Sazerac Rye

Description

Sazerac Rye is produced by Sazerac Company, Inc. at Buffalo Trace Distillery. Sazerac is headquartered in New Orleans, and was founded in the 1800’s. According to the company, it started with the cocktail, then the bar, then the company. Antoine Peychaud, a Creole immigrant, would mix brandy, absinthe, and bitters he created at his pharmacy located in the French Quarter. The cocktail became popular at the city’s “coffee houses,” which was the term used for drinking establishments at the time. Peychaud’s concoction became most strongly associated with one coffee house in particular, the Sazerac Coffee House located on Exchange Alley. The coffee house’s owner, Sewell Taylor, institutionalized the drink by using only Sazerac de Forge et Fils brandy, which he imported to the U.S. and sold exclusively. This cocktail earned its name as a result. Thomas H. Handy acquired the Sazerac Coffee House in 1869, and then Peychaud’s bitters in 1873. Thereafter in the 1890s, his company bottled and marketed the Sazerac cocktail, which is now made with rye whiskey as opposed to brandy. C.J. O’Reilly, Handy’s secretary, chartered the Sazerac Company.

Sazerac Rye Whiskey is released in two variations, a limited 18 year old release and ongoing no-age statement release. The limited release is an 18 year old released annually as part of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. The ongoing release is aged for at least 4 years, and at one time was said to be approximately 6 years old.