WS#6: All About Dat Corn

For a whiskey to be a Corn Whiskey it must be made from a mash bill of at least 80% corn (compared with 51% for a bourbon) and matured (if at all) in new or used oak that has not been charred. Them's the rules and we abode them as Aly took us on an amaizingly corny investigation into this much misunderstood spirit. Moonshine it wasn't.

1. Abasolo Corn Whiskey

86 proof. Two years? From Mexico.

Made of 100% Cachuazinthe corn that has been planted for more than 200 generations, the whiskey is made using a 4,000 year old cooking technique.

$43.

abasolowhisky.com

2. Ivy Mountain Appalachian Corn Whiskey

90 proof. Age: 6 years in American oak. Origin: Georgia
$52

3. Hudson New York Corn Whiskey

92 proof. Unaged. From New York City.

Made of 100% New York Corn. Among the first, legal whiskeys distilled in New York after prohibition.

$33.

tuthilltown.com

4. Sierra Norte (white corn)

90 proof. Age: 10 months. Origin: Oaxaca, Mexico.

85% white corn, 15% malted barley.

The first single-barrel Mexican whiskey available in the U.S.

$50
sierranortewhiskey.com

5. Sierra Norte (black corn)

90 proof. Age: 10 months. Origin: Oaxaca, Mexico.

Made with black corn.
$60

sierranortewhiskey.com

6. New Southern Revival Straight Bourbon

95 proof. Age: Minimum of 2 years. Origin: Charleston, S.C.
Made with 100% Jimmy Red Corn (recently rescued from extinction)

$100

Website

WS#5: Volumes of Oak

How big an impact does barrel ageing have on whiskey? And how do those impacts change depending on which barrels are used? We answered all those questions, and a couple more.

1. Still Austin New Make
92 proof. Unaged.
70% white corn, 20% wheat, and 10% malted barley.
$24

2. Still Austin Bourbon (Batch 3)
100.4 proof. Aged 1 year in charred oak barrels (with a #3 char) from Kentucky.
70% white corn, 25% Elbon rye, 5% wildfire malted barley.
$42. 

3. Angel's Envy Bourbon Port Finish
86.6 proof. 6 years + 6 months. (Louisville) Kentucky Straight Bourbon.
72% Corn, 18% Rye, 10% Malted Barley
Aged up to 6 years in new, charred 53-gallon American white oak barrels and finished in 60-gallon ruby port wine barrels made from French oak and imported directly from Portugal, for 3-6 months.
$57.

4. Jefferson's Reserve Old Rum Cask Finish
90.2 proof. Eight years + 15 months.
Straight Kentucky bourbon aged in American white oak casks for 8 years before being transferred for 15 months into old rum casks that previously held Goslings Family Reserve (Bermuda) for 16 years and, before that, bourbon for four years.
Jefferson's Distillery (Kentucky Artisanal Distillery), Crestwood, KY
$81.

5. Belle Meade Sherry Cask Finished Bourbon
90.4 proof. 9-10 years + 3 months.
64% Corn, 30% Rye, 6% Malted Barley. (High rye content).
Blend of 9-10 year old bourbon blended at Cask Strength in new charred oak and finished in Oloroso Sherry casks for at least 3 months.
Nelson's Green Briar Distillery, Tennessee (but currently distilled by MGP, Indiana).
$110

6. George Dickel Tabasco Barrel Finish
70 proof. No Age Statement + 30 days.
84% corn, 8% rye, 8% malted barley (same as regular Dickel)
Tennessee whiskey (filtered through sugar maple charcoal) and finished in barrels used to make Tabasco Pepper Sauce (produced by McIlhenny).
Tabasco is made from a pepper mash, vinegar, and spices fermented/aged in bourbon barrels for 3 years.
$19