Revival Jimmy Red Corn Bourbon Whiskey
Proof: 101
Age: minimum of 2 years
Distillery: High Wire Distilling
Mashbill: 100% Jimmy Red Corn
Nose: Allspice, Butterscotch, Caramel, Chocolate, Corn, Coffee, Honey, Lemon, Nutmeg, Oak, Bread, Strawberry, Vanilla, Walnut
Taste: Buttery/Silky mouthfeel. Buttered popcorn, Corn grain, Shortbread, Chocolate, Light Fruit, Sugarcane, Vanilla.
Finish: Long. The finish is unique to this. You can tell it is a 100% corn mashbill. The spice notes mingle wonderfully with the sweet notes here. The amount of spice from this is a bit different. Since there is no rye or barley in this mash, all of the spice is what’s known as ‘barrel spice.’ As the wood is charred, it releases chemicals that release into the whiskey as it ages. Science has shown us that the chemical compounds from this create very rich, sweet notes such as caramel, vanilla and butterscotch. What is not spoken about enough are the spice notes from the barrels too - such as a Smokey cinnamon, nutmeg, and peppercorn.
All of those flavors dance around from start to finish - almost playing tricks on my tongue. I can find it to be sweet for a second, and then spicy the next. This is the first time I have had such a complex finish with such a simple mashbill.
Overall: Revival is the perfect name for this. Before this whiskey, Jimmy Red Corn had not been used in whiskey for quite some time. JRC was popular among moonshiners, as it offered up a mellow product, that offered plenty of flavor right off of the still. I think this is an awesome experiment done by High Wire Distilling, but I am not sure if I would have launched an actual product based on this concept. What we are really drinking here is barrel aged moonshine. While it has some delicious and unique notes coming from inside, it still tastes like a moonshine, just softer and less gasoline like. This was released and was pretty well received for the most part, but I would like to think that this could have been an experimental release done in a 375ml and released for much cheaper. With a price topping out at over $100 (for a two year old product), I would like to think this was more than just a cash grab at a unique concept. The cost really kills its rating overall.
Rating: 4.7/10