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Rye whiskey
Spirits & brews· spirit

What it is
Rye whiskey is whiskey distilled from a mash of at least 51 percent rye grain.
What it tastes like
On the nose: dry, pear, apple. Among its measured molecules: ethyl myristate, rotundone, 1-butanol, 2,3-butanedione, 2-methyl-1-butanol.
What goes with it
- Aleboth carry 1-butanol, drycite
- Asian pearboth carry 1-butanol, drycite
- Cacaoboth carry 2,3-butanedionecite
Salt and acid
Salt
Salt not measured yet.
Acid
Acid not measured yet.
Unusual pairings
Pairs the library can cite that almost nobody makes.
- Rye whiskey + Aged rum
both carry ethyl decanoate, green fatty (27 of 338 carry it)
- Rye whiskey + Fino sherry
both carry acetaldehyde, fruity (39 of 338 carry it)
- Rye whiskey + Red wine
both carry isoamyl acetate, pear (32 of 338 carry it)
Every one of its 15 compounds carries a paper the library can cite.
acetaldehydearomaaldehydereads as pungent, fruity odor (PubChem)Measured in 18 of 338 ingredients.cite
the abstract reports 'low concentrations of acetaldehyde (from 22.25 to 34.07 mg/L of 100% v/v alcohol)'; the table spans 22.18-34.93 across all 32 distillates — Balcerek et al. 2026, Molecules (Table 5, column 'Acetaldehyde'; Abstract)1-butanolaromaalcoholreads as dry, burning taste (PubChem)Measured in 12 of 338 ingredients.cite
7.19-18.86 mg/L of 100% v/v alcohol; named in the prose among the higher alcohols of rye distillate — Balcerek et al. 2026, Molecules (Table 6, column '1-Butanol'; Results prose)2,3-butanedionearomaketonereads as strong odor (PubChem)Measured in 15 of 338 ingredients.cite
1.33-87.64 mg/L of 100% v/v alcohol; grouped by the paper with the Maillard/Strecker carbonyls — Balcerek et al. 2026, Molecules (Table 5 (Acidity and carbonyl compounds in tested rye distillates), column '2,3-Butanedione')phenylacetaldehydearomaaldehydeMeasured in 21 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.46-6.58 mg/L of 100% v/v alcohol; named among the Maillard/Strecker products of the rye mash — Balcerek et al. 2026, Molecules (Table 5, column 'Phenylacetaldehyde'; Results prose)1-propanolaromaalcoholreads as burning taste (PubChem)Measured in 22 of 338 ingredients.cite
111.98-836.45 mg/L of 100% v/v alcohol across the 32 rye distillates — Balcerek et al. 2026, Molecules (Table 6, column '1-Propanol')ethyl octanoatearomaesterMeasured in 24 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.08-17.73 mg/L of 100% v/v alcohol — Balcerek et al. 2026, Molecules (Table 7, column 'Ethyl Octanoate')ethyl decanoatearomaesterMeasured in 17 of 338 ingredients.cite
1.89-27.69 mg/L of 100% v/v alcohol; the paper notes higher ethyl octanoate, ethyl decanoate and ethyl tetradecanoate in distillates from organic rye — Balcerek et al. 2026, Molecules (Table 7, column 'Ethyl Decanoate')2-methyl-1-butanolaromaalcoholMeasured in 15 of 338 ingredients.cite
reported as a co-eluting sum with 3-methylbutanol, 612.26-3727.79 mg/L of 100% v/v alcohol; named in the prose as one of the four higher alcohols of rye distillate — Balcerek et al. 2026, Molecules (Table 6, column '2-Methylbutanol and 3-Methylbutanol'; Results prose)ethyl acetatearomaesterreads as fragrant odor (PubChem)Measured in 42 of 338 ingredients.cite
the paper states that 'ethyl acetate predominated (from 109.15 to 223.05 mg/L of 100% v/v alcohol)' among the esters of the rye distillates — Balcerek et al. 2026, Molecules (Table 7 (Esters in tested rye distillates), column 'Ethyl Acetate'; Results prose)3-methylbutanalaromaaldehydereads as apple-like odor (PubChem)Measured in 22 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.24-7.28 mg/L of 100% v/v alcohol; the paper groups 2,3-butanedione, 3-methylbutanal, 2-methylbutanal and phenylacetaldehyde as 'Maillard reaction and Strecker' products — Balcerek et al. 2026, Molecules (Table 5, column '3-Methylbutanal'; Results prose)isoamyl alcoholaromaalcoholMeasured in 43 of 338 ingredients.cite
reported as a co-eluting sum of 612.26-3727.79 mg/L of 100% v/v alcohol across the 32 rye distillates — the largest congener group measured; the paper names 1-propanol, 1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol as the higher alcohols of these distillates — Balcerek et al. 2026, Molecules (Table 6 (Methanol and higher alcohols in tested rye distillates), column '2-Methylbutanol and 3-Methylbutanol'; Results prose)ethyl hexanoatearomaesterMeasured in 36 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.04-4.06 mg/L of 100% v/v alcohol — Balcerek et al. 2026, Molecules (Table 7, column 'Ethyl Hexanoate')isoamyl acetatearomaesterreads as pear-like odor (PubChem)Measured in 26 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.07-6.01 mg/L of 100% v/v alcohol; the paper calls it 'the dominant 3-methylbutyl acetate, also known as isoamyl acetate' among the acetate esters — Balcerek et al. 2026, Molecules (Table 7, column '3-Methylbutyl Acetate'; Results prose)ethyl myristatearomaesterMeasured in 2 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.44-4.21 mg/L of 100% v/v alcohol — Balcerek et al. 2026, Molecules (Table 7, column 'Ethyl Tetradecanoate')rotundonearomaterpenoidMeasured in 3 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.434 µg/L in a ~4-year-old rye whiskey; the paper states 'The rye from Bulleit contained one of the highest rotundone concentrations among the whiskeys evaluated' and identifies rotundone as the source of the spicy, woody, incense-like note of oak-aged spirits — Genthner-Kreger et al. 2021, Molecules (Table 2 (Concentration of rotundone in oak-aged distilled spirits), row 'Bulleit Rye Whiskey (~4 year)'; Results)
Sources
- Balcerek et al. 2026, Molecules
- Genthner-Kreger et al. 2021, Molecules