Rye was nearly definitely the primary grain to see the within of an American-made liquor bottle. However it will be corn (or maize, extra precisely) that might come to outline American whiskey.
Regardless of being the dominant grain in bourbon mash payments—not less than 51 p.c, by regulation—few expressions are made with greater than 80 p.c corn. However corn whiskeys (as they’re typically identified as soon as the mash invoice ideas previous 80 p.c) do exist, and as producers repeatedly try for brand new methods to distinguish inside the crowded craft whiskey market, these oddball examples supply a glimpse into the state of recent spirits. Whereas course of, packaging and advertising have been as soon as the first components setting one bottle aside from one other, uncooked substances—and a producer’s willingness to allow them to shine within the closing product—are extra vital than ever.
Corn whiskey is, after all, hardly new. Mellow Corn, that easy-drinking bottling from Heaven Hill Distillery, was first produced in 1945 and have become a cult bartender favourite about 10 years again, thanks partially to its lurid yellow packaging that made it an ironic shot of selection in dive bars the world over.
However corn whiskey obtained the craft remedy as early as 2003, when New York’s first authorized distillery since Prohibition, Hudson Whiskey, launched Child Bourbon, made with 100% native corn and matured in small-format barrels. It was an immediate hit. Since being taken over by multinational William Grant and Sons in 2017, Child Bourbon has been rechristened Vibrant Lights, Huge Bourbon and the mash invoice has dropped to 95 p.c corn. It could be a stretch to nonetheless name it “craft,” however nonetheless, it paved the best way for a lot of craft whiskeys to observe.
When Texas’ Balcones launched its Child Blue whiskey in 2008, for instance, the distillery took the logical subsequent step by turning to heirloom grains, particularly roasted blue corn, in what would develop into a milestone bottle for the corn whiskey motion, and for the usage of heirloom grains for whiskey normally. Others have adopted go well with. New Southern Revival Straight Bourbon Whiskey, from South Carolina’s Excessive Wire Distilling Co., is made with 100% Jimmy Pink corn, a spread traditionally grown on James Island and identified to be a favourite of South Carolina moonshiners. The cultivar was almost extinct earlier than being revived within the late 2000s by a coalition of farmers, lecturers and cooks, together with Sean Brock, a champion of threatened Southern heirloom substances.
“We use 100% Jimmy Pink corn for our whiskey as a result of it has so many flavorful layers, we simply didn’t really feel like wheat or rye was mandatory,” explains Excessive Wire co-founder Scott Blackwell. “It has a ton of starch, which tends to translate to a tender graham texture and taste, and likewise accommodates cinnamic acid, which finally ends up translating into baking spice flavors.” Now grown in partnership with Clemson College, the Jimmy Pink corn utilized by Excessive Wire lends a signature profile that they describe as “nutty, candy and mineral, with a particularly excessive oil content material that gives an unusually creamy mouthfeel.”
Reservoir Distillery in Richmond, Virginia, shares Excessive Wire’s strategy to letting grains converse for themselves. Every of their rye, wheat and corn whiskeys are made with 100% of their base grain, uncut and unadulterated. “We consider there may be energy in provenance,” says Leslie Griles, director of selling and communications for Reservoir. “By selecting to make our bourbon from 100% corn, we give our prospects a chance to find what that pure grain has to supply.”
Even exterior of america, corn whiskeys are a burgeoning class. Mexico has not less than two manufacturers devoted to corn whiskey—Abasolo and Sierra Norte—which is probably unsurprising, as corn was first domesticated by Indigenous individuals round 9,000 years in the past in what’s now Mexico. And in the UK, Oxford Artisan Distillery produces its Heritage Corn Whisky utilizing a wide range of English grains.
As far-off as Australia, a rustic with its personal booming craft whiskey scene, corn whiskey is a part of the rising grain-to-glass development. Western Australia’s Whipper Snapper Distillery, for instance, makes use of regionally grown corn for its Upshot 80 p.c corn whiskey matured in virgin white oak, with limited-edition bottles aged in virgin European oak and used Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. On the opposite facet of the nation, in Melbourne, Ben Bowles and his companions at The Gospel often launch restricted bottlings of aged moonshine alongside their signature Australian ryes. “Corn doesn’t carry an enormous quantity of grain character by means of maturation, nevertheless it retains sweetness, and paired with the flavors of the oak it provides us a whiskey that’s gentle and mellow whereas nonetheless being wealthy,” he explains. “We love working with 100% corn whiskeys as a result of they throw a lot funk and sweetness into the combo—with these items, you might simply persuade a rum drinker to return throughout to the whiskey facet.”
