I did a search here in EF and nothing came up so here it goes.

Anyone here like Rye Whiskey?

I use to be a single malt scotch guy (Balvenie 21 Year Portwood was my last bottle of scotch in the states) and always had Glenfiddich 15 on hand, along with some Milagro Reposado and Cazadores Anejo Tequila, some Goslings black seal rum, McMenamins Penney's Gin, and some grappa and schnapps when I visited and took some back.

I've never been a bourbon fan, But Whoa Nelly! I got bit by the Rye bug... it's the only thing I like to sip on when in the mood to sip. My current unobtainable loves are Bulleit rye and High West rye. I found a distillery in Germany via Google. http://www.roggenhof.at/lang_en/page...SpecialPureRye that looks like it could be good.
I was in Globus and saw Jim Beam's rye, and it just doesn't have the heart of the others. So right beside it I saw Appenzeller Säntis Malt and decide to give this 100% Barley whiskey a try, ... it's very unique and very good, I'd say like a grappa, scotch and barley wine rolled into one.
Anyway if there are others here that like to enjoy a little spirits. Feel free to chime in and get a discussion going. I'm thinking of taking a train ride to Konstanz to see if they have a liquor store selling Rye whiskey from Germany. Any thoughts?

There's a specialist whisky shop in Murten - but it seems a bit too exclusive and pricey - but they do have a couple of ryes at silly (80chufs) and crazy money (22yo for 239chufs).

http://www.whisky-shop.ch/bourbon.html

Why THANKYOU! sir yes 80 is a bit on the high side... and 239 IS
out-freaking-rageous ... I only paid 190 for the Balvenie 21, after it went over 200, I found Rye to be more tasty and in my price range.

Tho seeing the customs regs that distributors have to go through to get into CH, it's understandable... I hope there is a way to get a bottle in Germany for 30 to 40 bucks or Euros... plus the 3? hour train ride?.

So they have the Sazerac, which I tried a bottle in the states last year, it was generic at best, the Jim Beam Rye is better, and I got the Sazerac for under 40 $US... sure not gonna buy it for 80 . LOL
And for under 50 CHF I can get the Jim Beam at Globus.

http://www.whisky-shop.ch/bourbon.html

Sazerac Rye 6 yo
Straight Rye Whiskey
0,75 cl, 90 Proof (45%) .... 80CHF

Well, if you ever come to visit us at our new location... there is the worlds smallest whisky bar:

http://www.smallestwhiskybaronearth.com/

This is a quote I found on an English site (unfortunately there is no English option on the actual site)

"Having a wee dram at the world's smallest whisky bar
The Müstair valley in the canton of Graubünden has several claims to fame. One of them is the Guinness World Record for the smallest permanently licensed bar. It’s actually a whisky bar—just 8.53 square metres—and is located in the village of Santa Maria. Earlier this summer, its world record title was threatened by a converted phone box in England, though the challenge came to nothing. WRS’s Vincent Landon travelled to Santa Maria for a wee drama"

http://worldradio.ch/wrs/news/switze...ba.shtml?26223

We will come visit and go for a wee dram, as long as it's anything but bourbon.

Oh boy...how did I miss this thread?

I am a big Rye Whiskey fan. So of course it's next to impossible to find here. To me, the best is Rittenhouse Rye; about $20. A bottle of any American bourbon or whiskey costs at least 45 CHF. Once desperate, I picked up Knob Creek for 62 CHF!

Somehow I wish I could have a crate shipped over, but the tax is 29 CHF per litre (which I guess explains why imported spirits are so expensive here). Amazingly, even if you create your own mash, have it distilled professionally in Switzerland, it sill costs 29 CHF per litre! You can store (age) liquor tax-free until you take it out. So we could actually make our own Swiss rye whiskey, but it'll cost...

I'm no whisky fan, my hubby is, but thought you may be interested in a shop in Baden called Cadenhead's.

www.cadenheads.ch

Some of the Bourbon options available to people in the Swiss French end of the country. Casino has a selection of Bourbons. The prices are on the bottom of the photo.

This bottle is 1.5L

Nothing beats Canadian club

So, Bourbons are made with 51% Corn mash, as stated before I'm not a fan, The Thread is Rye Whiskey... and where to get it... but thanks for chiming in... if you have any knowledge of where rye whiskey can be found, I'd love to hear it.

I'd love to give the Rittenhouse a try... I'd be so happy to find any good rye here, I'm just hoping not to have to pay an arm and leg for it....after all the reading up I did on making alcohol with rye grain, I'll leave it to the experts, It would be an expensive experiment LOL

Finding Rye Whisky at affordable prices is neigh impossible in Switzerland.

You either accept that you'll pay about 40.- for a Jim Beam Rye or take full advantage when going abroad to get some nice bottles.

I stumbled upon Rye Whisky in the best yet most frustrating way. I'd gotten a book on cocktails and found a recipe with Rye. Not knowing I set out to buy some. The shop next to my place had a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle Rye 23yr.
Not really knowing, I bought it for 99.- thinking "Well that's expensive".
Made my first Manhattan and holy sh***!
Set out to look for more and discovered that the distillery had been dead for over 6 years. The guy in the shop really didn't know what he had!

So then I settled for the Jim Beam and Pikesville and others to save the Van Winkle for drinking it dry.

Now I'm always on the lookout for old Rye bottles and have done some searches within Switzerland, and I thought i'd share them with you.

Recently in GVA, Bacchus (Which was a big wine shop) opened Bacchus Spirits and they have a couple of rye whiskys: Pikesville and Hudson Manhattan Rye.

Pikesville is nice but feels weak compared to other brands like Rittenhouse (Which I can only find abroad), Templeton Rye, Ri^1, but is not too expensive. And it works great in cocktails.
One for you to try:
The Scofflaw: 4.5cl Rye, 3cl dry vermouth, 2cl lemon juice and 2cl grenadine, shake and strain.
Cut on the grenadine if you don't like it too sweet. Add some chocolate bitters and it's even better...

Hudson Rye is overpriced and a bit pretentious is you ask me, small bottle, insane price...

I also found Casa Del Tequila to have a selection:
- HIGH WEST DOUBLE RYE: Pretty awful and no taste, I'd avoid it but maybe someone will prove me wrong.
A Few others from Sazerac that are too expensive for what they are.

Found a whisky shop in Horgen (http://www.eddies.ch/) that seems like it has a couple of bottles of Templeton Rye (Close to the RIP Van Winkle 23yr. Rye in quality) and they seem to take it seriously.

Whisky Time in Lutry, Near Lausanne Switzerland, packs the Jim Beam Rye for 40.- and the Hudson for 74.-

That's what I got for now. To summarize: Jim Beam and Pikesville - relatively easy.
Anything else: Get abroad...

See ya!

Krelian,

Great post. Thank you very much. I think Jim Beam Rye for 40 CHF is very reasonable. It's a good one. Perhaps we can convince the owner to import Rittenhouse or Knob Creek Rye.

I agree with you regarding Hudson. It's way too expensive, and while I like the taste of it, the price is unjustifiable.

Thanks Krelian for the website and the info.

My wife works in Zurich until July, maybe I can beg her to stop
in Horgen on the way home and snag a bottle of the Templeton's.

I stumbled across this the other day when I was researching bier making.
http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2012/1...de-brands.html some pretty interesting information concerning rye, and where the majority of it is made.

I use to enjoy some different mixed drinks and slowly graduated to drink everything straight and neat...
I tried the Sazerac rye but never the "drink", I didn't like the Sazerac compared to Templeton's, Ri, Highwest, Old Overholt, Jim Beam rye, and Wild Turkey rye.
My absolute fave is the Bulleit rye.
I can get the Jim Beam rye in the Manor for about 58CHF and it's just not worth the money... I would be willing to drop 80 or 90 on the Bulleit rye, (costs 28 bucks in the states)
If you ever get the chance and like a spicy sweet rye, it's really awesome.

I like the idea of convincing the owner to carry Bulliet or any brand that is 95/5 rye, barley mashbill or 100 % rye mashbill

There's a store in Niederdorf in Zurich - Glen Fahrn (http://www.glenfahrn.com/). Jim Beam Rye = 33 CHF, a few other Ryes beyond that.

33 for JB rye... that's much more acceptable

Thanks So much for this site.

Templeton is a good one too, but my education in ryes was done in the U.S. where a large selection is very accessible so I quickly started to categorize and rate whiskies...especially by value.

I found Templeton to be very agreeable, but at 35 USD, it couldn't stand a chance against a 20 USD Rittenhouse. Bulleit was also a staple of mine. They make a great bourbon at a decent price. Since you like Bulleit Rye, try Knob Creek's for a few dollars more; it is now one of my favourite special evening drinks. It is not twice as good as Rittenhouse, but it has more interesting flavors and is less fiery. I drink it on the rocks, while Rittenhouse makes the perfect mixing rye for Manhattans. Also if you get a chance, try the Thomas H. Handy...it's 135 proof but sublime!

Speaking of which, I recently tried Cocchi's sweet vermouth. It's a very fine contender for the #1 spot which is currently held by Carpano Antico. I'm coming to terms with the fact that a Manhattan pretty much knocks me out by 20:30. If I drink just the rye I have no drowsiness. So I too am moving toward drinking just single liquors. I'm also a fan of Monkey 37 Gin made in Germany. It's excellent neat but also in a G&T.