Rye whiskey Canadian Club Chairman's Select, which are made from 100% rye mash. Canadian whisky must be aged in wooden barrels that are not larger than for at least 3 years, and the barrels do not have to be new oak or charred. This requirement differs from regulations for U.S. blended whiskey, in which the bulk base spirits are not required to be aged. Rye whiskey Rye whiskey can refer to two different, but related, types of whiskey: In the United States, "rye whiskey" is, by law, made from a mash of at least 51 percent rye. (The other ingredients in the
Whiskey Rebellion Farmers living west of the Appalachian Mountains distilled their excess grain into whiskey, which was easier and more profitable to transport over the mountains than the more cumbersome grain. A whiskey tax would make western farmers less competitive with eastern grain producers. Additionally, cash was always in short supply on the frontier, so whiskey often served as a medium of exchange. For poorer people who were paid in whiskey, the excise was essentially an income tax that wealthier easterners did not pay. Small-scale farmers also protested that Hamilton's excise effectively gave unfair tax breaks to large distillers, most of whom