American Whiskey Showdown: Rye vs. Bourbon

“What is the difference between Rye and Bourbon?” Chris Oddo, a local sports writer asked me as we sipped on a Rye Old Fashioned and a Bobby Burns in The Alembic on Haight. Chris’ girlfriend is good friends with my gorgeous and brilliant girlfriend who chose The Alembic because it is a perfect match for my infatuation with brown liquor (second only to my infatuation with her), and I’m grateful to her for always thinking about me (that should earn me some brownie points). Prior to fielding this question, I had done some extensive tasting and research on Scotch, but I hadn’t looked into American whiskeys much, other than gathering a handful of favorites when in bars that don’t have much Scotch. But my two-drinks-deep brain didn’t hesitate to grasp for a couple scraps of fact and fill in the blanks with leaps of muddled logic.

“I don’t know much about American Whiskey, but there are certain strict rules for making Bourbon, like the casks can only be used once for aging and there has to be a certain level of rye and corn and it has to be made in Kentucky and the monks chew the rice and spit it into the mash to start fermentation and pink elephants and yeti…” And, and, and. I should have cut it off after “I don’t know much about American Whiskey”. Now, to assuage the shame at answering Chris’ question with a stream of rambling half truths and speculations, I subject you, dear reader, to more than you ever wanted to know about Rye and Bourbon. And my psyche.

The Standards of Bourbon

Most alcohol regulating bodies around the world agree that Bourbon must be made in the United States (or be a Chinese knockoff thereof). Bourbon must be made of at least 51% corn, distilled to no more than 160 proof (80% alcohol by volume – yowsers!), bottled at no less than 80 proof (40% ABV), enter the barrel at nor more than 125 proof (62.5% ABV, you get it – divide the proof in half) and age in new, charred oak barrels.

The rules on aging are lenient: it must be aged “at least briefly”. To carry the label Straight Bourbon, the whiskey meeting the above requirements can’t be cut with other spirits, contain added color or flavor and must age for at least two years. If it is aged less than 4 years, the age must be stated on the label. The age refers to the youngest whiskey in the bottle. Blended Bourbon can contain other spirits, colors and flavors, but must contain at least 51% Straight Bourbon. Phew. There are a lot of rules.

Brief Bourbon History

Corn

Bourbon ain’t French and the first American whiskeys weren’t distilled in Kentucky. The Scotch-Irish settlers in Pennsylvania were the first distillers in the colonies, but a quarrel over stiff excise taxes on liquor (which helped pay for the Revolutionary War) forced George Washington to offer the distillers incentives to move to Kentucky (then part of Virginia). Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson offered pioneers 60 acres of land in Kentucky to grow corn. I like corn on the cob, popcorn and creamed corn, but after about 20 acres worth, I’d be running out of ideas, and so did the old time Kentuckets. They couldn’t eat it, and they couldn’t store it for a long period of time so they did what any sensible American would: they made liquor out of it. Problems solved. Bourbon County butted up against the Ohio river and its town of Marysville became a primary shipping port out of which to transport the liquor. Viola, whiskey comes from Bourbon County. Bourbon whiskey.

Fabled Reverend Elijah Craig from Bourbon County supposedly invented the Bourbon making process with charred barrel aging but the first true commercial Bourbon distiller was more likely Evan Williams in 1783.

And, by the way, no whiskey is produced in Bourbon County these days. Go figure. (Update 4/4/2011: the Bourbon County, KY website states that indeed no bourbon whiskey is being distilled in Bourbon County today. I’ve contacted to the County offices for further confirmation.)

Sources

American Whiskey, thetasteoftx.com

Bourbon Whiskey, Wikipedia

The Rules of Rye

American Rye whiskey must be made from a mash containing at least 51% rye, distilled to no more than 160 proof, aged in charred, new oak barrels (like bourbon) and must go into those barrels at no more than 125 proof. The whiskey must be aged at least two years to be labeled Straight rye. Other than the predominant ingredient, the rye whiskey process looks very similar to the bourbon process. So why, then, did only a handful of producers of rye survive prohibition?

The answer is: Canada

Catcher in the...

Or at least, in part. During prohibition, Canadian rye distillers were able to openly continue producing whiskey while American distillers had to work under cover of night. The Canadian rye still had to be smuggled into the country, but when prohibition was repealed, their distilleries were up and running. The American distillers had to rebuild resources and inventory, and never quite got back on their feet. A few rye distilleries popped back up and bourbon distillers produced a modest amount of rye, but the public seemed to lean toward the bourbon that was more readily available. Rye became the drink of the old and the poor, possibly because of the differences in flavor profiles that I will discuss next. As a result of the Canadians’ capacity for producing rye during prohibition, most Canadian whiskey is thought to be rye today, though most Canadian whiskeys are actually comprised of very little rye. How aboot that, eh?

The rye comeback was spurred by Rittenhouse 100 Proof Rye being named “Whiskey of the Year” in 2006 at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and San Francisco’s Anchor Distilling (the same Anchor Steam that pioneered the craft brew trend in beer) was ready to capitalize with the Old Portrero Rye they began making in 1996. Now the Old Portrero and Rittenhouse brands have been joined by brands from larger distilleries like Jim Beam’s (Ri)1 as the US clamors for spicier whiskey.

Sources

The Combeback Kid, Imbibe Magazine 2007

Rye Whiskey, Wikipedia

Manhattan Cocktail, That’s the Spirit

The Bottom Line: The Flavor

The difference you and I are most concerned with is flavor. To put it simply, rye imparts a spicier, fruitier flavor and bourbon gets a smoother, sweeter flavor from its corn and usually longer cask aging. Some have equated rye to Islay scotches which carry more bite, smoke and earthy flavors than Speyside or Highland malts. Though bourbons tend to have better balance, ryes stand up better in cocktails as I found out when making a Boulevardier with bourbon. Many contemporary bartenders prefer rye in the Sazerac, Boulevardier, Old Fashioned and even the kingly Manhattan. In cocktails bourbon, like vodka, is a soothing, comforting presence that allows drinkers to drink as if they were warm in their mothers’ wombs. Rye, like Islay scotch, gives you a little taste of being slapped by a jilted lover. But you just can’t help but go back and beg her for another chance.

So Chris, that, in a much too small nutshell, is how I should have answered on Saturday. I bet you’re glad I didn’t or we’d still be there, and we’d be pretty drunk by now. There’s a lot more to the history and cultural affectations and effects of these two American icons than a blog post or casual conversation can do justice.