About Us

Raconteur Rye began as a collaboration between whiskey blender and producer James Symons of The WoodWork Collective and whiskey writer David Jennings (Rare Bird 101). Jennings had spent years telling the story of other people’s bourbon and rye, while Symons was quietly building what was essentially a “wood laboratory”—experimenting with Mizunara, long-seasoned American oak, and unusual finishing regimes. The turning point came when Jennings visited Symons, tasted a mid-aged 95/5 rye that had been finished in Mizunara, and realized it was doing something he hadn’t seen before: it was still clearly rye, but with unexpected layers of fruit, incense-like oak, and depth. Instead of bottling a single novelty barrel, they decided to build a brand around the idea of rye as a narrative medium.

From that decision came the first Raconteur Rye release, built on Indiana 95/5 rye around seven years old. Symons blended classic straight rye with parcels that had been aged in carefully selected toasted and specialty oak, plus a component touched by Mizunara. The aim was not to hide the rye but to let a familiar mash bill speak through different woods, then recombine those “voices” into one cohesive story in the glass. That debut established Raconteur as a blender-driven, finishing-forward rye brand: transparent about its components, unapologetically oak-focused, and more interested in character than conformity.

The second major chapter in the brand’s history was the release that would take the name “Brazen.” Again, Indiana 95/5 rye formed the backbone, but the barrels had endured a particularly intense heat cycle and came out louder and more forceful than expected. Rather than smoothing everything into blandness, Symons leaned into the challenge. By adjusting the proportions of straight, toasted, and finished whiskey—and once more employing Mizunara as an aromatic accent—he turned a potential problem into a bigger, richer, more decadent expression. The name “Brazen” reflects that choice: a willingness to follow the whiskey’s lead instead of forcing it into a safe, pre-written script.

With “Miz Kiss,” the third core release, Raconteur Rye pivoted into a new phase. For the first time, Symons worked with an 8-year Kentucky 95/5 rye rather than Indiana distillate. Instead of drowning it in finishing, he gave it exactly what the name suggests: a kiss of Mizunara influence. Some of the finishing was done in casks that had already held earlier Raconteur whiskey, so the wood carried a kind of memory from previous chapters. The result was a Kentucky rye that kept its structure and spice while layering in citrus, floral, and perfumed oak notes that by then had become part of Raconteur’s emerging signature.

Alongside the main batches, Symons developed an Indiana “Brazen” recipe at 8 years and a series of single-barrel Raconteur Rye releases. These often blended Indiana rye components—with and without Mizunara influence—and then finished them in empty Kentucky rye barrels, creating a dialogue between Indiana brightness and Kentucky depth inside each barrel. These single-barrel bottlings are treated as short stories set in the same world as the core releases: self-contained, distinctive, but clearly part of the Raconteur universe.

The idea of whiskey as a pair of intertwined stories came to full expression with Gemini I and Gemini II. Conceived as “twin” releases, both are 8-year 95/5 ryes presented at barrel proof, but one is centered on Indiana distillate and the other on Kentucky. They share Mizunara as a common thread while differing in their exact finishing paths. Symons and Jennings chose to release them side-by-side so drinkers could experience, in real time, how place, wood, and blending choices can change the voice of what is, on paper, the same mash bill and age.

Taken together, the history of Raconteur Rye is the story of a brand built on a few consistent convictions. For James Symons, 95/5 rye is a non-negotiable backbone. Wood is not a gimmick; it is a co-author. And each release should tell the truth about what it is and how it was made. From the first Mizunara-inspired spark, through Batch 1, “Brazen,” “Miz Kiss,” the Indiana–Kentucky single barrels, and the Gemini twins, Raconteur Rye has evolved into a line of whiskeys that are meant to be talked about as much as they are meant to be poured—each bottle a chapter in an ongoing story.