Rye Buck

A refreshing highball combining rye whiskey with fresh lime and spicy ginger beer for an effervescent kick.

The Rye Buck applies the Buck cocktail template — spirit, ginger ale or ginger beer, and fresh citrus in a tall glass over ice — to American straight rye whiskey, producing a spicy, assertive long drink that emphasizes the grain's characteristic peppery heat. American straight rye whiskey is legally defined by the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations as a whiskey distilled from a fermented mash containing at least 51 percent rye grain, distilled to no more than 160 proof, stored in new charred oak containers, and bottled at no less than 80 proof. The high rye grain content produces a spirit dominated by peppery, spicy, and grain-forward aromatics from the rye's characteristic phenolic compounds — quite different from bourbon's corn-derived caramel sweetness. Rye production in the United States had declined dramatically through the mid-20th century — falling from dozens of active distilleries to just a handful by the 1980s — before experiencing a significant commercial revival from approximately 2009 onward, when both established producers and new craft distillers began releasing straight rye expressions. The combination of rye's inherent spice with ginger's root-heat in the Buck format creates a double-spice effect that makes the Rye Buck one of the more assertive and distinctive of the Buck family's variations.