In the realm of American whiskey, bourbon tends to take up most of the conversation, but it’s actually rye that holds the title of the country’s first whiskey. Despite bourbon’s popularity, rye whiskey is still a beloved American spirit, with several of the most sought-after bottles commanding sky-high prices thanks to their lofty age statements and limited availability. And while some of these cult whiskeys come from illustrious producers such as Michter’s, Sazerac, and Willett, one of the most highly regarded is an expression you’ve likely never heard of: LeNell’s Red Hook Rye.
The story of LeNell’s Red Hook Rye begins with LeNell Santa Ana Camacho (formerly LeNell Smothers), a Birmingham, Ala., native who relocated to New York City in 2000. Prior to her move, Camacho had developed a love for wine and spirits through her experience working in the hospitality industry. It’s that passion that prompted her to open her eponymous bottle shop in Red Hook in 2003.
At the time, Red Hook was far from the bustling neighborhood it is today, meaning the first few months of business at LeNell’s were rather slow. To take advantage of this downtime, Camacho herself spent hours studying the emerging American whiskey market and refining her knowledge, familiarizing herself with which trends and expressions were growing most popular. The time spent studying paid off. Shortly after opening, LeNell’s had a citywide reputation for stocking some of the hardest-to-find bottles, including, but certainly not limited to, Pappy Van Winkle.
As the years went on, though, demand for these rare whiskeys continued climbing, and it became harder and harder for retailers to line their shelves with prized bottlings. Frustrated with how challenging it was becoming to source these whiskeys, Camacho went straight to the source — the barrel.
To get the best barrels possible, Camacho consulted Drew Kulsveen of Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), one of her close friends who just so happened to have refined expertise in barrel selection. See, the Kulsveen family has led operations at Kentucky’s storied Willett Distillery since 1984 — right around the time when American whiskey sales took a nosedive due to plummeting demand for brown spirits.
In order to keep things afloat, the Kulsveens pivoted to sourcing barrels from various Kentucky distillers when their own stock ran dry due to the decline, including those from Heaven Hill’s Bernheim facility and the storied Stitzel-Weller distillery. It’s this sourcing practice that allowed Willett to become the cult-followed label it is today, and it just so happens that LeNell’s Red Hook Rye is crafted from the same juice that would have one day become Willett Family Estate.
Between 2006 and 2008, Camacho travelled down to Kentucky on numerous occasions, selecting what would amount to four barrels of cask-strength rye maturing at the Willett Distillery in Bardstown. All the liquid inside each barrel was distilled in 1984 at Heaven Hill’s Bernheim Distillery from a low-rye mash bill — the same one believed to have been used to craft mature Michter’s and early iterations of Sazerac 18. All four barrels were selected from Warehouse G and aged for between 23 and 24 years with proofs ranging from 112.8 to 117.6.
The first launch of LeNell’s Red Hook Rye, Barrel #1, hit LeNell’s shelves in 2006 and almost immediately became a status symbol among in-the-know whiskey lovers. That first barrel only yielded around 200 bottles, and releases for Barrels #2, #3, and #4 weren’t much more abundant. In total, Camacho released approximately 850 bottles of her beloved Red Hook Rye, which is known for its exceptionally rich mouthfeel and abundant caramel, tobacco, baking spice, and rye spice notes. For many, Red Hook Rye is considered the unicorn rye.
Further increasing the bottles’ allure was the fact that Camacho closed her Red Hook bottle shop in 2009, just a few months after the final iteration of Red Hook Rye, Barrel #4, landed. After a short stint in Mexico where she opened Casa Cóctel, Camacho returned to Birmingham, Ala., in 2011 and eventually opened LeNell’s Beverage Boutique, which she continues to operate today. While the new Birmingham bottle shop shares many qualities with its Brooklyn predecessor, one thing is notably missing: LeNell’s Red Hook Rye — and it’s simply because there’s none left to sell.
Nowadays, the only bottles you can track down are on the secondary market, and even then, good luck getting your hands on one. A single, 750-milliliter bottle of LeNell’s Red Hook Rye commands an eyewatering average price of $40,000, though some have gone for as much as $100,0000. That said, perhaps the whiskey is worth the wait — of the seven experts we asked to share their “Mount Rushmore of Rye,” five pointed to LeNell’s as their top pick.
