Kevin Cuneo's Take 30: Churchill would love new Knob Creek Rye

This column, which originally appeared in 2008, is updated with information about the splendid new Knob Creek Rye.


History books tell us about the warm friendship between Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, which helped the Allies win World War II.

What rarely gets mentioned, however, is the most serious disagreement between the two world leaders. It tended to crop up every afternoon when Roosevelt played bartender at the daily cocktail hour.

FDR enjoyed drinks made with bitters, lime juice and other "sweet concoctions," as Churchill called them. The prime minister despised the whiskey sours, Manhattans and Old Fashioneds that Roosevelt savored.

Churchill liked his liquor straight and neat, but because FDR was pouring, he diplomatically suggested a change: why not switch from bourbon to rye?

It made the concoctions a bit spicier, drier and less sweet, and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin writes that Churchill came to develop a fondness for rye whiskey.

Rye is similar to bourbon in that both are distinctly American libations. The difference is that rye is made from a mash of at least 51 percent rye grain, while bourbon is distilled from at least 51 percent corn mash. That's why it's sweeter.

All I know is that reading about FDR's White House cocktail hours always makes me thirsty. This story about rye prompted me to buy a small bottle and try it.

Generally speaking, I drink a lot less beer and booze than I once did, so when the urge to imbibe strikes, it's fun to try something different. Rye is hardly new. George Washington used to distill batches of the stuff at Mount Vernon.

From the days of the Old West up to Prohibition, it ranked as America's most popular whiskey. But after 1933, when Prohibition ended, most distillers concentrated on bourbon and pretty much forgot about rye.

Earlier this year, Jim Beam distillers came up with a big winner with their new Knob Creek Rye. It's a versatile, full-flavored rye with a luminous finish.

For a longtime bourbon lover like me, that's saying something. But rye has its own special charms and a few years back it became the rage at upscale, big-city lounges.

FDR must have liked rye because it works well with grapefruit, lemon and orange flavors but can also handle full-flavored liqueurs and bitters.

Of course, you could only enjoy one or two drinks enhanced by such ingredients, because many more would tend to rot your teeth.

Rye's comeback started about a decade ago, when bartenders at fancy Los Angeles clubs began serving it to celebrities.

Jim Beam, creator of the exquisite Knob Creek Bourbon, took a slew of gold medals for its new Knob Creek Rye. Knob Creek, incidentally, is the tiny Kentucky hamlet where Abraham Lincoln was born.

Why not celebrate these last glorious days of summer with a glass of "Summer Rye Sparkling Cider." Here's the recipe for a single serving:

2 lemon wedges

1 ounce rye

1/2 ounce apricot brandy

2 to 3 ounces sparkling apple cider

Squeeze one lemon wedge into a tall glass, then drop it into the glass. Fill the glass with ice. Add the rye and apricot brandy, then top with sparkling cider. Stir gently and garnish with a lemon wedge.

Be sure to raise a toast to Roosevelt and Churchill. It was their fondness for spirits, after all, that helped win the war and our hearts.