What Heaven Hill Makes

[cowdery]

The discussion about who makes Corner Creek Reserve got me thinking about what Heaven Hill does make. Here is the list of all their American whiskey products. This does not include private label brands they create for others. These are just the brands they own.

Bourbon
Evan Williams Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage Bourbon Whiskey
EIjah Craig Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Elijah Craig 18-Year-Old Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey
Henry McKenna Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Henry McKenna Bottled-In-Bond Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey
Fighting Cock Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Heaven Hill Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Old Fitzgerald Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Old Fitzgerald 1849 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Very Special Old Fitzgerald Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Rye Whiskey
Rittenhouse Rye Whisky
Pikesville Rye Whiskey
Stephen Foster Rye Whiskey

Blended Whisky
Philadelphia Blended whisky

Corn Whiskey
Georgia Moon Corn Whiskey
Mellow Corn Whiskey

I look forward to a lively discussion about the relative merits of Georgia Moon and Mellow Corn.

--Chuck Cowdery

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Chuck said...

Corn Whiskey
Georgia Moon Corn Whiskey
Mellow Corn Whiskey

I look forward to a lively discussion about the relative merits of Georgia Moon and Mellow Corn.

Hah!! Okay, Mark... Do you want to start this off, or should I? Heh heh!

Mark Mason and I have been having this exact conversation offline just this week! Let me throw a third one into the mix; McCormick has returned its li'l brown jugs of Platte Valley to the marketplace. At least I think it was out of production until recently. The current Platte Valley is 3-year-old 80 proof, as opposed to 5-year-old 80.6 proof. It's also distilled in Illinois, and "selected and bottled", while the older version was "distilled and bottled" by McCormick in Weston, Missouri. I've never had the opportunity to try the old McCormick; the current one is nothing special (and I like corn whiskey). It compares to both the Heaven Hill corns about the same as Rittenhouse compares to Old Overholt or Rip Van Winkle Rye.

-John Lipman-
http://w3.one.net/~jeffelle/whiskey

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For those who haven't any access to real moonshine these are passible facesimiles. Here in the mountains of Virginia this honorable tradition is still passed along from father to son. We also have nice apple and peach orchards. Apple cider is allowed to harden and is then distilled. Clear and crisp. Peaches on the other hand are allowed to overripen and are then quartered into 55 gallon barrels along with 55 pounds of Dixie Crystals sugar add water to fill and wait a week while it 'works' (capturing wild yeast out of the air) then double distill. A fine fruit liquor with just a hint of the peach flavor. Good corn 'likker' is made fresh as the corn ripens in the field. Picked in the morning you spend the rest of the day shucking. Then using your freshly sharpened Buck knife you cut the corn off the cob straight into the 55 gallon barrels. It takes a lot of shuckin' & cuttin' to fill a barrel. Again add 55 pounds of Dixie Crystals and wait a week while it works. Double distill. This WILL leave you breathless after you take a pull offin the jug.

Linn S.

[cowdery]

The last time I had Mellow Corn, which was some years ago when it was still a Glenmore product (when there was still a Glenmore) it was slightly aged in used cooperage and actually had a little tint to it. Georgia Moon, on the other hand, well, let's just say if you dropped a toothpick into it, that would be its sole contact with wood. Both products do resemble white dog, i.e., bourbon just off the high wines still. I keep a bottle of Georgia Moon to give people a sense of what white dog tastes like and, consequently, what the barrel contributes to the process. White Lightning, generally, does not taste like white dog, although the idea of 'stilling it up with a little corn is an interesting one. But John is right, the corn won't ferment unless you grind it, cook it, and mix in a little malted barley (or malted something) to get that enzyme thing going. Otherwise, it's your Dixie Crystals that are producing all the alcohol. The rule in moonshining is you use the cheapest source of fermentable material, whether it is cane sugar or potato peels. These days, it generally is cane sugar. Shiners usually aren't too particular about discarding enough of the heads and tails, so you get a lot of fusel oils, sometimes to a dangerous extent. That is why I don't have any particular romantic attachment to moonshine.

Besides, most of the guys out in the yollers abandoned moonshining years ago in favor of marijuana cultivation.



--Chuck Cowdery

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Thanks for the enlightenment Chuck. Does the corn absolutley have to dryed and then ground? It can't be fresh cream style corn? Why is Julian (and everyone else for that matter) laughing right now?

Linn S.

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Wanted to put in a brief plug for Heaven Hill's own brand, which I think is a pretty good bargain bourbon. Supposed to be hard to find, though out here in rural PA it's pretty common.

doug

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Always wanted to try stuff like this. (In fact, a friend of a friend is going to....ah, never mind.) Anyhow, one question (and please, forgive my ignorance). Is this stuff sweet tasting? I would guess the peach liquor might be. How about the other stuff?

Just curious,
doug

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White dog (raw bourbon) is real sweet. And, as Mark Mason and I were discussing just recently, the corn flavor is so dominant that you can hardly (if at all) taste any rye, wheat, or malted barley in it. I've never tried white lightning moonshine, but I've tasted good ol' Everclear 190-proof grain alcohol (in younger, wilder days we used to mix it with raw cider as a party punch). Virtually no flavor at all. I'd guess the best moonshine would be somewhere between that and 151 white rum?

( DISCLAIMER - I'm not an attorney and the following statement is not being offered as legal advice )

Unlike controlled substances like marijuana, it's not illegal to possess bootleg liquor, you just can't make or distribute it. Is there anyone out there who'll admit to a knowledge of different kinds or flavors?

-John Lipman-
http://w3.one.net/~jeffelle/whiskey

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Doug no it's not sweet tasting at all. The peach is really kind of like a vodka with just a hint of the peach in it's 'flavor'. As for the corn well it aint rocket science but it sure is rocket fuel! Shoo whee doggies!

Linn S.

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John 'shines got no flavor. Kicks like a mule but no real 'flavor'.

Linn S.