Rye Whiskey vs. Bourbon: What is the Distinction?

American whiskey is dominated by two major types: bourbon and rye. Whether or not they’re poured neat, served as a shot alongside a beer, or play the star in a number of the most well-known traditional cocktails, these two native spirits are without end intertwined in U.S. consuming tradition. Whiskey drinkers usually favor one over the opposite, however what number of know what makes rye and bourbon totally different?

Rye whiskey and bourbon: the variations and similarities

The distinction between bourbon and rye comes right down to a single issue: the first grain used of their manufacturing. 

By U.S. legislation, bourbon should include at the very least 51% corn in its grain recipe. Equally, to be thought of a rye, a whiskey should include at the very least 51% rye. The remaining grains could be any mixture of corn, rye, malted barley, wheat, or different cereal grains. Within the whiskey world, this breakdown of grains used is known as a mash invoice. 

Every grain imparts totally different qualities to a whiskey, so bourbon and rye have distinct taste profiles. 

“Evaluate the whiskeys to bread,” says Dan Callaway, vp of latest product improvement and blender at Bardstown Bourbon Firm and Inexperienced River Distillery. “Take into consideration the distinction between cornbread and rye bread.” 

Bourbon distillate is good and grain-forward. It achieves most of its taste and all of its shade from its time getting older in barrels.

“Bourbon, with its excessive corn content material, tends to be sweeter with traditional notes of vanilla, caramel, and oak,” says Bruce Russell, the affiliate grasp blender of Russell’s Reserve and Wild Turkey. 

Rye offers a punchier consuming expertise. “Rye leans into natural qualities of inexperienced tea, spearmint, and dill, accompanied by vibrant spice,” says Callaway. 

Generally described as “spicy,” rye usually has robust aromas and flavors of black pepper and allspice alongside darkish chocolate and aromatic, distinguished natural notes. 

A few of the similarities between bourbon and rye could be attributed to how they’re aged.

“As each spirits are aged in new charred oak, they each decide up caramel, vanilla, and baking spice,” says Callaway. “Because the barrel attribute improve by means of yearly of getting older, bourbon and rye decide up comparable wooden sugars.”

Although the colour and most of the similar taste notes come from maturation contained in the barrel, rye tends to say itself extra within the completed product than bourbon.

Bourbon and rye whiskey manufacturing

Most U.S. whiskey distilleries make each bourbon and rye. Corn and rye behave otherwise throughout whiskey manufacturing, nonetheless. 

“The processes themselves — mashing, fermenting, and distilling — are largely the identical,” says Russell. “Rye is a trickier grain to work with than corn. It requires a cautious fermentation course of, and it is tough to course of rye whiskey stillage.”

The barrel-aging course of, the place each bourbon and rye relaxation for years at a time in oak vessels, is sort of equivalent for each spirits. 

“Bourbon and rye are historically aged in the identical fashion of barrel, however they tackle taste in distinctive methods,” says Callaway. “Typically, ryes are bottled prior to bourbons. Their natural, spicy character is shortly balanced by the wooden sugar, whereas bourbons rely a bit extra closely on the barrel to construct character. Like the whole lot in whiskey, it is a case-by-case foundation with infinite variation.”

How rye whiskey and bourbon work otherwise in cocktails

Rye and bourbon are each fashionable base spirits for cocktails, however every serves a barely totally different position when paired with different components. Relying on their taste and energy, generally bourbon and rye are interchangeable in sure cocktails. 

“It is enjoyable to discover how every spirit behaves in cocktails,” says Callaway. “I get pleasure from making the identical cocktail with each a rye and a bourbon and seeing how the opposite components want to regulate to search out steadiness.”

Throughout the traditional cocktail revival within the early 2000s, rye whiskey additionally went by means of a resurgence within the U.S. Due to this, it’s usually known as for in lots of traditional cocktails. 

“Rye, with its spicier, extra assertive taste, is most popular in cocktails like a Whiskey Bitter or a Sazerac, the place a bolder spice profile is required to face out,” says Russell. 

“If you happen to’re making a Manhattan with a giant vermouth like a Carpano Antica, go for a robust rye content material. Similar factor with a Kentucky Mule with spicy ginger,” says Callaway. “A softer bourbon could also be dominated by these flavors, the place rye can punch by means of.”

Bourbon tends to have a rounder, sweeter profile, but it surely’s additionally a preferred base to many traditional and fashionable drinks. “Bourbon’s sweetness can mix nicely with different key components to make a layered and dynamic drink,” says Russell. 

A bourbon Outdated Long-established or a Mint Julep is about as traditional of a cocktail as you’ll ever discover. Among the many most beloved bourbon cocktails is the Paper Aircraft, a contemporary traditional created by Sam Ross that mixes bourbon with Amaro Nonino, Aperol, and lemon juice.

“For softer cocktails or sours, I choose a bourbon and fewer spice,” says Callaway. 

In the case of rye and bourbon, you don’t want to decide on a favourite. However it may be useful to know what sort of consuming expertise every offers. 

“One of the simplest ways to understand the totally different types of whiskey is to blind-taste them. Decide up a conventional bourbon, a high-rye bourbon, and a rye, then take tasting notes,” says Callaway. “Take note of the aroma, palate, and the end. By means of recognizing the variations, we are able to recognize what makes every whiskey particular.”