Whisk(e)y Of The Week: What The Heck Is Horton Rye?

The Jaywalk Rye label looks like it took about two minutes to design, but I kind of love it — perhaps for that very reason. (Photo by me)

It’s been almost 20 years since New York’s first post-Prohibition distillery, Tuthilltown Spirits, hit stores with its Hudson Baby Bourbon, which cost what was at the time a steep $40 for a 375 ml bottle. But I’d posit that the New York spirits movement really took off a few years later, with the emergence of distilleries like Brooklyn’s own NY Distilling Co., co-founded by Allen Katz in 2011. Where Tuthilltown broke barriers and helped get regulations established in local and state government, Katz & Co. got a little more into the weeds regarding the making of their spirits, in part by studying how they used to be made in New York before Prohibition shut the whole thing down.

As a New Yorker since birth, I take civic pride in all the distilleries, great and small, that have sprouted like weeds in the Empire State in the last two decades. But I have a soft spot for NY Distilling, in part because I admire Katz’s geekery — I can, and have, listened to him talk at great length about what he does and why he does it  — but also because the man makes some really good booze, both gin and rye whiskey. And with his latest endeavor, Jaywalk Rye, he’s taken his game to a whole ‘nuther level.

Oh, and if you’re thinking, “This clown asks what Horton rye is in the headline and hasn’t mentioned it since then,” you’re not gonna find out what it is here. But click the link right -> HERE <- and it’ll take you to my writeup of Jaywalk Bonded Rye in Forbes, where all will be revealed!