The renaissance of whiskey is being felt by their distillers. The evidence is everywhere. The craft whiskey industry is flourishing and there are more independent distillers now than ever before. And for the old school distillers who still produced rye whiskey as a matter of tradition, even their products are back in business.
Unlike its cousin bourbon, rye whiskey was being kept alive because of its deep roots in American tradition. Five years ago this was still the case. But now, the patience of distillers like Wild Turkey's Eddie Russell is finally paying off, Courier Journal reported.
Eddie Russell is the son of master distiller Jimmy Russell. He took on the job from his father earlier this year and he said, "In my 35 years, rye was just a brand of whiskey that never grew, never changed much. Bourbon always had ups and downs, you'd see the ebbs and flows. With rye, it was the same forever. Then it went completely out of whack."
The sudden increase in demand caught most of the distillers off-guard. From 88,000 cases in 2009, rye whiskey sales topped up at 550,000 by 2014. In the case of Wild Turkey, they have been able to increase production from 10,000 cases per year to 100,000 in the same time frame.
Business has been so good that the distillery can even afford the luxury of experimentation. This fall, they released a single barrel Russell Reserve Rye. "It's the first time we've had enough rye whiskey available to do something like that," the new master distiller said.
NY Daily News reported that Rob Cooper, maker of Hochstadter’s Vatted Rye, a newcomer in the industry, said that “Rye became unpopular because it was abrasive. But people who are into spirits are always looking for something classic — and that led to the rediscovery of rye.”
One more reason why rye whiskey had become so popular again is its strong taste in cocktails. When regular whiskey is used, it would get diluted too much. However, when rye whiskey is used, the taste is much more pronounced and would remind drinkers why they are drinking it in the first place—for the enjoyment of whiskey.
