JB Rye?

[cowdery]

There's no reason to think Beam changed the recipe because, according to them, they haven't changed anything in 212 years.

[Jake_Parrott]

Gotta admit, I really like the new rye packaging (and the new metal screwcaps on all of the basic Beam lineup).

[Gillman]

Any thoughts, Jake or others, why the return to these metal closures?

Gary

[barturtle]

Any thoughts, Jake or others, why the return to these metal closures?

Gary

I was just commenting on these the other night, they look good. As far as to why, I'm not sure of Beam's decision, but, they are likely lighter (which adds up when shipping by the thousands), they are recyclable (something to crow:grin: about when talking about 100% recyclable packaging), and they are likely to be harder to counterfeit(prevents unscrupulous types from refilling bottles).

[LarryG]

As far as to why, I'm not sure of Beam's decision, but, they are likely lighter (which adds up when shipping by the thousands)

And/or the vendor was able to supply them for 0.001 cents less per cap than the plastic jobs which, as you say, adds up when you buy the things by the gabazillion.

Larry

[cowdery]

I haven't seen them yet, but I suspect a more image-oriented motive. What is nicer than plastic but not quite as nice as cork? What do most imported spirits use, especially single malts?

Almost everything I have that comes from the EU has the metal screw cap. I suspect it might be a green thing too.

[squire]

Well it is attractive. The Beam black we opened a few minutes ago has the new metal cap and it is a far trimmer, neater and overall more stylish closure than its predecessor.

Squire

[Martian]

Here are two fun Youtube histories and tastings of JB Rye and OO Rye.

[HipFlask]

Just last night we stopped into a bar known for hamburgers. Behind the bar they had JB white, Maker's Mark and JB rye. I oredered the rye as I had never tasted this spirit before. I enjoyed the nose. Took my first sip and it reminded me of Old Grand BIB. The same sort of mustiness is present in the bottle. I happen to like that part of OGD so I give JB rye a thumbs up. I am sure a bottle of this will end up in the bunker.

[felthove]

On my most recent ABC store visit, I spied one bottle of JB Rye wearing a parchment-colored label with a slightly revised layout, as shown in

Anyone else seen this? The Nov 13 posting date of the video suggests it's a recent change.

Larry

Wow -- those are some pretty sophisticated dudes. :grin: I wonder if that how is how the public at large perceives whiskey drinkers?

[barturtle]

Browsing through a store today I came across a shelf that just asked for a pic. Looks like Old Overholt got a new label too.

[felthove]

Had a good sized pour of JB rye last night and found nothing at all wrong with it but just lacking oomph and personality. I was really looking forward to that rye zip on the tongue but didn't get much spice. Strangely when I want that zip I find myself reaching for the OGB BIB rather than rye such as JB or even Rittenhouse (which I absolutely love but it has a bit of hard candy sweetness upfront that I sometimes don't want).

I don't think I'll be buying anymore of the JB rye but I won't shy away from finishing this bottle when something easy to drink beckons me.

[burbankbrewer]

Then, as now, Canadian whisky blends an aged, vodka-like spirit, almost a neutral grain spirit, with a stronger (at that time, rye) whiskey, making a milder, smoother style.

*sigh* So many whiskeys, so little time.

My 85 yr. old neighbor gave me a bottle of Seagranms VO at christmas time bless his heart. It tastses exactly like vodka mixed with something else. I searched and found Seagram's VO Blended Canadian whisky.

www.vowhisky.com The only mention of the whiskey is for a mixed drink that includes it. But info on Crown Royal says this. A blend of more than 50 whiskeys including 15 bourbons and 13 ryes. They don't say what the other 22 or more whiskeys are, and they are not willing to preblend. Isn't that what they are actually doing? Now I don't know about you but I find this stunning. I guess they never heard the phrase, the simpler the better.

[Gillman]

I've never heard that about CR although the use of so many whiskies is entirely possible (I can't access the link you gave for some reason). I know for a fact that the new CR Cask No. 16 uses 50 whiskies because the label says so but I did not know that the other iterations of CR do as well.

In a recent Malt Advocate magazine on CR's plant at Gimli, Manitoba, the author spoke of five whiskeys being used but he might have said or meant 5 basic types (see further below). Some were classified as batch whiskies, light and heavy, and the rest as just light or heavy (this is from memory but it went something like that).

Batch would include the ryes and bourbons you mentioned since I think batch means pot-stilled or at least columnar low-proof whiskeys from mashbills similar to what makes bourbon and rye in the States. Heavy might be low, and light higher, proof, but hard to say what the range is for Seagram (maybe 120-160, 140-160, who knows). The non-batch whiskies would generally be high proof, near neutral distillates which however are aged per Canadian law (at least 3 years). Yet here too they could be a proof range, say 160-194.

It may be that each of the 5 whiskeys is a type that has sub-set whiskeys aged for a different time and/or in different wood and/or with different mashbills albeit within the definition (otherwise) of bourbon or rye if they are bourbon and rye, all of which add up to 50.

Why use so many whiskies? I don't know, they must feel it is the only way they can get, consistently, the palate they want. To me regular CR (in fact all CRs except to a degree for the new Cask No.16) are fairly bland in taste and I wonder too why a complex formula is needed for such a product but perhaps there is a good answer.

Gary

[Gillman]

On the palate of Canadian whisky, it really is a separate product (to bourbon). It is very popular and sells a lot around the world including the U.S. It isn't cheaper than good bourbon (the best Canadian whiskies aren't), so people must like it. It is similar to the good American blended whiskies, of which I have my favorites (I like some blends made by Heaven Hill and Barton) - but I like it only once in a while. Like once I did a 5 hour walk in sub-zero weather in NYC around this time of year - on a Sunday - and at 2:00 p.m. on the Upper East Side, with a smart set around me (some women looking like a young Jackie Onassis), I had a Barton blend with a coffee alongside. Bourbon would not have gone as well, I don't know why.

The best of it is quite good, e.g., Wiser's 18 year old whisky. CR Cask No. 16 is pretty good too, as is CR's Special Reserve. But in general, it is mixing fodder, yes.

Gary

[Gillman]

When I got home from that NYC trip I still got a bad cold: maybe I SHOULD have had a bourbon after that walk!

Gary

[burbankbrewer]

I've never heard that about CR although the use of so many whiskies is entirely possible (I can't access the link you gave for some reason). I know for a fact that the new CR Cask No. 16 uses 50 whiskies because the label says so but I did not know that the other iterations of CR do as well.

Gary

I think the link doesn't work because I pasted it in. Any way try this or type it in. www.thebar.com

[cowdery]

I find that a very interesting claim, about the bourbons and ryes, and it's from an official source.

Presumably, "pre-blending" is a reference to Hiram Walker, the other big Canadian distillery (Canadian Club), which blends several different new-make whiskeys together before aging. Diageo (as successor to Seagram's) wants to make it sound bad, but roughly half of the Canadian industry does it that way and the other half does it the other way.

Hiram Walker, by the way, is now part of Jim Beam.

What I find interesting in the reference to bourbon is do they really mean bourbon? Or do they mean Canadian-made corn whiskey? Or do they mean both? I suspect both.

I forget what the limit is, but there is a limit on how much imported spirit (as in imported from the USA) they can use. Fifteen percent comes to mind, but I'm not sure.

The bulk of any Canadian, even a high-end brand such as CR, is nearly-neutral base whiskey, which is mostly or entirely made from corn.

This base whiskey would, to us, be whisky in only a technical sense. While bourbon is distilled at less than 80% ABV, Canadian (and Scotish) base whiskey is generally distilled at just slightly less than 95% ABV. That's why we call it "nearly neutral." Then it is aged for about three years in used barrels, which probably held bourbon at some point but which are used many times.

Canadian whiskey, especially the way Seagram's made it, is made very much like the way blended scotch is made, in the sense that a nearly-neutral base whiskey is used to soften the strong flavors of several flavoring whiskeys. In Scotland, of course, the flavoring whiskeys are all single malts. In Canada, malt whiskey is used but so are whiskeys made from rye, wheat and corn.

[burbankbrewer]

Thanks Chuck, you know your stuff. So if Diego is already making 13 different Ryes to blend in RC they should be marketing straight rye pretty soon if they're on the ball.

[cowdery]

Since the guy at Templeton claims his rye wasn't made by any of the usual suspects, is it possible he got somebody in Canada--Alberta Springs perhaps--to sell him some Canadian 100% rye? Nothing in the regs says straight rye has to be made in the USA, but I think the regs do require the label to identify country of origin if imported.

But I actually came here to refer back to the thread title. I finally picked up a bottle of Jim Beam Rye and I like it very much, light aging and 80 proof and all. In fact, I think its youth and low proof (easy to drink neat) are part of its appeal.

I like Rittenhouse in part because it tastes more like a bourbon. This really tastes like a rye.

[BourbonJoe]

I'm glad to hear someone else say it. I also like Jim Beam Rye.

Joe :usflag:

[Rughi]

I got a JB Rye for the first time in years last week.

It's making really good Manhattans with flavors more akin to using ND Overholt than one gets using Saz, Rittenhouse, or WT ryes. I do have to be mindful of letting the drink shake or sit in the ice too long, though, as that 80 proof goes watery very easily.

I can't explain why, but it's WT Rye that I haven't had much success with in mixed drinks.

Roger

[Dr. François]

I bought my first bottle of JB Rye for a cocktail party this weekend. I'm going to make Sazeracs.

I'm trying it out tonight. Man, I'm disappointed. For a rye, it is weak, thin, yet still manages to put me off with a sharp, raw flavor. It reminds me most of standard issue Ancient Age, which I did not like whatsoever.

Fortunately, I think it will mix well. I hate saying that. It's the ultimate defeat. It's like having your new car break down and someone telling you that "the back seat still makes a nice sofa."

[ACDetroit]

Hey Doc? Did you get the new label or the glow-n-the-dark yellow old label??

Not that it matters but maybe ones better than the other?

Tony

[Dr. François]

Hey Doc? Did you get the new label or the glow-n-the-dark yellow old label??

Not that it matters but maybe ones better than the other?

Tony

I got the new label with the new cap design. I purposely stayed away from the old, mustard label. It looked too much like police tape.