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HAPPY REPEAL DAY! To mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the “Noble Experiment” I’m putting up a classic prohibition-era rye whiskey cocktail. It’s sure easy to make, super delicious and you should make one tonight to celebrate the day alcohol returned to America. For all of you in countries where Prohibition never happened tip one back in gratitude.

For this cocktail I used Bulleit Rye and it is fantastic for making cocktails. Next to the Rittenhouse it’s my favorite rye mixing whiskey. The one trouble with high rye whiskey is that sometimes it can have a very astringent rye spice that can turn a lot of people off to it and during prohibition a lot of really low quality hooch was floating around and so simple cocktails like this became very popular due to necessity. The sugar + bitters completely cuts out the astringent briny rye spice that accompanies Bulleit and brings out some it’s more floral and fruity notes. If you use something like a Rittenhouse the earthy leathery qualities of that burly rye are a bit muted which brings some of the underlying dessert qualities of it to the surface and being 100 proof it still packs a punch.

If you end up trying this cocktail (and I don’t know why you wouldn’t) I’d love to hear what you think, what whiskeys you tried it with and the results of your own experiments.

the Rye Whiskey Cocktail
2 oz rye
1 dash bitters
1 tsp sugar
shake well with ice & strain
cherry

The post Prohibition Cocktail: the Rye Whiskey Cocktail appeared first on The Whiskey Jug.