NY Rye Week

Rye Week It is officially New York Rye Week as declared by the Governor and State Legislature of New York. In honor of this, there are many events happening in NY, especially New York City including two special industry events from Allen Katz at the New York Distilling Company. (As you may recall, we interviewed Allen on Episode No.225.)   The Bartender Journey team was fortunate enough to attend The Renaissance of Rye, the trade day kickoff event on Thursday, October 19th. This event not only featured one-of-a-kind discussion and tasting with agriculture experts in the field of grain science who specialize in so-called, 'Small Grains'.   In addition to the Rye panel, a batch of their own Horton Rye seven years in the making from an initial planting of 10 seeds was fermented and distilled. Additionally, every guest that attended was given the opportunity to sign the barrel, post it on social media and then return to claim a bottle of the whiskey from the barrel in 4-5 years. Friday, October 20th will be the trade tasting event from 2-4 pm featuring 20 great rye whiskies from North America.   On Saturday, October 21st is the Wild Rye Rumpus event that will feature the world premiere of Empire Rye, a new category of rye whiskey, a project began a few years ago as an homage to New York State’s pre-Prohibition rye whiskey-making heritage. To be considered an Empire Rye, the whiskey requires New York state grain and a minimum age statement of two years as mentioned in this week's New York Times article. The nine New York founding distilleries that will be releasing expressions at the event are Black Button Distilling (Albany), Coppersea Distilling (New Paltz), Finger Lakes Distilling (Seneca Lake), Kings County Distilling (Brooklyn), New York Distilling (Brooklyn) , Tuthilltown Distilling (Gardiner), Van Brunt Stillhouse (Brooklyn) and Yankee Distillers (Saratoga County).     Author's Table Event featuring Jim Meehan in Brooklyn - Thursday, October 26th The Author's Table is a monthly literary series featuring authors with a passion for spirits and food that share through writing. Jim will be discussing his new book, Meehan's Bartender Manual. $5 fee includes admission, $7 all night cocktails and happy hour specials. It’ll be held at The Shanty 79 Richardson St, Brooklyn. Proceeds will benefit the Brooklyn Public Library.   Industry Kickball Tournament The Bartender Journey team is participating in the annual Industry Kickball Tourney sponsored by William Grant & Sons. Our host will be New York's own, Jen Marshall of Momentum, the brand agency for William Grant and former Beverage Director of Butter & Scotch. This all day field trip to MCU Park (Home of the Coney Island Cyclones) will include the bus ride, kickball, corn hole, cocktails and food. Monies raised goes towards disaster relief.  Bartender Journey wants YOU to come with us so we are hosting an Instagram cocktail contest to kick off the holidays. Rules are as follows:  Follow the Bartender Journey on Instagram. Create a holiday (e.g. Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas, etc.) cocktail featuring a William Grant & Sons brand.   Take a beauty pic and post on YOUR Instagram account with #bartenderjourneycocktail by Monday, October 30th, midnight EST.  We will reach out to you directly by November 1st to let you know that you've won and get your details to send you your ticket. Your cocktail will be featured as the Cocktail of the Week.   Further details will be available on the Bartender Journey site!   A few days left to enter the USBG Bacardi Legacy Cocktail Competition!