PREVIEW

Scientists plan to use rye found on a 145-year-old shipwreck in Lake Huron to resurrect traditional Michigan whiskies that has been lost to the world for a Century.

The James R. Bentley, a wooden schooner loaded with rye, sank in heavy seas in November 1878 near 40 Mile Point Lighthouse, just north of Rogers City. While the crew survived, the rye cargo was lost—until now.

On 17 September 2024, a team of divers retrieved rye seeds from the submerged wreck, located in 1984, lying 160 feet below the lake's surface. The seeds were carefully extracted using a specially designed tube and transferred to the lab of Michigan State University (MSU) Associate Professor Eric Olson, an expert in wheat genetics.

Despite their age, Olson was optimistic about the find, describing the moment the seeds emerged as akin to “winning a million-dollar jackpot.”
The significance of the seeds is that they are a lost variety of rye - as in the early 20th century, MSU (then Michigan Agricultural College) introduced Rosen rye, a hardy variety developed from seeds brought from Russia. This meant the type of rye found on the wreck disappeared as farmers cultivated the new rye crop, and cross-pollination will have altered its genetics.

By the mid-1910s, Michigan had become the largest rye producer in the United States, thanks in part to the isolation of South Manitou Island, which prevented further cross-pollination.

However, by the 1970s, farmers turned to more lucrative crops like corn and soybeans, and rye production dwindled. The once-famous Rosen rye might have been lost entirely if not for the efforts of Mammoth Distilling founder Chad Munger and collaborator Ari Sussman.
They rediscovered the variety in a 1934 Vanity Fair advert for Schenley Whiskey, describing Rosen rye as “the purest rye on earth.”

Munger tracked down Rosen rye seeds stored in a U.S. Department of Agriculture bank. Working with Olson, he turned 20 seeds into a commercially viable crop, now being grown once again on South Manitou Island.

The Bentley rye, however, presents a far greater challenge. After 145 years underwater, the seeds showed no signs of germination. Olson explained that while the cold, low-oxygen environment preserved the seeds’ structure, their cellular viability had likely been compromised.

Instead, the team plans to extract DNA from the seeds to sequence their genome.

“We’ll compare it to historical rye varieties worldwide to understand its origins,” Olson said. By integrating its genetic traits into modern varieties, they hope to “marry the old with the new.”

Munger envisions using the ryes to bring back Michigan whisky as a draw to the area. He wants to start a Michigan Rye Trail, akin to Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail, uniting distilleries and farms across the state.

“This is about creating an economy around rye, just like Michigan had 120 years ago,” he said.
Farms could become small-scale distillers, allowing visitors to experience rye production from field to bottle.

Olson believes the shipwrecked Bentley rye will have unique appeal as being different to any other in the world - creating a unique whisky visitors won’t be able to taste anywhere else.

“If we can incorporate its traits into Rosen rye, it’ll create extraordinary opportunities for Michigan agriculture and agrotourism,” he said.

“We want people to know their whisky grain came from Michigan. Reviving these historic varieties is about more than whisky—it’s about celebrating the state’s agricultural heritage.”