Old Overholt Straight Rye Whiskey, Bourbon, Kentucky

Pros: Spicy, zesty, great in highballs, cheap as blazes
Cons: Not as zesty as Jim Beam Rye

Rye whiskey.

It is amazing how fast rye whiskey has disappeared from America's bar shelves. Fifty years ago every bar in the country boasted at least five different brands of rye; now you're lucky if you can find it at...

Pros: Tasty and quite inexpensive
Cons: Not as easy to find as Bourbon

If you want to make the King of Cocktails, you need to start with Old Overholt.

Actually, any good rye whiskey will do, the better the whiskey the better the drink (obviously). But Old Overholt seems to be the rye of choice in bars throughout...

Pros: Old Overholt on the rocks. You get the true taste of a Rye Wiskey.
Cons: Old Overholt is not advertised. Jim Beam Rye is to "Oily" but well advetised.

"The Sweetness of a Blend and the Tart of a Bourbon". Of course that is my personnal tast buds speaking, but "Old Overholt" has been my "BUD" for 33 years. Mr. Overholt and I became friends, in mid 1971, when I was a bar manager in Southern ...

Pros: Sweet, smooth, dry, cheap
Cons: Not as sharp or "hot" as other ryes

Before Overholt, I seriously felt like I was missing out because my friends consistently spoke of how much they liked or appreciated whiskey, while every taste I had made me wince; it turned out, I just don't like whiskeys based on corn, as most American ...

Pros: Bang for the buck, perhaps the best whisky in the world
Cons: Harsher than the older Scotch single malts

IMHO, Old Overholt, a baby among whiskys, being only 4 years
old, is a wonderful whisky. While not as good as the single malts of Scotland, it can be had a 1/3 of the price, and the single malts, while the best whiskys in the world, are not three times better than the American alternative.

Drink it warm. Much of its wonderful character is lost if you pour it over ice or (gasp!) mix it with any other beverage. Sip it very slowly. Let it flow past your molars and slowly down the throat. The aftertaste is lovely.

Pros: Fairly smooth and sweet.
Cons: A bit higher priced than equally good bourbons.

If you want to see what a Rye Whiskey tastes like without busting your budget I recommend Old Overholt. I have only had Old Overholt and Wild Turkey 101 Rye. The Wild Turkey 101 is a bit smoother and a bit milder flavor than the Overholt but it does cost about $7 more. I liked the unique flavor of this whiskey and it will be a somewhat familiar taste to any regular consumer of American bourbons. Most, if not all bourbons have a rye component in their mix. I believe rye has no less than 51% rye to qualify as a rye whiskey. To me rye has a sweeter, milder flavor than normal bourbons. I recommend you try some at a bar before buying a whole bottle. Or you could buy a bottle of Old Crow for about $10 which is a pretty good bourbon that I've read has a higher amount of rye than most bourbons.

Pros: Smoother than Jim Beam Rye. More body than Wild Turkey Rye. Low price, high quality.
Cons: Maybe not enough bite for a rye. Very hard to find just about everywhere.

I've been looking for this whiskey ever since hearing about it here on Epinions. Thankfully, on my birthday yesterday, I found it at a liquor store I frequent in NYC. It was sitting on the bottom shelf next to Beam Rye, Wild Turkey Rye, and surprisingly, Michter's Rye. I decided to treat myself to the 1 liter bottle since it was my birthday. And at $16.99, it was less expensive than the liter bottle of Beam. I found the taste to be much different than the Beam and Turkey rye I was used to. It didn't have as much of a spicy bite as the other two, but that's not a bad point. This still has that strong, distinctive nose that only rye has. It goes down easier than Beam and isn't as oily or thin as the Wild Turkey rye. Overholt's been around for almost two centuries for a simple reason, it's good whiskey. I'm glad I finally found Old Abe, especially seeing how hard it is to find rye in general. Here's to you Abe Overholt, and the fine spirit that still bears your name.

Pros: A smooth, solid whiskey
Cons: Not extremely complex

I recently purchased a bottle of Old Overholt as my introduction to rye whiskey.

Swishing it around a small sniffer glass and drinking it neat, Old Overholt has a subtle spiciness that warms your nostrils. Its appearance streaking around the inside of the glass lets me believe this rye whiskey is thinner than most of the whiskeys and bourbons I have enjoyed.

Old Overholt is light on the tongue, warm, and surprisingly smooth. The taste is slightly sweet with a lingering aftertaste.

I'm impressed with Old Overholt Straight Rye Whiskey. While not the most complex liquor I have enjoyed, its a solid whiskey. And at $9.29 for a fifth, this whiskey is a steal!

Pros: Inexpensive, quality Rye with great flavors erupting out of every bottle.
Cons: Not exactly on every liquor store shelf.

Easy on the pocket, sweet to the taste, on the rocks, straight up or with a splash of water one struggles to find a better sippin' whiskey. My first exposure to Old "Tennis Shoe" was in DaNang, Vietnam. I was a regular "consumer" of Jack Daniels but, it was between paydays and the cheapest bottle on the shelf was Old Overholt. So I scraped together my $1.85 (MPC) and walked out with my first bottle of this fine Rye. After I returned to the States I found it hard to find so for nearly a decade Wild Turkey was my drink of choice. One afternoon, and much to my surprise my wife presented me with a case of "the devil's brew". Unfortunately after a few years the Rye well ran dry. Now after nearly 25 years I once again have found a reliable source for this Nectar of the God's. Ok it's a couple bucks more a bottle now but still at between $11.00 and $13.00 a fifth you won't find a better Rye.