I got a bottle of rye whiskey this week. It is trendy to drink rye these days, but I like the taste of rye quite a bit. To me, it is less-sweet bourbon with some spicy flavor. Rye has familiar flavors, but is different enough to justify seeking out for specific cocktails. I certainly understand why Manhattan fans prefer a good rye to bourbon.

But I am not a Manhattan lover (sorry, too sweet for me), so I experimented with rye cocktails this week. We have lemons and mint in the garden, and I stumbled on the Whiskey Smash, which uses both. It turns out that in the first half of the 20^th century the Whiskey Smash was a very, very popular drink. Think “Cosmo popular”. Then it wasn’t. Rye went out of style and the Smash went with it. But Rye is back, and the Whiskey Smash deserves a comeback as well. Then, if there is any karma in the world, maybe the Cosmo will go away, along with the Appletini. One can only hope. Continue reading →