Want to make a competition-winning rye whisky?
A while ago, one of our customers asked a simple question: "How can I get more spiciness from my rye whisky?" This question led us down a rabbit hole of research. This included examining recent winners of the World Whisky Awards' World's Best Rye Whisky category, delving into the crafting process of some of those whiskies, and identifying some notable trends. Unsurprisingly, recent winners celebrated the base grain, rye, and leaned into the signature rye spiciness that the grain can provide. The research also included reaching out to some of the industry's most knowledgeable people to help further uncover the secrets to great rye. This info was distilled down into a few actionable steps: Pick Your Lane (merging the Flavour Camp system with a bit of history to help carve out your rye whisky's identity), Maximize Spice Potential (unlocking ferulic acid, the building block for 4VG spice), and Choose the Right Yeast (a look at some of the POF+ brewers yeasts that have been owning the podium in recent competitions).
The series borrows and builds on some of the great resources created by Reece Sims (Flavour Camp), John Angus(Spirit Chemistry) and Richard Preiss (Escarpment Laboratories) as well as conversations with Jacques Tremblay(Bridgeland Distillery Inc), Don DiMonte (Last Straw Distillery), and Todd Leopold (Leopold Bros).
Pick Your Lane
Last year, I went to a presentation by Reece Sims, founder of the Flavour Camp tasting system, where she gave precise and actionable advice to distillers on what sort of product to create and how to market it. That presentation changed the way I think about spirits and provided much of the inspiration for this series of posts. Unsurprisingly, Reece provides some phenomenal resources to help guide this discussion (Flavour Field Guide: Canadian Whisky Edition is terrific). Her chart for “Canadian Whisky Flavour Drivers” can help distillers plan the type of product they want to create and also how to describe and market the product to consumers. Some of the decisions might be guided by existing constraints (still type, access to barrels), some might be influenced by geography (access to local grains & malts *that’s where Red Shed Malting comes in!), and some might be easy levers to toggle to target specific flavours. In our pursuit of making an award-winning rye, it’s noteworthy that judges have been skewing towards bolder, rye-forward flavours. This makes sense, let’s celebrate the uniqueness the grain provides to differentiate it from other categories. Spiced is likely to be the primary flavour camp, but that leaves plenty of room to differentiate in the secondary flavour camps. Knowing the history of rye regions in North America can further help you pick your lane. Are you striving for the heavy, oily, earthy flavours of Pennsylvania (Monongahela) rye, the brighter, floral notes common in Maryland rye, or the green, herbal notes that are the signature of MGP ryes? All of these considerations will influence your mashbill and the form of rye that you’ll want to use: raw, malted, flaked or roasted.
In the next post, we’ll dive deeper into where that signature rye spice flavour comes from and how to maximize it (along with other aromatic compounds).
Maximizing Spice Potential (with help from John Angus)
Use more rye. Obvious, but still worth stating, as the rye content in some Canadian rye whiskies can be lower than expected 🌾
Ferulic acid sits in the grain cell walls, not the starch. Malting helps break down these structures, making it more available during mashing.
With raw rye, a cereal cooking step can be used. Heat and enzymatic activity disrupt the cell walls and help extract ferulic acid.
Kernel size matters. Smaller rye kernels have a higher proportion of cell wall material and therefore more potential ferulic acid, though with less starch. Variety and growing conditions play a big role here.
High cell wall content also means high beta-glucans, which thicken the mash 🥣. A beta-glucan rest reduces viscosity and supports further ferulic acid release.
Ferulic acid itself is flavourless. Conversion into spicy 4-vinylguaiacol requires a POF+ yeast during fermentation 🧫
Grains such as triticale are also high in ferulic acid and offer another route to spice-driven flavour.
Applying Brewing Yeasts to Rye Whisky (with help from Richard Preiss)
Brewing yeasts can present interesting opportunities for unique flavour profiles in comparison to the commercial distilling strains on the market. However, distillers often report longer fermentations when working with brewing strains. Many brewing yeasts prioritize aroma expression, stress tolerance, and metabolic diversity over rapid ethanol production, which naturally extends fermentation timelines.
Modern distilling practice often defaults to ultra-efficient distillers' yeast selected for speed and alcohol yield. Rapid fermentations and very high attenuation are common goals, but these strains are not always optimized for flavour production.
For flavour-forward spirits, yeast can be a major flavour generator. Brewing strains evolved or were selected under very different pressures, especially in styles where yeast character is central to the product, such as in Belgian style, Kveik style, or Saison beers.
POF+ brewing strains are a good example. Belgian, Saison, and related farmhouse yeasts express the genes PAD1 and FDC1, converting ferulic acid into 4-vinyl guaiacol and related phenolics. These strains are commonly used in brewing but are underutilized in distilling despite their ability to create clove, spice, smoke, and complex herbal notes that carry through distillation.
These strains, typically ferment more slowly, have higher optimal temperatures, and are less ethanol-tolerant than conventional distillers' yeast. They are also more sensitive to pitching rate, oxygen, and nutrient balance. Most are supplied as liquid cultures, increasing cost and handling requirements, but also enabling access to much broader strain diversity.
Pitch rate matters more than many distillers expect when working with brewing yeast. Over-pitching can suppress ester and phenol formation, leading to surprisingly neutral spirits. Under-pitching can exaggerate character but may increase the risk of off-flavours or stalled fermentation.
Co-fermentation strategies can bridge the gap between efficiency and flavour. Using a distiller's yeast alongside a brewing strain can deliver high alcohol yield while still generating key aroma compounds such as 4VG or fruity esters.
Enzyme use is another tool to rebalance efficiency when using brewing yeast. Adding amyloglucosidase or other saccharifying enzymes can improve fermentability and attenuation without forcing the yeast itself to operate outside its comfort zone. This allows brewing yeast to focus on flavour expression while enzymes handle carbohydrate conversion.
For neutral spirits, ultra-efficient yeast makes sense. For character spirits, especially those aiming to showcase grain, fermentation character, or a unique house character, exploring alternative yeasts can offer a wider flavour palette, provided the process is designed around their operating parameters.