Mellow Corn is a distinctive American whiskey produced by Heaven Hill Distillery. Classified as a straight corn whiskey, it is made with a mash bill of at least 80% corn, the remainder being a combination of malted barley and rye. It's aged in used oak barrels and has a light, golden colour and a bold flavour profile characterized by sweet corn, vanilla, and oak, with a touch of spice. Bottled at 50% ABV, it offers a strong, flavorful experience that stands out among other whiskies.
I added a bottle of this to my selection in order to keep on exploring as many types of whisk(e)y as possible, never having tasted corn whiskey. I like it, all things considered. It hasn't got much in the way of a nose, and a great big oily flavour - I'd concur with Jim Murray on this one. It's not a delicate spirit, but it does appeal in terms of intensity of spicy sweetness. I've tried it neat, with water, and in an Old Fashioned - although I wouldn't recommend this last, it tends to be a bit sweet and homogenous to be the main player in that particular cocktail:- a lively rye is my personal preference.
This sells for 10 bucks in a local store. Would NEVER pay this price and have to wait for it..and it's not worth 40 dollars!
For better or worse, American whiskey is dominated by bourbon from Ky or Tenn. Although corn based, its really about half corn with the real flavor coming from wheat, rye and malted barley - a mish mosh of flavors, not to mention the strong effects of NEW CHARRED oak, accelerated over 2 years, which then are later mellowed by further aging. But straight corn whiskey is not bourbon, and especially not this one. Mellow Corn is 90% corn and is really quite a different genre. Just like armagnac is not cognac, and rye is not bourbon, is not single malt - a straight corn whiskey is yet another genre that stands on its own. While bourbon depends on factors other than corn and highlights those elements, a straight corn whiskey is meant to emphasize corn, not rye. Furthermore this one is truly special in that it is bottled in bond. Thus it is aged at close to 62% and bottled at 100 proof and get this - in good USED oak - all by law. This is a rather slow and careful process and those two extra years in used oak insures that the corn, not the wood, will be emphasized. Thus this one is remarkable. The opening nose is a sweet corn over a light spicy background, bit of vanillan, but the palate opens oily smooth and warm with the spices and heat emerging and carrying to a wonderful finish that appears to be black pepper, cinnamon and clove, but which is really white pepper in corn disguise. Brilliant, really and deceptively simple. A caveat: I would remind our hairy chested friends that this is a 100 proof spirit. This means it demands a good airing, and a teaspoon or two of distilled water, like any high proof single malt. Remember too, that no spirit will be truly understood until you get down to the shoulders of the bottle. At our website - Capn Jimbo's Rum Project - we expected little from a spirit that was sold next to moonshine, and accordingly was bought and reviewed as a giggle. We had no idea how good Mellow Corn would be. The sad truth: true corn whiskey once dominated distilling, but that ended long ago with the growth and current dominance of Amercian Bourbon. If straigh corn whiskies were back in commercial favor, this one would easily sell for $35. At $10 to $12 we not only rated it an "8", or 4 stars, it was a no-brainer, Best Buy. Boys and girls, its time to open up your bourbon soaked minds enough to learn and to appreciate the genre of straight corn whiskey, of which this a terrific example.
Good price , Good whiskey , I like.
This whiskey is young, very young, and you can notice that. It's got a sweet nose, but is tastes not as sweet as a standard Jim Beam and it's not as smooth either. It has got a long burn and sports a surprising lack of complexity. At the same time it also lacks any pleasant surprise in taste. A whiskey you could buy to experience what a straight corn whiskey tastes like, but I'm sorry, this one is nothing to write home about. I'm curious how it would taste if it was matured 10 years or more, I bet it would be much better.
