Not to demean Crown Royal, it's a decent drink, but it isn't legally able to call itself rye in the U.S. It's mostly corn. Rye whiskey in this country must be at least 51 percent rye. Many good ryes made here are 95 or 100 percent rye. I have a 100 percent rye from Canada labeled as 1910. It is imported and aged by Hood River distillers in Bend, Oregon. Very nice but sweeter than a typical rye. If you can find it, Anchor distilling in San Francisco-the same people as Anchor Brewing- make some historical ryes following the methods used in the U.S. before prohibition, when most American whiskeys were mainly rye. Their 19th Century Straight Rye is pricey but worth looking for. Here's an interesting read where a Canadian fellow goes to great lengths to justify why it's OK to call Canadian Whiskey rye, even though it's not.
This is the same problem with tequila. Most tequila sold here has just enough agave (the specific cactus) to be called tequila. What it really is is 49% corn liquor and 51% agave. For real tequila one has to look for the phrase "100% agave"
Hood River Distillers is actually in Hood River, not in Bend.
But I totally agree, for a 100% rye, the Pendleton 1910, which does actually come from the Alberta Distillery I mentioned earlier, is very smooth and sweet, especially for a 12-year-old (which I think only works because the Canadians, like the Scots, don't use new barrels).
And the Anchor Distilling ryes have always sounded interesting, but at 80 to 120 bucks a bottle, a bit outside my "let's grab a bottle" zone.
