Mellow Corn

Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. of Louisville, Kentucky, makes the majority of the commercially available US Corn whiskeys. Corn whiskies, by US Federal law, must be made from a mashbill of at least 80% corn. In practice, the other up to 20% will almost always be comprised totally of malted barley, because there is NO WAY that you will taste the corn if you add significant amounts of either rye or wheat. These whiskeys are almost always sold unaged. Mellow Corn is a Heaven Hill product which is sold Bottled in Bond, which means, among other things, that it is at least 4 years old and sold at 100 proof/50% ABV. Since there is no separate age statement, this whiskey is assumed to be approximately 4 years old

Nose: moderately strong intensity, fragrant,a little floral, honey, vanilla, caramel,a hint of sour corn mash

Taste: there is some corn flavour here, but after only four years in wood, it is the wood that is the strongest flavouring in what I am tasting-- by far. Lots of vanilla, caramel, some honey, and yes, a backdrop of Corn

Finish: moderate in length, fading out to a pleasant sweetness, which still has a lot of the wood flavours present

Balance: I went in search of the flavour of corn, somewhat mellowed compared to the unaged White Dog version. What I found was something that, upon reflection, is not too surprising to me: the flavour of Corn is so subtle that every other flavour factor will dominate it. In the case of this 4 year old Mellow Corn Whiskey, the corn flavour is no match for the oak in which it is aged. This is pleasant enough whiskey to drink, but what you get is a wood profile-- like a bourbon without the flavour, i.e. flavouring grain: rye or wheat. I think that you have to go far out of your way to sip this and say "This tastes like Corn!!" Corn is a fragile flower whose flavour cannot hold up on its own except under hot-house conditions

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