Abasolo Ancestral Corn Whisky

This is an 86 proof Mexican corn whisky. It's pale gold in the glass, and a bottle cost me $39.99 at Jubilation Wine & Spirits here in Albuquerque. The mash bill is unique - it's 100% cacahuazintle corn (you pronounce it ka-ka-wa-SEENT-leh), which is a variety that only grows above 7,000 feet in two or three states of Mexico. Before grinding the corn and mashing in, the distillery uses the same process that goes into making hominy - soaking the corn in a lye or similar solution. This alters the flavors (as anyone who's had hominy knows), and thus on top of everything else works in the character of this whisky. And finally, some of the corn they sprout and then dry. This unique mash bill creates a unique whisky to begin with, and then they age it in a warehouse with only a light roof and no walls, thus allowing the weather to work on the barrels more intensely. There's no age statement on the bottle, but I found some sites online which say that it's two years old (though none of them gave any source for that number). NOSE: The nose begins with a corn note that's both sour and sweet at the same time (initially I thought there was no sourness at all in this whisky, but over the four glasses I've had now I've learned to discern it, but it's not in any way overpowering or offensive. Next I got goat butter (I had goat butter growing up, and while I can't swear that the aroma is exactly the same, that's what it made me think of), red chile, something that made me think of a mild cheese (perhaps Edam or Gouda), a little bit of brown sugar, and after I began sipping a faint citrus note - perhaps lemon, though I'm not sure. And finally, there's a little edge of semisweet chocolate. MOUTHFEEL: Given the apparent youth and the fairly low proof, it's surprisingly creamy. TASTE: A little chile, cinnamon, honey, and some chocolate. FINISH: Medium, with notes of red chile and a little oak fading to semisweet chocolate. SUMMARY: This stuff is unique. It reminds me of Abuelita hot chocolate mix (if you can find it your grocery store, give it a sniff). It's not terribly complex, which isn't surprising given that it uses just one grain, and ages either in used bourbon barrels or in new uncharred barrels (some sites say they're toasted, but I can't swear to that), but the notes that are there are very appetizing. The kind of corn, the process of preparing the corn, and the aging (the rickhouse has no walls, and only a light roof to protect the barrels from direct sunlight) combine to create a whisky that bears only a slight resemblance to the other corn whiskies I've had. It's more complex than I realized (though as I say, not spectacularly so), and I definitely like it. From my first taste it was immediately my second favorite corn whisky, and it remains in that position. RATING: On my hick scale it gets a 6, Fine - 8 is the highest rating on my scale. This comes out to 3.75 stars, or 75/100 or 7.5/10.

This one is different for sure. The flavor is not what I expected. It was ok, but I wasn’t overally impressed with it.