Rye Whiskey

From Wild West towns like Tombstone, Abilene, and Cheyenne to the plush salons of New Orleans, Saint Louis and New York City, rye whiskey was the most popular spirit of eighteenth century America.

The Scottish-Irish immigrant distillers has some exposure to using rye in whiskey production, but their German immigrant neighbors, rye had been the primary grain used in the production of schnapps and vodka back in northern Europe.

They continued this distilling practice, particularly in Pennsylvania and Maryland, where rye whiskey, with its distinctive hard-edged, grainy palate, remained the dominant whiskey type well into the twentieth century.

The thirst for this alcoholic brew traveled as far as the West Indies, France, England, the Philippines and even China. And the best of the rye was Monongahela Rye, manufactured in the Laurel Highlands.

In the late 1700s and early 1800sm the hills and meadows along Monongahela River were lush with planted rye. There are between modern Belle Vernon and Monessen was known as the best rye growing soil on the fledgling nation. It was here, in small cottage industry stills, that the best of the famous Monongahela Rye whiskey was first produced.

Rye whiskey has had a huge impact on the growth of America, being a product birthed from a revolution. It was ‘Americanized’ in 1791 when Alexander Hamilton proposed a tax on this spirit. The protest in Pennsylvania soon turned violent, and a group of about 400 whiskey rebels took a stand near Pittsburgh.

Production of rye whiskeys had vanished altogether from the Mid-Atlantic states by 1980s. A handful of modern rye whiskies are currently being made by bourbon distilleries in Kentucky and Indiana.
Rye Whiskey