Corn (Whiskey) Time: Bo & Ivy, Leopold Bros. 6, Laird's, SMWS "Rocking Chair Whiskey" (Heaven Hill)
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- Опубліковано 20 чер 2024
- Today we're back on corn whiskey, America's most exploitable whiskey style even if no one is actually exploiting it - and if you want to know why that is, I point you towards the Mellow Corn review ( • Mellow Corn BiB review... ). We've got an unaged version, an absolute monster from Leopold Bros. in Colorado, and a pair of very different Heaven Hills (one of which, strictly speaking, I'm pretty sure can't be called a corn whiskey). Here's the lineup:
- Bo & Ivy Unaged Corn Whiskey (Washington, DC; 80% corn, 15% rye, 5% malt, bottled circa 2022; 50% ABV), 73/100
- Leopold Bros. 6 Year Old American Corn Whiskey, Cask Strength (Denver; 80% mountain corn, 20% self-malted barley; bottled circa 2022; 53.7% ABV), 86+/100
- Laird's Straight Kentucky Corn Whiskey Finished in Apple Brandy Barrels (5 Years Old, sourced from Heaven Hill, bottled in Scobeyville circa 2022-3; 80% corn, 8% rye, and 12% malt; 50% ABV), 84/100
- SMWS CW1.1 "Rocking Chair Whiskey" 2009 Corn Whiskey (Heaven Hill; 80% corn, 8% rye, 12% malt; new charred barrel, distilled 5/31/09, bottled 2021, 248 bottles; 61.6% ABV), 85/100
The Bo & Ivy from DC... I mean, bless they're hearts, but it's basically white dog. It's nice white dog, though. Meanwhile the Leopold Bros. at under $60, is seriously a steal for how good it is - it might actually be a hair better than their basic rye ( • 2 Pennsylvania Ryes (+... ) - but it's also hugely austere, so be warned.
Which leaves the crypto-Heaven Hills. The Laird's is the most delicious thing here, and much more appley than its previously reviewed bourbony sibling ( • Laird's 5yo Straight K... ). Buy a bottle now and save it for the fall. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society offering, meanwhile... well, if it really has touched a new charred barrel then it isn't really corn whiskey, so there's clearly a story there. And it tastes like, well, a very competent Heaven Hill, broadly in the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof style. Which is fine, but it's also just less exciting than the Leopold or the Laird's and also less cheap than actual Elijah Craig Barrel Proof.
Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon ( / differentspirits ) -
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Lets go! It’s fun to see some white dog. Nice video as always, Prof. Spirits!
Thank you! Sadly no university affiliation yet, so it's just Dr. Spirits. 😂
The Laird's sounds delicious!
It's delightful. Again, totally the wrong season for it, but come September I might start breaking this out for friends...
This video makes me wonder about your thoughts on Canadian Whisky. I went back and saw your good review of JP Wiser 23 and your less enthusiastic reviews of Whistlepig. Canadian Whisky seems like a weird category, with some cons and a few pros.
Cons: low quality entry-level stuff, some blends with grain whisky, lots of additives allowed, some overpriced stuff from high-end blenders.
Pros: less active casks, longer aging, cold weather aging, maybe sometimes high-quality Northern grains; and at its best in theory it could be a cross between Bourbon (corn and rye as prominent grains) and Scotch (less active casks, longer aging in colder climate).
Anyway, I'm wondering what your take is these days. Do you consider Canadian Whisky a category of little interest, like Spanish Brandy? Just too many additives to be that interesting? Or did the JP Wiser 23 yr make you interested in exploring more?
And do you have any opinion on this newish brand Found North? I've just started to notice it on top of a few "best whiskies" lists. I'm curious, but also skeptical because it seems expensive and already beloved by taters.
Canadian whisky really feels like a sleeping giant, and I've been waiting for it to wake up for maybe two decades at this point. I completely agree with your take on the pros and cons, but the biggest extra con might be that - with a few exceptions - there just doesn't seem to be a lot of ambition to really put out well-presented, world-beating stuff.
Found North is the one I'm watching, although I confess that some of the finishings have put me off. But there's a bunch of nifty smaller distilleries doing cool stuff too. I don't know, we'll see...