Rye whiskey substitutes

Bourbon made with an unusually large proportion of rye in the mash, typically 20 to 35 percent.

Best for

Manhattan, Old Fashioned, Sazerac, Boulevardier, whiskey sour

The closest match available and often already in the cupboard, since Bulleit, Four Roses Small Batch, Old Grand-Dad and Redemption all fit the description. It sits between rye and standard bourbon: you get a real peppery kick along with corn sweetness and vanilla. A Manhattan made with it is very slightly rounder and sweeter than the rye version but recognisably the same drink, and needs no tinkering.

Corn-based American whiskey aged in new charred oak, sweet and full-bodied.

Best for

Manhattan, Old Fashioned, Boulevardier, whiskey sour, baking, glazes

Always usable, never quite the same. Rye's job in a stirred cocktail is to be dry and spicy so it pushes back against sweet vermouth or sugar; bourbon does the opposite, adding vanilla, caramel and body. A Manhattan made with bourbon tastes rounder, softer and can tip into cloying. Trim the vermouth from one ounce to three-quarters, add a second dash of Angostura, and it balances again. In a Sazerac the loss is more obvious, because that drink is nothing but spirit, sugar and bitters.

Blended Canadian whisky, often labelled or nicknamed rye even when it contains very little.

Best for

Manhattan, Old Fashioned, highballs, whiskey sour

Confusingly, Canadians call this rye, and some genuinely do lean rye-spicy. Most are lighter, smoother and thinner in body than American rye, with a faint sweetness and much less pepper. A Manhattan made with it is pleasant but a little washed out and less assertive against the vermouth. An extra dash of bitters or a heavier hand with the lemon or orange twist sharpens it back up. Lot 40 and Alberta Premium Cask Strength are genuine 100 percent rye whiskies and are excellent 1:1 swaps.

Light, usually triple-distilled whiskey from Ireland, made from barley and grain.

Best for

Old Fashioned, whiskey sour, hot toddy, highballs

Smooth, soft and fruity, with orchard fruit and honey rather than spice. This is a fine drink but the peppery bite that defines rye is entirely gone, so a Manhattan comes out mellow and a Sazerac loses the tension between spice and anise that makes it interesting. Better in shaken and sweetened drinks where citrus and sugar are doing the work than in spirit-forward stirred ones.

Malted barley whisky, dry and malty with cereal depth.

Best for

Manhattan, Old Fashioned, Boulevardier

Dry like rye, which is the important structural similarity, but malty and honeyed rather than peppery. A Manhattan made this way is called a Rob Roy and is a good drink in its own right. Avoid anything peated here, because Islay smoke in a Manhattan or Sazerac collides badly with the sweet vermouth and the anise.

A cooking stand-in that mimics the sweetness, tannin and sharpness whiskey brings to a pan.

Best for

glazes, barbecue sauce, braises, baking, alcohol-free cooking

Reasonable in a savoury sauce, where whiskey mainly supplies liquid, a little sweetness, some tannic grip and acidity. Black tea covers the tannin, apple juice the sweetness, vinegar the sharpness. What is entirely missing is the warm spirity aroma, so the sauce tastes cleaner and simpler. This does not work in a cocktail, where rye is the whole drink rather than a seasoning.