American Corn Whiskey...Views? Advice?

I've sampled a few unaged and aged corn whiskeys and reviewed several on Connosr. There are many out there now, and I don't feel compelled to try them all.

Bottom line: for corn whiskey in which you actually taste the corn and not the wood or another grain, I recommend Balcones True Blue. It is expensive, but worth it.

For other than American Corn Whiskey in which what you taste is mostly a product of the wood aging and not the corn, I recommend Greenore 15 Years Old, an Irish "Single Grain Whiskey" from the Cooley distillery. I haven't tried Greenore 18, but I expect that I would like that too. I am not impressed with Greenore 8. No doubt there are some good old Scottish Grain whiskies out there, but I have little exposure to them as yet.

I like the taste of corn, a lot. I looked around quite a bit to find it in whiskeys. For my palate, any wood aging, even re-used wood, and the presennce of a more strongly flavoured grain like rye or wheat, will obscure the taste of corn to a degree that it becomes almost imperceptible. For this reason, as far as corn flavours go in whiskey, I want mine uncut and 100% corn, if possible. A little malted barley, the usual American whiskey 10% mashbill, wouldn't alter things a great deal, though. Balcones True Blue is uncut unaged 100% corn whiskey. I would welcome other brands that would also be uncut unaged 100% corn mashbill. Some like the wood flavours added when it is wood aged, like Mellow Corn. To me most of the US wood aged corn whiskeys, and the younger Irish, or Scottish 'single grain' maize whiskies taste to me like bourbon without half the flavour, i.e. rye, or wheat. (For me: bourbon= somewhat diluted rye or wheat flavours, plus new wood flavours; straight US Rye= less diluted rye flavours plus new wood flavours. The yeast strain, of course, is always also a crucial, seemingly impossible to quantify, determinant of flavours, as well.)

Something interesting seems to happen with many of those older Irish and Scottish corn whiskeys once they have spent quite a few years in the wood, though.

I met Ralph Erenzo from Hudson the other week and asked him about their corn whiskey - from my notes (there's at least one person on Connosr who can tell me if they are wrong) the aged Baby Bourbon and the New York Corn are the same spirit, with the former aged for 6-9 months and the latter not. They use a 100% corn mash (as close as they can, anyway - they use a small amount of malt and added enzymes to keep the malt below flavour threshold) and they're both interesting.

I'm not a fan of the Baby Bourbon, finding it a bit hollow in flavour, but the New York Corn is very interesting new spirit.

@Victor @cowfish Thanks Guys, I've now tried the Balcones Baby Blue which was impressive. I don't think the Hudson has crossed the sea yet

Mellow Corn was ok at best and I don't think I'll even bother trying that Georgia Moon pretend pantomime moonshine

Out of interest have any of you tried that Popcorn Suttons whiskey Which was funded by Hank Williams?

It would be interesting to hear what it really tastes like after all that Discovery Channel Hype :)

@Victor I'm going off topic a little but I really like the Tullamore Dew when it comes to Irish Whiskey

@Mountrain The Hudson will be on general release at the end of this month/beginning of next - I spoke to Ralph at Whisky Live London about the launch.

In the meantime a little bit has crossed the sea :) The Whisky Exchange have a few bottles in, although we're currently out of the Rye and Baby bourbon, just leaving the Four Grain and Corn Whiskey.

@Mountrain, that's a good decision to forego the Georgia Moon, except for experimental tasting purposes. It is overwhelmingly sour, and not much of a pleasure drink. That said, I would love to take a taste of it undiluted to see what the original flavours were. They don't sell it undiluted, though. Big sour flavour is an occupational hazard with unaged whiskeys. Interestingly the unaged Oat whiskeys tend to be unusually sweet (actually sweet and sour) for new-make. I don't know whether this is due to incomplete fermentation leaving residual sugars in the oat distiller's beer, or some component in the oats themselves which somehow leaves a sweetish flavour. Yeah, just ok is about how I'd describe the Mellow Corn as well. It is drinkable, but there is really not much reason to go there with so many excellent choices available.

Heaven Hill Trybox Corn Whiskey is actually unaged Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon. As bourbon, it has rye in it, but, unlike most unaged bourbons, you can taste the corn very clearly in it despite the presence of the rye.

Tullamore Dew doesn't always get a lot of love or respect around here, but I have always liked it: the standard, 12 yo, and the Tullamore Dew Single Malt 10 yo. (Don't know Popcorn Suttons whiskey)