Recently, I attended a press event for “The Original Moonshine Clear Corn Whiskey” from Stillhouse distillery in Virginia. This is not your typical whiskey company. Founded by a brand developer and an internationally renowned chef (Brad Beckerman & Adam Perry Lang respectively). Original Moonshine is a brand of style and purpose. Notice, I say “brand” and not “whiskey.” While the whiskey itself is important, you never forget that you are being sold on something. To me, its refreshing when a brand chooses to talk about markets and strategy instead of pretending that brand image and marketing are irrelevant. That’s not to say that the product should not take precedent; it’s just nice when everyone in the room knows what’s going on and is not afraid to talk about it.
The whiskey itself was developed for a purpose (a premium mixer good enough to drink neat). To do this, they use a 100% corn mash and distill it four (FOUR!) times to insure a clean and mellow spirit. Just in case it wasn’t mellow enough, they float charcoal in the mash and filter the spirit through more charcoal as well.
The verdict? It’s very clean and smooth with just the barest flavor of sweet corn. This raises the question: Why go through all this trouble to create a whiskey that basically tastes like vodka? Their answer: “The vodka market is saturated. We wanted a product that was different.” Different, but the same from my eye.
Is it good neat? Yes, but its better with ice and a twist of lime. Does it make for a good mixer? Most certainly. Will it be embraced by the Whiskirati? Most certainly not. However, if someone is having a hard time getting into brown liquor, this could be a gateway to new worlds of flavor.
The product is good for what it was designed to do and the packaging is great. I have a feeling this one will catch on in some of the hipper bars. It’s already in a few places in NYC and should be on the shelves sometime in January.
Drink well, drink responsibly.
Matt
