Heaven Hill Trybox Series Corn Whiskey

Heaven Hill has joined the increasing number of US distillers offering a larger number of 'new make' or unaged spirits. Most of the products of this type coming onto the market are from small artisanal distilleries looking to obtain some revenue for their continuing business expansion. In Heaven Hill's case, as one of the biggest American whiskey distillers, bottlers, sourcers to other bottling companies, and on-going producers of other new make whiskey brands, the motivation would appear to be different. Perhaps Heaven Hill has decided to compete in the artisanal new make market, now that Sazerac corporation has done so with its White Dog, Mash #1. The whiskeys in this series are to the best of my knowledge the first of Heaven Hill's near barrel proof offerings, at a standardized 62.5% ABV, in the new make category. The "corn" whiskey, reviewed here, is Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon, prior to wood aging for, typically, 10 years. The other Trybox Series Whiskey is the unaged version of Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey, also at 62.5% ABV. The reviewed whiskey contains 13% rye in the mashbill, and probably about 10% malted barley. At approximately 77% corn mashbill this whiskey remains a bourbon and does not technically meet the 80% minimum corn content required to be defined in the US as Corn Whiskey. The reviewed bottle is labelled Production Code: 6c11.

Nose: rather strong corn aroma, with some new make sourness, but less sour than most in this category. In the nose the rye grain is quite faint and not easy to observe. The high alcohol content is quite noticeable in the nose.

Palate: there is lots of corn on the palate, with the rye creeping up very slowly after a few seconds. The rye here does not completely take over the flavour, though, even all the way through the finish, as it does with Buffalo Trace's White Dog, Mash #1. It is rather surprising here how well the corn flavour holds up with 13% rye present in the mash. I have never seen this much gumption from corn before. This remains sour on the palate, as is typical for new make. The alcohol greeting is strong, as you might expect at 62.5% ABV.

Finish: the flavours stay a very long time and the corn stays all the way til the end. There is noticeable rye, but it does not ever prevent you from tasting a lot of corn here. The alcohol stays strong through the finish also.

Balance: This is still a "study whiskey" rather than a drinking whiskey for me. I think that there is a lot to learn about the grains from these various new makes. This one really surprises me. I bought the bottle precisely because the corn flavour held up very well, all the way through the finish, despite the presence of rye. This is not the purest (Balcones True Blue) or the strongest (White Dog, mash # 1) flavour of corn that I have experienced, but it is a relatively pure and strong one and one of the longest lasting. I would still like to find a white or yellow corn barrel proof unaged corn whiskey as my reference for "the flavour of corn".