A Tasting of Four Corn Whiskeys

This weekend my brother-in-law expressed a new interest in whiskey - without his normal tendency to mix anything with cola. Thus I subjected him to a lecture on the various types of whiskey (i.e what is bourbon, Tennessee sour mash, Scotch, moonshine....). We then sampled a few styles from Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia that I had open on the bar: two moonshine styled whiskeys and two bourbon styled whiskeys. The Bowman Brothers Pioneer Spirit was a clear favorite, followed by the Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon. Tasting notes are below. Cheers.




Piedmont Distillers (Madison, NC)- Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon ($25)
Aroma - weak neat, but opens to dirty corn after a few drops of H2O
Mid - very smooth, corn sweet
Finish - clean finish; very, very short burn

Stillhouse Distillery (Culpeper, VA) - MOONSHINE - The Original Moonshine from Stillhouse ($40)
Aroma - very weak neat, but opens to dirty corn after a few drops of H2O
Mid - smooth, some sweetness
Finish - clean finish; short burn -> works best in a cocktail

Thirteenth Colony Distilleries (Americus, GA) - Southern Corn Whiskey ($30)
Aroma - honey nut cheerios
Mid - kerosene
Finish - mid level burn

A. Smith Bowman Distillery (Fredericksburg, VA) - Bowman Brothers Pioneer Spirit ($40)
Aroma - burnt honey
Mid - candied walnuts
Finish - coats mouth; smoothest, slight burn