cowdery Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 They are indeed mostly Potemkins. What's happening is that excited entrepreneurs decided that they want to make whiskey. In their research, they discover bulk whiskey.... and their notion of making whiskey goes away because actually making it looks too hard.And this would be fine, except we're getting robbed of new whiskey distilleries, and all the creativity that would come out of them figuring out how to do it. And that's a damn shame, if you ask me. What if Stone Brewing and Firestone Walker and breweries like them never happened because they chose to become contract brewers instead?BTW, Mr. Cowdery... in case you were concerned about our shop:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150375725091236&set=a.107922511235.94767.36625626235&type=1&theater Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRay Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I see that Mellow Corn is available in Georgia (it's on the list) and after what I have read here about Mellow Corn, I am intrigued anough to go downtown and get a bottle tomorrow. I've seem it on the shelves and didn't know Heaven Hill made it. Do they make Georgia Moon as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmckenzie Posted November 21, 2011 Author Share Posted November 21, 2011 Gerorgia moon is watered down Mellow corn white dog if you will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 They're both made by Heaven Hill and are the same out of the still. Georgia Moon is un-aged and 40% ABV. Mellow Corn is aged at least 4 years in used barrels and 50% ABV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethangsmith Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 I wonder what the barrels previously held in them? I'm sure that's going to influence the taste a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothAmbler Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 We are making a corn whiskey. It's 80% corn and 20% malted barley and aged in used barrels. We also stick that grain bill in new barrels, which is bourbon. We are going to blend those two to make one product that will be labeled as neither a corn whiskey nor bourbon. We're got the labels approved a while back and we're just going to call it "Appalachian Whiskey". We're pretty excited about. My thinking has been that when people around here think of moonshine, they mistakenly think it's corn liquor. In fact, most of it around these parts is made from sugar. So, it's really our play on aged moonshine, if there ever was such a thing. The label is more about the region and not so hokey as I make it sound. We started putting it away last year so I hope to have some out next spring. It's interesting now, but a bit green. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brisko Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 I wonder what the barrels previously held in them? I'm sure that's going to influence the taste a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Since Heaven Hill sells the vast majority of its used barrels, I assume they keep some of the most desirable ones for their own limited re-use purposes. I also assume that the most desirable ones are the youngest, i.e., the ones that held bourbon for the least amount of time. The bourbon that is used for ready-to-drinks for the Australian market is barely two years old--just old enough to be called 'straight bourbon.' I imagine those are the barrels they retain for aging Mellow Corn.No, they don't re-char them. They are merely emptied and rinsed. I know of no re-charring done by U.S. distilleries, but I know the Scottish distilleries do, on occasion, scrape and re-char. Obviously, this is highly labor intensive and is not done often.Heaven Hill's principal use for used barrels is for aging their brandies, primarily Christian Brothers. In addition to the youth of the barrels, there is the fact that both the brandies and the bourbon for the ready-to-drinks are aged at Bernheim, whereas the rest of Heaven Hill's bourbons are aged in Bardstown and vicinity. There's a good chance that Mellow Corn is also aged at Bernheim. The masonry warehouses at Bernheim are mostly empty, so anything they can age there and not ship to Bardstown they probably do age there. Parker and Craig Beam don't like the way the masonry warehouses age so with the exception of the RTD stuff and some contract production, they don't age any bourbon there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothAmbler Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Chuck,Do you know if they try to sweat the barrels in some way to extract the last bit of alcohol when they dump? Or, do they leave that in order to add something to the Mellow Corn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Chuck,Do you know if they try to sweat the barrels in some way to extract the last bit of alcohol when they dump? Or, do they leave that in order to add something to the Mellow Corn?so far as I know, only Beam and Daniel's sweat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brisko Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I got a fifth of this from the Party Source (thanks, free shipping) and the label gave me a chuckle:"Distilled by Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. DSP-KY-354, Louisville, KentuckyBottled by Medley Company, Bardstown, KY. DSP-KY-31."and, in small print:"Not connected with any other distillery using the name Medley."I understand the wheres and whys, but like I said, it's amusing that they refer the DSP that's not Heaven Hill as Heaven Hill, and the DSP that is(was) Heaven Hill, as Medley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dohidied Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I got a fifth of this from the Party Source (thanks, free shipping)Me too! This stuff is great. Mellow is definitely the proper adjective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 The DSP applies to more than the distillery. DSP-31 still exists in Bardstown to cover Heaven Hill's maturation, rectification, and bottling facility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brisko Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 I was more referring to the fact that it was distilled at B/F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethangsmith Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 The DSP applies to more than the distillery. DSP-31 still exists in Bardstown to cover Heaven Hill's maturation, rectification, and bottling facility.When a company or location is referred to as a "Rectifier," what exactly does that involve? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p_elliott Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 When a company or location is referred to as a "Rectifier," what exactly does that involve?A rectifier is someone that buys whiskey from someone else and bottles it under their own name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Traditionally, rectifiers rectified or "fixed" a whiskey's flaws by redistilling or filtering it. Today the term covers blending and any kind of compounding, such as the making of liqueurs. A rectifier is typically distinguished from a mere bottler for doing something to the spirit prior to bottling it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethangsmith Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Interesting. I had always assumed it had something to do with re-distilling, but wasn't sure. I suppose with the modern day definition of the word, there are several "micro distillers" that would better be described as rectifiers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Dog Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 It's funny that HH is referred to as the last American distillery still making Straight Corn Whiskey, when in fact it's B-F that makes the damn thing. And after all this time, could not the Bernheim plant could be making this?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErichPryde Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 It's funny that HH is referred to as the last American distillery still making Straight Corn Whiskey, when in fact it's B-F that makes the damn thing. And after all this time, could not the Bernheim plant could be making this??Perhaps it will go the same route as Ritt, Soon to be bernheim distillate. but the 354 stuff sure is tasty.:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 BF made some bourbon and all of the rye for HH for a time. I don't believe they ever made HH's corn. If you believe BF did make corn for HH, what is your basis for that belief? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brisko Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 I got a fifth of this from the Party Source (thanks, free shipping) and the label gave me a chuckle:"Distilled by Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. DSP-KY-354, Louisville, KentuckyBottled by Medley Company, Bardstown, KY. DSP-KY-31."and, in small print:"Not connected with any other distillery using the name Medley."I understand the wheres and whys, but like I said, it's amusing that they refer the DSP that's not Heaven Hill as Heaven Hill, and the DSP that is(was) Heaven Hill, as Medley.I'm at work, or I would take a picture of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Dog Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 BF made some bourbon and all of the rye for HH for a time. I don't believe they ever made HH's corn. If you believe BF did make corn for HH, what is your basis for that belief?My current release bottle of Mellow Corn BIB also states distilled D.S.P. 354, just like Brisko's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Dog Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Perhaps it will go the same route as Ritt, Soon to be bernheim distillate. but the 354 stuff sure is tasty.:cool: I agree, it sure the hell is tasty. B-F makes damn fine Rye and Corn. You'd think they'd expand with some labels of their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 I stand corrected. The bottle I have is DSP-31 all the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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