Rye Seeds Gathered From A 145 Year Old Shipwreck To Be Used To Distill A Unique Whiskey
Whiskey is one of the most popular types of spirits out there, and it is easy to see why. While all whiskeys have some things in common, the different methods of distilling it can make the flavor dramatically different between them.
With this in mind, a distillery called Mammoth Distilling and Consolidated Rye and Whiskey is hoping that using some of the rarest rye on the planet will give their next batch a unique flavor that those who try it will love.
What makes the rye so rare? Well, to start with it is from a variety of rye that technically no longer exists.
In 1878 a ship named the James R Bentley was sailing through Lake Huron to Chicago when it ran into trouble and eventually sank. While the crew was fortunately rescued, the cargo was not. Part of this cargo was a variety of rye that has since gone extinct.
The ship was lost until 1984 when it was discovered. In 2024, some of that rye was collected and carefully transported to labs at Michigan State University where associate professor Eric Olson, who is an expert in wheat genetics and breeding, got right to work.
In a statement, Olson said:
“It was so exciting to potentially achieve what we set out to do, which was to revive this variety and bring back a piece of agricultural history. The idea of the seeds germinating is so exciting, but the odds are stacked against us because they’ve been underwater for 145 years.”
Despite their best efforts, the team was unable to get the seeds to germinate, but all hope was not lost.
Olsen went on to explain:
“The seeds aren’t dead at all. We can revive the genes that were carried in the seeds and use modern genome sequencing techniques to assemble parts of the genome. We’ll be able to sequence the chromosomes of this rye and transfer those chromosome segments into a modern rye variety, essentially reviving a historic rye.”
If they are able to successfully grow a crop from this rye, it will be distilled into a unique spirit that can’t be found anywhere else.
In the statement, Chad Munger, who is the owner and founder of Mammoth Distilling and Consolidated Rye and Whiskey (and also an alum of MSU) commented that he is excited for this opportunity:
“We want to see Michigan recreate the economy it had built purposefully around growing rye 120 years ago. One of the ways we can do that is create a market for Michigan rye outside the state. And we’re going to do that with history — Rosen rye and Bentley rye.”
Hopefully, they are able to successfully bring this rye back from the dead, and make some great whiskey along the way. To learn more about the shipwreck and how the rye was recovered, check out this quick video:
I would love to try that whiskey!
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about why we should be worried about the leak in the bottom of the ocean.
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