Although by law, bourbon recipes must contain at least 51 percent corn, rye is
often the next-largest component of the mashbill. In the case of Woodford
Reserve, one of the country’s largest and most
distributed bourbon brands, rye makes up 18 percent — with much of that rye
coming from outside Kentucky; and often, outside the country.
As the distillery and its parent company,
Brown-Forman, consider how to build climate
resilience
across both businesses, finding new sources for those grains closer to home
could serve to make a big impact.
“While we are not farmers, we are members of our local agricultural
communities,” Woodford Reserve Master Distiller Emeritus Chris Morris told
Sustainable Brands®.
One step Woodford is taking to support those communities is embarking on a
five-year pilot program to not only purchase grain from Kentucky farmers, but
work with the University of Kentucky to better understand the potential of a
long-term solution for scalable rye growth in the state.
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“A handful of farmers have been growing (small amounts of) rye in the state, but
some aren’t happy with the yields, and this program would help rye move from an
experimental to a regular crop,” says Chad
Lee — professor at the
University of Kentucky, Director of the Grain and Forage Center of Excellence, and a key member of the rye research team.
The program is relatively straightforward: Beginning later this summer, Woodford
will begin small distillation trials on 10 varieties of rye to determine how the
different strains affect bourbon production.
Morris explains that Woodford is substituting the test ryes in its standard
bourbon recipe and comparing those batches to those crafted with the current rye
strain.
“Since bourbon is our primary production focus, we can create a good number of
data points over the course of each year’s production schedule,” he adds. “Once
new make — or freshly made distillate — is produced from a test batch, it is
compared to our gold standard or reference sample; this is done in our sensory
evaluations. The other test is based on determining the amount of alcohol that
is produced in the trial batches vs the standard recipe batches; this is
conducted using several analytical tools.”
While, of course, the main goal is to find a strain that can grow in Kentucky at
scale; there’s much larger potential to add another dimension to the state’s
grain-growing capacity, and do so with a crop that has certain regenerative
qualities.
Rye's role in regenerative ag
According to Lee, Rye has a fibrous root system that handles cold winters really
well; and the system also holds soil in place. This kind of durability makes it
a great candidate to be a cover crop (as Kansas City distiller J. Rieger &
Co recently showcased with its limited-edition, Cover Crop rye
whiskey).
Once a rye plant is terminated, its roots decompose and create channels for
other roots to grow. This all contributes to ongoing soil health — a key tenet
of regenerative
agriculture.
“We’re still doing a lot of experiments on rye as a cover crop,” he notes. “If
we take rye to a grain crop (for sale and distribution, like to Woodford
Reserve), we end up with a much bigger rye root system in the field and biomass
from rye itself. It elevates yields of other crops in rotation and contributes
to less rain runoff.”
Sam Halcomb, President of
the Kentucky Small Grain Growers Association
and managing partner at Walnut Grove Farms,
is the main advocate for the farmers experimenting with the various versions of
rye involved in the trials. He says that rye varieties evolve over time,
typically staying in circulation for 5-10 years before either man-made evolution
or another interference comes along and changes the crop.
“There are 2-3 areas in Kentucky well-suited to grow winter grains like wheat,
barley and rye,” he says. “Hopefully, rye can be a new addition.”
Halcomb thinks that rye as a crop fits the baseline definition of regenerative
agriculture, because there’s minimal to no
tillage
required in wintertime; these areas within the state have well-drained soils for
good winter growth; and rye can be easily swapped out for the traditional summer
crop of soybeans. The farmers are an important part of the success of this
project, helping University of Kentucky measure soil analysis and water
retention.
So, while there’s little discussion of adhering to one of the recognized
standards
for regeneratively farmed crops, the agricultural result would align with the
formal definition of the practice.
Then, there's the economics
Halcomb would like to see at least three different outlets developed for any rye
that comes out of the pilot — the likely trio being the bourbon industry; cover
crop; and potentially, livestock feed. Having three healthy marketplaces would
be crucial to making the numbers work for the farmers.
“The bourbon industry is a premium customer, and that’s probably where the best
price for rye is; but the quality has to be really good,” he notes. “But that’s
not always the case. Some of it will be top grade; some of it won’t.”
Morris echoes that need for top quality.
“Ideally, the chosen rye would produce the same amount of alcohol during
fermentation as the current strain does. That is important from an economic
standpoint. If it produces more that would be a bonus,” he says. “However, the
quality or taste it produces is even more important. If the flavor of Woodford
Reserve were to change from our current gold standard, then the entire exercise
would be a moot point.”
Having a stable, productive rye market closer to home would also cut
transportation costs for a big consumer like Woodford — which only adds to the
allure of the pilot. (Morris says Woodford’s existing cost models include the
price of transportation energy in their equations. A calculation of potential
environmental benefits will be made when determining the cost of the locally
produced rye compared to the outsourced product.)
However, just because it’s a five-year program doesn’t mean that there are plans
to have a scalable rye strain ready to grow in that time frame.
“I don’t know that we’ll have a Kentucky-specific variety in five years,” Lee
says.
He notes that when “everything is clicking just right,” developing and
introducing a new crop can take a decade. In five years, he thinks there could
be a small-scale crop to buy locally — but looking more towards 10 years to have
a rye in place that could really make a difference.
By then, that glass of bourbon could be made from grain that’s sourced much
closer to — and enriching both the land and economy around — the final
production point.
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Geoff is a freelance journalist and copywriter focused on making the world a better place through compelling copy. He covers everything from apparel to travel while helping brands worldwide craft their messaging. In addition to Sustainable Brands, he's currently a contributor at Penta, AskMen.com, Field Mag and many others. You can check out more of his work at geoffnudelman.com.
Published Jul 28, 2023 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST