Georgia Moon

Average score from 4 reviews and 8 ratings 69

Reviewed by @talexander

0 071/100

So it is now official - I'm an idiot. In my just-prior review of Dillon's White Rye, I said that the other "whisky that isn't whisky" that I'm reviewing is from Georgia. It's not - it's just called Georgia Moon. It's actually from Kentucky - distilled at Heaven Hill and "bottled by The Johnson Distilling Co." So besides the confusing provenance, this is bottled in a Mason jar. A JAR. This is not easy to pour, marketing wizards. Packaging and labelling, people. Packaging and labelling.

In the US, corn whiskey has to be at least 81% corn distillate. In the US, this is whiskey - the label says very clearly "Corn Whiskey". But the bottle in Canada only says "Corn". They had to leave whiskey off of the label, because hey, it ain't whiskey here. But it's in the whisky section of the LCBO. So it's whisky that isn't whisky.

The colour is, again, clear. Subtle on the nose with sourdough bread, buttered popcorn and many other cereal notes - unaged corn is completely different than unaged rye. Slightly earthy and vegetal. Pleasant (I suppose) but little complexity. I imagine this would be much more interesting at a higher ABV.

On the palate, again - very thin. And very non-descript. Cabbage water with very light background notes of fruit and corn. But overall, nothing really is here.

Almost non-existent finish with nothing left but a feeling that alcohol was at some point in my mouth. I would rate this slightly higher than the Dillon's White Rye but only because it is not unpleasant. Neither is it good. It is as non-descript and without character as the mullet on a third-rate NASCAR driver.

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Reviewed by @Victor

0 858/100

Georgia Moon is colourless unaged (or nearly so, with the label stating, "less than 30 days old")Corn Whiskey produced by Heaven Hill. In the US, Corn Whiskey is defined as a whiskey with a minimum of 80% corn content. I was not able to ascertain the non-corn component of Georgia Moon, but I would assume that malted barley would be the other major component for the enzyme content it would contain. Georgia Moon is cut down to 40% ABV. The reviewed bottle has been open about 3 years and is 2/3rds full.

Colour: none

Body: oily, smooth

Nose: moderate to strong sour corn. Over nearly 3 years this nose has gotten less spirity and less sour, and more corny. Even now the nose is a bit raw and brusque

Taste: very sour, which mostly overpowers the flavour of the corn. This is pretty dilute as well, and the grain flavours would be a lot more interesting undiluted. Three years later, this has tamed down a lot, but is still intense in ways that would make almost no one want to drink it for fun. This is not bourbon, so there are no wood flavours and no obvious rye

Finish: hard to get that sour mash taste off of the tongue. Most people aren't going to like this

Balance: I really like exploring unaged whiskeys in order to get to know the grain flavours without influence from the wood. Georgia Moon is probably the least interesting unaged spirit I have encountered, both because the sourness overwhelms everything else, and because there is a disappointing quality of dilution to the corn flavours. One benefit of tasting this stuff: it ought to disabuse anyone who does so, of the idea that either bourbon or corn whiskeys are ever sweet by virtue of their corn content. The corn sugars are all fermented and this hellaceous sourness is what remains. Except in the rare case of incomplete fermentation, all bourbon and corn whiskey sweetness comes from the sugars in the oak wood used to age it. Georgia Moon is the sort of spirit that it is good to try once. Few will want a second drink of it

@Victor commented:

@michaelschout, it is interesting to sample new make, aka unaged, whiskies. I'd suggest a sample before investing in a bottle, though, so that you know what you are getting into. They are sour as a group, from the fermentation, though, some, such as the unaged oat whiskeys, actually have a sweetness within them which is usually stronger than the sour taste. Why? I do not know whether it is from incomplete fermentation, or something in the oats, but the unaged oat whiskeys tend to taste like sweetened breakfast oatmeal. For other unaged whiskies, expect the sour and hope that it is not so overpowering as to distract from finding and enjoying the grain flavours, which, together with the alcohol, are all the rest that is there to experience. The flavours that are there are often stark and sometimes shrill. Most people don't get drawn to these spirits as pleasure drinks. There are several that I can occasionally get into the mood to enjoy, but only once in awhile, and usually in a very modest dram: Balcones True Blue, Corsair Wry Moon, Low Gap, and Catoctin Creek Mosby's Spirit.

@Victor commented:

@michaelschout, sure, sampling new make is a lower level whisky priority than is developing a core experience of the more mainstream products. Quite a few of them are quite interesting, but I really don't advise investing in whole bottles of them. You aren't likely to want to drink them that often, unless you regularly feature some of them in tasting programs for educational purposes. Even those educational program ones aren't likely to get sampled on Friday night dramming. Also, while something like Georgia Moon is usually very inexpensive to buy in the US (I shelled out all of about $ 10 for it), the products from most of the MANY new US artisanal distilleries are more often than not very pricey. As an example, Mosby's Spirit from nearby Catoctin Creek Distillery costs $ 44 here, while I have bought multiple bottles of Elijah Craig 18 yo bourbon for less money than that. Interestingly, the "drink local" movement seems to have some feet under it, since a lot of local and regional people are willing to pay these steep amounts for unaged spirit. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out, particularly with additional macroscopic economic distress. Find some friends who have bottles of this kind of stuff and trade drams with them. That's the way to do it...

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Reviewed by @markjedi1

0 150/100

Shine On Georgia Moon Corn Whiskey is, according to the cheap-looking brown-paper-bag label, ‘less than 30 days old!’. It’s crystal clear like gin and sold in a large Mason fruitjar, with a large round lid that will keep you from pouring this elegantly. But that’s not what Georgia Moon is about. It does not pretent to be any more than cheap corn whiskey, produced with a mash bill of at least 81% corn (legal obligation).

I’m sure it’s supposed to remind us of the moonshine period, when a lot of distilling went on illicitly to avoid taxes. This went on at night, so that the smoke wouldn’t be visible. That illicit spirit was called moonshine for the obvious reason.

The first whiff, when you pour the dram, is something sour that makes your nose curl. Ouch! I sense – I kid you not! – Brussels sprouts. Hard to believe. It’s a good thing this doesn’t last long. It’s immediately followed by sweet corn and something heather-like. It reminds me – for just a fraction of a second – of Glenglassaughs Spirit Drink, but this nose is not half as good. More like a quarter and even that is being kind.

On the palate, it starts sour and unsavory, but oily and silky soft with the smallest of bites. Being an American product, I expected this to be sweet. Well… it’s anything but. But – and that did not come as a surprise – excessively simply.

The finish is short and insignificant.

I’m happy that I tried it, albeit as some sort of experiment as I was attracted to the look of the bottle. But that’s the best you can say about this dram. It’s got a funny packaging.

Apparantly this corn whiskey is very popular in the USA, but I’m guessing this also has a lot to do with the pricetag. You can get it practically anywhere for approx. $10 at most (while in Europe it’s about 25 EUR). It’s part of Heaven Hill’s Corn Whiskey Portfolio, that also includes Mellow Corn, Dixie Dew and J.W. Corn. Georgia Moon also comes in two flavoured expressions : Lemonade (with lemon, who would’ve thought?) and Peach (with… err… peach). But those two have an ABV of 35% and are hence, technically speaking, not whiskey.

@LeFrog commented:

Thanks for the review Mark - it's hard to take this product seriously - but it's all whiskey at the end of the day.

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Reviewed by @Anonymous

0 270/100

I bought simply because of the interesting packaging. It is a smoother sweet whisky with a distinct corn sugar flavor. It is very unique I have not tasted anything like it.

@jozwikjp commented:

I wrote this review. And I suggest that anyone go out and try it at least once.