> I thought I'd try some, and there doesn't appear to
be much available
> right now. Just some by Jim Beam, which is hardly
the bottom-shelf
> stuff most hardboiled characters seem to swill by
the bucketful. In
> all the stuff I'm reading now, it's the ultimate
working stiff's
> drink, but now it appears to be something of a
curiosity.
Rye got eclipsed by bourbon as the American whisky of choice.
I still drink it. Down here in Texas we get Old Overholt,
which is a brand that's mentioned in hardboiled crime
fiction. Actually rye is making a bit of a comeback down here
with the resurgence in popularity of the Sazerac cocktail at
local joints such as Opal Divine's.
Rye is a bit smoother than bourbon. In Cain's Mildred Pierce
(a masterpiece of American literature, I'd like to add), it's
implied that it's more of a woman's whisky. Mind you, we're
talking about 1933-34 (the timeframe of that book). By the
forties, rye was easily the most consumed whisky in America.
By the mid-fifties, it was considered more of an
old-timers/skid-row bum drink. The mention of rye whisky in a
lot of country and western songs of the late 40s and 50s,
most notably Tex Ritter's Rye Whisky, didn't help its image
among the cosmopolitan set.
There were two other factors that contributed to the decline
of both rye and gin in the early 60s--they were Frank
Sinatra, James Bond and the Cold War. Frank Sinatra's very
well-known preference for bourbon and specifically Jack
Daniels went a long way to increasing the popularity of
bourbon over rye. Bourbon, unjustly, was considered more
sophisticated than rye.
And James Bond's preference for vodka martini's contributed
to the decline in gin consumption. With renewed respect for
the Russian's (read Sputnik) and some great Madison Avenue
marketing campaigns came a boom in vodka consumption. Some
social historians say that Bond's consumption of vodka
martini's was the earliest example of product placement in
the movies; bought and paid for by Smirnoff Vodka.
Jeff
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