Mellow Corn Bottled in Bond Whiskey

Rating: 9/23 I've heard mixed things about this one. It's classified as just corn whiskey, rather than bourbon. Should be interesting. N: I'm getting a lot of alcohol and a little bit of sweetness. Minerals with some corn, perhaps? There's a hint of something peppery and also a faint waft of apples. I gradually get something a little earthy and vegetal with a bitter roundness from the alcohol. It's a pretty light nose and I'm not sure that I could have identified it as a corn-dominant whiskey based on the nose. Honestly, I might have thought it was a very light rye. The distinction between corn and apple is kind of difficult here. P: Surprisingly viscous. It's lightly flavored with a big alcohol burn, but there's actually a decent amount going on. I would say that the burn is actually harsh, not just hot though. That light corn/apple sweetness is up front. I get a decent amount of funky vegetal notes that remind me somewhat of Wild Turkey Rare Breed. With the heat and viscosity despite an odd lightness to the flavor, it makes me think of Booker's a bit. It has a lot of pepper and ethanol flavor, as well as kind of that Evan William's Bottled In Bond savory oiliness. There is a lot more pungeant flavor on the palate than I'd expected despite this being so light on the nose and the palate having an otherwise pretty light profile. The savory oiliness and burn are both bigger here and the viscosity is too. F: That alcohol lingers for ages and the burn stays for a while too. There's a kind of funky vegetal, herbal quality to it as the savory oiliness kind of fades away. I'm really surprised by this. I expected it to be way too sweet, but it's pretty much the opposite! It's less sweet than lots of other bourbon that I have. Although I gave Glen Logie a scathing review for being oily and harsh, I don't think that this is nearly that bad. That flavor was far more one-dimensional and the oiliness and burn just seemed more out of place. Sort of like Ancient Age, this just kind of works, in a weird way despite not really tasting like normal expressions in this category (though, admittedly, Mellow Corn doesn't quite fall into a normal category). To be clear though, Mellow Corn's palate is nothing like Ancient Age's aside from being a bit light; they're just both weird. Once adjusted to the harshness, I can appreciate the richness and viscosity. Mainly, I like those aspects and how they meld with the herbal, vegetal funk that reminds me a bit of Wild Turkey Rare Breed. In a rare side-by-side with a bourbon and a scotch, Glen Logie has this awful, one-note, chemical bitterness to its oiliness, whereas this has kind of a funky, balanced character. This is leagues better than Glen Logie, though expect as an acquired taste, I just can't say that it's better than Evan William's Bottled In Bond. That kind of bitter boldness reminds me of Booker's Shiny Barrel specifically. I like that element of this, but it's just not at all on the same level. It's in the 7-11 range for sure and I'm really contemplating 9 to 10. I have very little doubt that Ezra Brooks (which I gave an 11) is better than this, so I find it hard to imagine going higher than a 10. Considering the harshness and kind of weird flavor, I think a 9 is most appropriate. This is well worth trying though! And it sure is a lot better than many of those store brand offerings. What gives me pause here is that I thought this was supposed to be sweet. I know that it isn't my palate because I tried this side by side with 5 other bourbons (I'm committed to tastings) and only the Booker's Shiny Barrel was not obviously sweeter. Even the Wild Turkey Rare Breed 116 had a sweet, cherry flavor in comparison! In one last quick side by side, Early Times is sweeter and smoother. It's less funky, but I think it's flavor is similarly good. Mellow Corn might taste a hair better, but I'm not sure about that. The kicker is that Mellow Corn is a lot harsher, unfortunately. For that reason, I need to place Early Times above this and go with a 9 for Mellow Corn. I get a kind of vegetal flavor like corn husk or perhaps some sort of non-sweet corn served cooked (maybe a dry cornmeal?), but that and that brief light flavor that's a bit like apple is as close to corn as I ever get and I might not have said that this tastes at all like corn (though I might have compared it to bourbon) had I not been actively looking those flavors. Honestly, looking through what people have said about this, I think that their descriptions of sweet corn, creamed corn, and so on align much more closely with Ancient Age. I'm still giving this a 9, but I'm kind of confused.

MFC

I don’t have a problem with this at all. Cheap, daily drinker? You bet. I like the candy corn aftertaste. It’s not long, but it’s there. This is very drinkable. Need to try mixing it. Edit, this bottle got worse as I drank it. I had to bring my rating down.

After letting the bottle open up after a couple of months it’s a different experience. It’s mellowed out a bit more and drinks belies it’s proof. I’m picking up fruity notes this time. Strangely I’m finding grape bubble gum flavor. I’m enjoying this much more the second sampling.

The smell was ok a little like musty corn. But it was very simple tasting and a huge alcohol taste to me. I’ll be trying to pawn this off on visitors when they come by