Up to date July 26, 2025
By Debbie Shocair
Common Ranking: B
(Credit score: Cooper Spirits)
Given what I do, most whiskey followers presume I’m against flavored whiskey. Quite the opposite, I recognize the flavored stuff as “gateway whiskey,” bringing into the fold those that nonetheless harbor reservations.
Based by the late and esteemed Robert Cooper, Cooper Spirits has revived a flavorful type of drink which hails again to earlier than Prohibition, when it was widespread to serve unaged, typically unpalatable rye whiskey, alongside a bowl of rock sweet, which might be added by the client to “take the sting off.” It later continued in pre-mixed, bottled type as a pharmacy cure-all for the widespread chilly. From there got here the moniker “Rock and Rye.” This contemporary rock and rye is made within the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia by Native 500, and serves as a decent cocktail in a bottle.
The Whiskey
Whereas I usually give little credence to packaging, I just like the sq. bottle topped by a thick and sensuous swirled neck, partly as a result of that fantastic “glug-glug” of a brand new bottle is accentuated. The label on Rock and Rye claims to be “Our Well-known Rye Outdated Original.” I’m a tricky promote on Outdated-Fashioneds, for probably the most half as a result of so few barkeeps grasp the drink, so this was going be be attention-grabbing.
On the nostril, R&R was resplendent with orange and honey. I discovered it odd that the rye whiskey really took a backseat to the candy fruit, nevertheless it was definitely nice.
At a decent 84 proof, Rock and Rye was light within the mouth, with solely a touch of tingle in the midst of the tongue. Taste was a powerful level on this expression of a bottled cocktail. A great deal of bitter orange and honey, with the rye whiskey nonetheless taking the second string in efficiency.
The end on Rock and Rye was good and lingering, as you’ll count on a pleasant cocktail to offer. Put aside the expectations of a straight whiskey, and this flavored beverage is a stunning, straightforward drink.
Cooper Spirits has completed a nice job of marrying the orange with the rye in a manner that enhances them each. I attempted it each neat and on the rocks, and located I most popular it neat. The ice introduced a spicy mouthfeel that overshadowed the steadiness of flavors. With a glut of flavored whiskies available on the market and most of them copycats, Hochstadter’s Rock and Rye is a pleasant anomaly. , tasty segue for anybody desirous to set foot into Whiskeydom.
(Credit score: Cooper Spirits)
Addendum by Richard Thomas
To summarize, this Rock and Rye is made by macerating rye whiskey in quite a lot of citrus peels, rock sweet (the “rock” in Rock and Rye), honey and horehound. I got here round to the drink some 9 years after Debbie, and by then it was showing in 100 ml cans, which is how I attempted it. Though at 84 proof, the drink is fairly sturdy for a RTD cocktail and is de facto extra of an infusion than a cocktail, most people appear to understand it as being within the RTD cocktail class.
The Value
The four-pack of 100ml cans appears to run for about $29, whereas the older type of fifth bottle is now going for $40.
