If you’re a bourbon drinker who keeps walking straight past the rye shelf, you might be missing out. Rye has a reputation for being spicy, herbal, and sometimes a little aggressive, but that only tells part of the story.
Some rye whiskeys lean heavily into sweetness, caramel, oak, and familiar bourbon-like flavors, while others offer an easy introduction to the grain’s spicier side. So, rather than diving straight into the most intense rye you can find, we’ve picked five bottles that make particularly good starting points for bourbon drinkers.
Elijah Craig Rye, 47%, $25 / £40
Kicking things off is a Kentucky classic when it comes to bourbon: Elijah Craig. Its rye whiskey uses a mashbill of 51% rye, the legal minimum, alongside 35% corn and 14% malted barley.
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This rye is all about the buttery sweetness that bourbon drinkers will recognize, while introducing the softer side of rye grain. There’s gentle cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, and brown sugar, all helping to amplify the whiskey’s buttery character while still reminding you that, at heart, this is a rye.
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It’s a great jumping-off point if you’re looking to get into the style.
Jaywalk Bonded Rye Whiskey, 50%, $66 / £53
Combining two different rye grains, Horton Heirloom and Field Race rye, Jaywalk Bonded has a mashbill of 75% rye, alongside 13% corn and 12% malted barley. So, we’re stepping things up a little already.
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READ THE STORYDistilled by New York Distilling Company and aged for seven years, this Bottled-in-Bond offering has plenty to say for itself while remaining very approachable. It opens with tropical fruit and cocoa powder, alongside a more robust rye character.
It isn’t as buttery as the Elijah Craig, but it has its own distinctive approach to rye without feeling like something that needs to be diluted with water, ice, or mixers. For the money, it’s certainly worth a shot.
Those chocolate and tropical fruit notes really sing, helping make this another excellent rye whiskey for bourbon drinkers.
Sagamore Spirit Double Oak Rye, 48.3%, $42 / £55
Here we have a combination of two mashbills, one containing 95% rye and the other 52%, so we’re almost getting a meeting of the two styles above. Sagamore has built an impressive reputation among whiskey drinkers, and Double Oak is an easy bottle to understand if you already enjoy richer bourbons.
The whiskey is aged for around five years before spending another 18 months in toasted wave stave barrels. The result is a rich, sweet style with notes of spearmint, cherry cola, and pipe tobacco.
If bottles like Woodford Reserve Double Oaked are among your go-to bourbons, this sits in similar territory when it comes to richness, texture, and style.
Redwood Empire Emerald Giant, 45%, $30 / £51
Coming at you all the way from California, this is a bottle I’ve gone through many times and need to replace again very soon. We’re getting into some big rye numbers now, with a mashbill of 95% rye and 5% malted barley.
Despite that high rye content, this whiskey walks the line beautifully when it comes to balance. You get some of the classic green, herbal notes associated with rye, including pine, dill, and fresh spearmint. However, there are also some incredible citrus notes here: orange, lime, and waxy citrus peel.
Those flavors aren’t uncommon in rye, but they’re sometimes overlooked. Rye isn’t all spice and intense earthy notes.
I love the way this develops in the glass, leaving a sweet, lingering finish that makes you want to go back for more. It’s a little different, but if you’re a bourbon drinker who likes to experiment, this is a great and affordable alternative.
Green River Rye, 47.5%, $30 / £48
Our final bottle takes what we said at the start and turns it on its head. This is another Kentucky rye, but this time we have 95% rye in the mashbill, with malted barley making up the remaining 5%.
I’ve got a real soft spot for Green River and nearly all of its releases, and this one is a must-try. It’s packed with orange oil and bitter orange pith, cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, and a decent helping of caramel and butterscotch. You can’t help but keep diving back into it.
The finish brings lingering oak and herbal tea notes that feel particularly comforting as we move into fall.
Green River’s bourbons have earned plenty of shelf space, and if you already enjoy those bottles but want to explore rye, this one doesn’t hold back while still offering enough familiar sweetness to bring bourbon drinkers along for the ride.
Still Unsure About Rye? Start With A Cocktail
If you’re not quite ready to approach these bottles neat, a good whiskey bar is an excellent place to start. Order one in a cocktail and see which style of rye works for you.
An Old Fashioned is a particularly useful blueprint because it lets the character of the whiskey shine while softening some of rye’s sharper edges. Swapping bourbon for rye brings more spice and herbal character into the drink, and experimenting with lower- and higher-rye styles can help you work out exactly what you enjoy.
You might find the rye shelf becomes a lot harder to ignore.
