Straight Empire Rye is made with 80% Danko rye grown in Ancramdale, NY, and 20% English malted barley. It’s double pot-distilled and aged for a minimum of three years in charred oak barrels. One of the few grain-to-glass rye whiskeys produced in the Northeast — the region where rye whiskey first took root in America — it’s part of a statewide project to revive New York’s rye-making heritage. To carry the Empire Rye designation, a whiskey must be distilled in New York, made from at least 75% New York-grown rye, and meet the standards for straight rye whiskey. This release marks the first consistent, signature bottling, a benchmark expression that honors the region’s past while shaping the future of New York whiskey.