Malted vs. unmalted rye

[middleofnowhere]

I know the difference between the two, I'm curious if anyone has an opinion on the differences in flavor, or ideally has made similar batches with both malted and unmalted rye and compared the flavor for themselves.

I'm penciling out some recipes right now; malted rye is certainly easier to work with, but is obviously more expensive.

[jeffw]

There is a very big difference between the two. Regular rye is has a sharper pepper taste and the malted rye has a kind of heavy malted barley taste to it. In terms of white spirit, I find the malted rye much more intriguing. I have been laying down barrels of malted rye for a few months now and quite like it, but I am not sure I would say I like it more than regular rye as it ages. I don't have a similarly aged regular rye to compare it to though, just other people's finished products. Right now, I would almost describe my malted rye like a cross between a rye and an Irish whiskey.

Good luck.

[Jake Holshue]

BIG differences...

jeffw kind of hit it on the nose. Unmalted rye has a black pepper, thin mouthfeel. Malted rye has a big malt, caramel sweetness that can take over a spirit.

Both are very unique, and could be served next to each other, and it would be hard to compare the two.