's not many Ryes I'd turn my nose up at. My favorite is probably the Angel's Envy Finished Rye...tho I know it's too sweet for some pallets.

One of my favorite Rye Cocktails is Satan's Circus. I discovered this one at The Whiskey House in San Diego (easily the biggest whiskey selection of any whiskey bar I've ever patronized).
2 Oz Rye
.75 oz Cherry Heering
.75 oz Chile infused aperol (I just add/use a nip of super hot Chile vodka I infused myself)
.75 lemon juice

This is easily one of my top 5 cocktails.

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/satan-s-circus

Rittenhouse bottled in bond. It's good enough to drink neat or with some ice, and really good in cocktails. The cocktail for me is the Boulevardier. Equal parts rye, sweet vermouth (either Dolin, Cocchi, or Noilly Prat), and Campari.

HTownAg98 said:

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Rittenhouse bottled in bond. It's good enough to drink neat or with some ice, and really good in cocktails. The cocktail for me is the Boulevardier. Equal parts rye, sweet vermouth (either Dolin, Cocchi, or Noilly Prat), and Campari.

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Nice. The new Old Forester Rye is BIB and excellent for sipping or cocktails. Honestly, MGP Ryes are by and large quite good also. Their 95% Rye mash bill is tough to beat.

I made a duck fat washed Bulleit Rye that was outstanding. I got that idea from an article I read on making a duck fat Sazerac.

Here's a blood orange version of the Boulvardier you might like:

https://pin.it/fzdgo7lfokasaw

Overholt bonded is solid, replaced rittenhouse as my every day cocktail rye. It is good neat as well.

Off topic, but I just invented a cocktail inspired by this thread: the boulevardito. Equal parts mezcal, sweet vermouth, and cointreau. It's solid! Could use an orange peel though. I am curious to try it with campari Iinstead of cointreau, but there are too many stairs between me and my basement bar right now.

BigAg95 said:

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Overholt bonded is solid, replaced rittenhouse as my every day cocktail rye. It is good neat as well.

Off topic, but I just invented a cocktail inspired by this thread: the boulevardito. Equal parts mezcal, sweet vermouth, and cointreau. It's solid! Could use an orange peel though. I am curious to try it with campari Iinstead of cointreau, but there are too many stairs between me and my basement bar right now.

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I like the way you think! Figure out a way to get Ancho Reyes in there and get back to me. Maybe replace the vermouth with it.

BigAg95 said:

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Overholt bonded is solid, replaced rittenhouse as my every day cocktail rye. It is good neat as well.

Off topic, but I just invented a cocktail inspired by this thread: the boulevardito. Equal parts mezcal, sweet vermouth, and cointreau. It's solid! Could use an orange peel though. I am curious to try it with campari Iinstead of cointreau, but there are too many stairs between me and my basement bar right now.

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A mezcal negroni is a very good cocktail.

If we're talking just cocktails at this point... Culinary Dropout (if there's one near you) has some outstanding ones that are pretty unique. Pistols at Dawn features Bulleit and Ancho Reyes with a ginger agave syrup and a cabernet splash in top. Their Boulvardier is on point but uses Eagle Rare 10 and features clove bitters. The Austin one does a drink that won their annual bar competition called "Forget Yo Honey" with black tea infused vodka, mint honey and amaretto. Smashed Irishman uses Irish whiskey and a Guinness reduction I'm gonna try to duplicate.

My buddies and I did a blind tasting not too long ago and the winner of our little focus group was not shocking: WP 10 year.

The second-place finisher, though, absolutely floored me: Crown Royal Northern Harvest. Seriously. It tastes a lot better when you can't see the label, and since it's less than half the price of the WP, it's worth a shot if you've never tried it.

Well... they're both Canadian Rye so at least your taste buds are consistent!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.esquire.com/food-drink/drinks/amp23708063/best-whisky-year-2019-is-american/

If you scroll down this article mentions this guy picked the Northern Harvest Rye as his whiskey of the year in 2016.

Are the 10 years all still Alberta? I know there are a lot of 10 year barrel picks out there now that are actually >10 year MGP. Also, I'm assuming that the reference was a WP10. I'm pretty sure WP12, WP15, and the latest Boss Hoggs are all MGP.

jh0400 said:

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Are the 10 years all still Alberta? I know there are a lot of 10 year barrel picks out there now that are actually >10 year MGP. Also, I'm assuming that the reference was a WP10. I'm pretty sure WP12, WP15, and the latest Boss Hoggs are all MGP.

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You may be right. Their early stuff was Canadian but I've heard their more recent product is domestic juice. I think they even started distilling some themselves IIRC. I need to go back and read up more on them.

They have started distilling and selling their own, it's at least part of what is in the farmstock rye. Not near as good as the sourced.

I know there have still been Alberta barrel picks recently but I think they've mostly shifted to MGP. That seems to be the trend with the WP barrels I've seen in the last six months or so.

Fall92 said:

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Casn't argue w/ any of the WP's. One of my favorite ryes though is the High West Double Rye.

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I partied like a Rock Star in Vegas on a bottle of that in my hotel room!

Stumbled onto it myself at a hotel bar in Charleston. After 3 nights I decided it was a must have for the house.

I found Bower Hill Rye at Total wine and more for 27 dollars and it is fairly good.

Sazerac for me tonight. Recipe came from this list. I've made several of them (Old Pal, Boulevardier, New Friend, Sazerac, Old Fashioned, Manhattan), and I want to try The Chocolate Rye. The infusion looks intriguing.
https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/03/best-rye-whiskey-cocktail-recipes.html

I've done a duck fat Sazerac before. Washed the Rye in duck fat for 24 hours. Froze it overnight to remove the fat. Very nice. Smooths out the Rye a bit. Gives it a depth of flavor you wouldn't otherwise get.

Here's the recipe:

https://pin.it/2d5our4iyl4mpu

What absinthe you using for your Sazerac? I bought this at the twin dollar sale...good stuff! Not to be confused with the Pernod Pastis which is $30 cheaper but not true absinthe (it's also much lower proof).

I use the Pastis since you're just washing the glass with it and tossing it. Seems like a waste of good booze.

Another trick is to just put some in a small spray bottle and add a couple spritz to complete the drink.

I had the pleasure of getting to try Booker's Rye 2016 release in NOLA last summer and man oh man. At the top of my list for sure.

Basil Hayden Rye is my favorite.

TexAgBQ13 said:

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I had the pleasure of getting to try Booker's Rye 2016 release in NOLA last summer and man oh man. At the top of my list for sure.

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CBD Provisions in Dallas has a "house rye" that is half Knob Creek Rye and half Old Overholt Rye. Pretty great, and helps make a perfect Manhattan when coupled with Carpano Antica vermouth

BigAg95 said:

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but there are too many stairs between me and my basement bar right now.

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Dude.. I believe you'd get your ass kicked saying something like that around my house!