Rye whiskey has, for a few years now, been experiencing something of a resurgence. Despite this, just four American ryes took Master medals at this year’s American Whiskey Masters, run by The Spirits Business.
Three of them belong to the Sazerac Company, and all three are made at Buffalo Trace in Frankfort, Kentucky. Sazerac Rye won its Master in the premium heat, covering bottles priced up to £30, while Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old and Thomas H Handy both took Masters in the ultra-premium heat, at £51 and above. The fourth Master went to Loch Lomond Group for Jaywalk Bonded Rye Whiskey, which won the heat for ryes aged up to seven years.
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So, let’s take a look at each of them: how they’re made, what the judges picked out, and how much they will set you back.
Sazerac Rye
Award: Master
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Category: Rye – Premium
Tasting Notes: Clove, vanilla, anise, pepper, candies, citrus, licorice
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We are starting with the least expensive of the four, and the only one of the three Sazerac ryes here that is a permanent part of the range.
The name comes from the Sazerac Coffee House in New Orleans, which took its own name from a cognac brand, Sazerac de Forge et Fils. Thomas H Handy, who appears further down this list, bought the business in 1869.
Sazerac Rye is made at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, which the Sazerac Company has owned since 1992. The exact mash bill has never been published, though it is widely reported to sit just above the 51% rye minimum, with corn making up most of the remainder and a small proportion of malted barley.
The same rye recipe is understood to be used for Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old and Thomas H Handy. There is no age statement, and it is bottled at 90 proof.
One judge said: “Classic rye profile on the nose. The palate opens with sweet cereal notes, and builds into the spice, with lots of granola, a hint of green pepper, furniture polish, and tannins. The oak spice is balanced very nicely, and this is cracking complexity for the price point.”
A cheap, readily available, and reliable rye.
Jaywalk Bonded Rye Whiskey
Award: Master
Category: Rye – Aged up to 7 Years
Tasting Notes: Rye spice, berries, vanilla, oak, brown sugar
Find Your Next Bottle: $66 / £53
The only Master here that does not belong to the Sazerac Company, and the only one made outside Kentucky.
Jaywalk is made by New York Distilling Company in Bushwick, Brooklyn, founded in 2011 by Allen Katz and Tom Potter, who had previously co-founded Brooklyn Brewery. Loch Lomond Group bought the distillery in May 2025, its first move into American whiskey, and Katz and Potter both stayed on.
The mash bill is 75% New York rye, 13% New York corn, and 12% malted barley, all grown in the state. The rye is a mix of two varieties, one of which is Horton, an heirloom grain that the distillery grew out from ten seeds obtained from Cornell University’s seed bank in 2015.
Being bottled in bond, it comes from a single distilling season and is bottled at 100 proof. It carries a seven-year age statement.
Judge Ruchira Neotia said of it: “Rye is unmistakably in the house and it is freshly milled, palate dials up with popcorn, liquorice, and black cherry.”
Thomas H. Handy 2025
Award: Master
Category: Rye – Ultra-Premium
Tasting Notes: Oak, spice, bright fruit, apple, vanilla
Find Your Next Bottle: $500 / £600
Thomas H. Handy was a New Orleans businessman, and Buffalo Trace credits him with turning to American rye as the base of the Sazerac cocktail once cognac supplies ran short.
His whiskey joined the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection in 2006, six years after the collection started, and it is released each fall. It uses the same low rye recipe as the two other Sazerac whiskeys here.
Handy is the youngest of the six in the collection, and it is bottled uncut and unfiltered at barrel proof, so the strength moves each year. The 2025 release came in at 129.8 proof, up from 127.2 the year before, from whiskey distilled in spring 2018 and 2019 and drawn from floors four to seven of warehouses N, L, AA and DD.
One judge called it “rich, round and bold,” adding: “Wood polish and a hint of chamomile tea on the nose. With a splash of water, there’s vanilla, caramel ice cream, and lots of tannins. It’s spicy and juicy, with raisins, leather, sweet pastry and maple syrup cereal bars. A very lovely rye whiskey, with a long-lasting finish.”
Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old 2025
Award: Master
Category: Rye – Ultra-Premium
Tasting Notes: Rye spice, oak, herbs, woody richness, supple leather, caraway seed
Find Your Next Bottle: $2,000 / £1,200
Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old was one of the three whiskeys in the first Antique Collection in 2000, alongside Eagle Rare 17 Year Old and William Larue Weller, and for a long stretch it came from a single batch of rye barreled in 1985.
The rye is bottled at 90 proof, which is a long way down from the Handy above. The 2025 release carried an age statement of 18 years and 5 months.
One judge said: “Icing sugar on the nose, and the palate brings cinnamon buns, wood polish, raisins, toffee, rum-and-raisin ice cream. Warm spice runs throughout, nicely balancing the sweeter flavours that are also present. Very tasty, balanced, and worth the money.”
What Do You Make of the Results?
Given the rye resurgence of recent years, Sazerac’s near-sweep here is interesting, with the only other Master rye being produced in New York under a Scottish company.
Have you tried any of these four? Are there any you would like to get your hands on, and what do you make of the awards? Let us know in the comments.
