Hudson Manhattan Rye

About the Hudson Manhattan Rye

Hudson Manhattan Rye is an American rye whisky made in New York State. Tuthilltown Spirits distils it upstate, and the whisky reaches the bottle at 46%. Rye once defined whisky making across this part of the United States. Prohibition ended that, and the grain stayed out of local stills for around eighty years. This bottling is part of that return. The rye character sits front and centre, plain and unpolished. Tuthilltown Spirits opened in 2006. It was the first new distillery in New York State since Prohibition. The rest of the state took notice. By 2011 there were 29 distilleries running. By early 2014 the number sat close to 90. Hudson Manhattan Rye comes from the start of that line. It was made when almost nobody else nearby was distilling at all. The brand did not follow a trend. It began one. The nose leads with citrus and fresh fruit, then a floral, herbal edge. Anise sits behind it, sharp and clean. On the palate the rye takes over. Cedar and pine push through the grain, with orange peel and warm spice around them. Wood shows up early rather than late. The finish turns softer, with cherry and vanilla over toasted oak. Cereal notes linger longest, dry and slightly bitter. Within the Hudson range, Manhattan Rye is the bottling that commits hardest to one grain. Nothing rounds off its edges. The spice stays dry, and the wood reads as cedar rather than sweet caramel. That makes it a leaner, more angular dram than most American rye on the shelf. Its interest is partly historical too. Hudson Manhattan Rye is a working answer to what New York rye tasted like before it disappeared.