The Return of Rye

For years I never knew what the heck 'Rye' was. I'd go to garage sales and flea markets and find dusty decanter sets whose bottles sported familiar names like Vodka, Rum, Gin and Scotch. Every once in a while a set would feature the word Rye on its front, leaving me to wonder what the bread I used for liverwurst sandwiches had to do with getting drunk.

Years later I learned that Rye, like Bourbon, was a whiskey, though everything I heard made it sound like something my elderly relatives drank back in the 50s. For years it continued to fly under the radar while my whiskey loving friends concentrated on names like Makers Mark, Knob's Creek and Virginia Gentleman.

Slowly, but surely, I began to hear murmurs of a Rye Resurgence. No longer a libation with a cloudy past, Rye was back and back in a big way.

Need more proof? Check out this lengthy feature from the pages of the San Francisco Examiner.