The options are endless when you’re looking for the best bottle of Corn Whiskey.
You’ll find plenty of top-shelf options, one more expensive than the next. But what you won’t find a guide to really help you break down and understand which brand of Corn Whiskey you never knew you wanted.
This is that guide.
Corn Whiskey might not be your first choice for an on-the-rocks sipper.
But on this list, you’ll find absolutely divine flavors and you will learn to enjoy Corn Whiskey like you never have before.
And of course, if you prefer a nice cocktail instead, our recommendations will work brilliantly with all your favorite mixes.
Below, you’ll find our list for the top brands in the world and a buyer’s guide to Corn Whiskey as well as answers to how it’s made and what types are there.
Finally, we’ll round off this article with tips on how to drink and really enjoy Corn Whiskey as well as the key tasting notes and vocabulary you’ll need to become a true aficionado.
Best Corn Whiskey Brands to Enjoy
Here’s a list of the top 5 Corn Whiskey brands you can buy.
| Rank | Brand | Best for |
| 1 | Mellow Corn | Best Overall |
| 2 | Balcones | Best High-End Option |
| 3 | Hudson | Best Value |
| 4 | Wood Hat Spirits | Best for Brand Prestige |
| 5 | McCormick | Most Easy to Drink |
This is an in-depth explanation of the top Corn Whiskey brands, including a list of 15 brands and a brief description of their company, products, and popularity.
Balcones
Balcones is one of the premier distilling companies in Texas, the United States. They make high-quality spirits using locally sourced ingredients.
The Balcones Baby Blue corn whiskey is the first Texas whiskey made using blue corn grown in New Mexico. It has an authentic taste because it is a grain-to-glass whiskey.
Baby Blue Blue Corn Whiskey is a dark amber-colored drink with wonderful aromas of toffee, vanilla, cinnamon, honey, coffee, baking chocolate, nutmeg, melted butter, fresh bread, and kettle corn. It has a sweet palate with cotton candy, brown sugar, apricot, tropical fruit, and lemon.
This has a medium-long warm finish with subtle green peppercorn, leather spice cinnamon, and mint notes.
Mellow Corn
Mellow Corn Whiskey is produced by the Heaven Hill brands. It is one of the unique and authentic straight whiskeys made with a mash containing 80% corn. This light golden-colored straight corn whiskey has a sweet and spicy flavor.
It has wonderful aromas of vanilla, light oak, and a palate rich in notes of toasted oak, mixed nuts, corn, and vanilla. It has an incredibly smooth finish with hints of fruit flavors.
MB Roland
MB Roland Kentucky Straight Corn Whiskey is one of the versatile corn whiskies made in the United States. Paul and Merry Beth found the MB Roland distillery in 2009.
It is a gentle and full-flavored drink. This corn whiskey has wonderful sweet and floral notes and is bottled at 54% ABV.
Bowsaw
Bowsaw Corn Whiskey is a creamy, smooth American corn whiskey produced in Kentucky, USA. It is one of the authentic whiskeys made in the heart of Kentucky. The brand is named after the cooper’s saw, which is used for cutting the heads of whiskey barrels.
The golden-colored whiskey has wonderful aromas and flavors of peanut butter, cinnamon, creamy corn, sweet spice, and butter popcorn.
The small-batch American corn whiskey has a sweet vanilla flavor with chocolate peanut and maple syrup notes, pancakes, sweet popcorn, chai latte, milk chocolate, and dipped banana. It has a creamy finish with wonderful vanilla sponge cake and cinnamon butter notes.
Bowen’s Spirits
Bowen Spirits brand was founded by Wade Bowen, who started producing plenty of notable spirits after he met a fifth-generation moonshine distiller named Bud. This distillery is the only distillery in Bakersfield, California.
They distilled this American corn whiskey using an old family recipe. It is a 100% small-batch corn whiskey aged for an undisclosed time in barrels. The brand uses fire-damaged trees from the Piute mountains to make their barrels.
This whiskey has a lot of sweetness and an oily corn texture. Over the sweet palate, it has wonderful aromas of caramel, marshmallow, rosewater, and juicy fruits, with undertones of chocolate, corn, and mocha. This corn whiskey gives a sweet and flavorful finish with an oily aftertaste.
McCormick
McCormick Distilling Company produces Platte Valley Corn Whiskey. This is an authentic American corn whiskey, which has been made since 1856. The brand has over 16 years of whiskey-making experience. Michael McCormick found the distillery in Weston, Missouri.
Platte Valley American corn whiskey has a premium taste with a smooth, complex, and full-bodied characteristic. They packed this handcrafted American whiskey in ceramic jugs and cork-sealed it.
The golden-colored whiskey has wonderful aromas of buttered corn, vanilla, caramel marshmallow, and apple. It has a sweet palate rich in the taste of banana, caramel, and corn that gives a persistent finish with a spicy aftertaste.
Georgia Moon
Georgia Moon Corn Whiskey is produced by the Heaven Hill brands. It is one of the best American corn whiskeys made with 81% corn grain in the mash bill. It is straight whiskey, which is packed in a mason jar.
This is an aged corn whiskey that has been aged for less than 30 days. The clear, opaque corn whiskey has a wonderful roasted white pepper aroma, with a creamy palate of sweet corn, bread, and white pepper spice. This gives a smooth finish with hints of white pepper and sweet corn overtones.
Hudson
Hudson New York Corn whiskey is produced by Tuthilltown Spirits in New York’s Hudson Valley. The brand makes small-batch corn whiskey using only one ingredient: high-quality corn kernels. They source the corn from farmers within a 10-mile radius of the distillery.
The corn mash is double distilled to produce corn whiskey, adding no flavors or sugars. It is non-chill filtered and bottled at 92-proof.
Hudson Corn Whiskey has amazing aromas and buttered popcorn, sweet corn, and cereal flavors. This gives a creamy finish to the drink.
Dark Corner Moonshine
The Dark Corner Distillery makes Dark Corner Moonshine whiskey. It is a traditional corn whiskey made in small batches using copper pots. This whiskey has a wonderfully smooth texture and a great flavor profile.
This corn whiskey is full of notes and aromas of soft vanilla, black pepper, and corn. It gives a smooth finish with a mild warmth at the end.
They make this corn whiskey with a mash bill containing 84% non-GMO corn and filled with red winter wheat and malted barley. It is bottled at a hundred proof.
Glen Thunder
Glenn Thunder is one of the best American corn whiskeys produced by the Finger Lakes Distilling Company.
It is made from 100% locally sourced New York heirloom corn, including the mash bill of 80% corn and 20% malted corn. It is a 90-proof drink.
This unaged white corn whiskey has sweet and bright notes of cornbread and sweet corn. It gives a mellow corn finish.
Colorados’ Own
Colorados’ Own is one of the top corn whiskies made by the United States. It is manufactured at the Colorado Gold Distillery in Cedaredge.
Unlike other corn whiskies, this Colorado-made corn whiskey has a gold color because of months of aging in ex-bourbon barrels. This whiskey is made with a recipe that contains 85% corn, 10% malted barley, and 5% corn malt.
It has wonderful aromas and flavors of corn husk candy corn, which gives it a nice mild finish with a silky aftertaste.
Catdaddy
Catdaddy Spiced Moonshine Corn Whiskey is one of the best whiskeys made in the United States. It is produced by one of the first legal distilleries in the Carolinas after prohibition, the Piedmont Distillers.
It is a double-distilled whiskey made in small batches from a blend of American-grown corn. It is made from an authentic copper pot still and handcrafted batch to batch.
It has sweet flavors with wonderful vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon notes. This whiskey is bottled at 80-proof.
Wood Hat Spirits
Wood Hat Spirits brand makes Bloody Butcher Red Corn Whiskey, one of the unique and smooth whiskeys made in the United States.
The dark amber-colored corn whiskey has spicy pepper aromas and flavors, which give a smooth, warming finish.
The same company also makes Blue Corn Whiskey, which has a rounded mouthfeel bottled at 80-proof. The whiskey is distilled from blue corn and aged in a toasted chinquapin barrel. This gives the whiskey a dark amber color with smooth aromas and tastes.
It also makes a White and Blue Corn Whiskey, made from three different heirloom grains blended to produce a sweet and intense whiskey. This has a peppery palate, which gives a clean finish with mild heat at the end.
Tenth Ward Distilling
Tenth Ward Distillery produces corn whiskey using locally grown and processed corn and malted barley. The mash bill has 80% corn and 20% malted barley, which produces an aged corn whiskey. This distillery is in downtown Frederick, Maryland.
This whiskey has wonderful aromas and flavors of buttery sweet corn, giving a punchy finish with smoke and wood after notes.
Ironroot Republic
Ironroot Republic Distilling Company produces Ironroot Hubris Straight Corn Whiskey. It is a non-chill filtered, overproof corn whiskey with a bold and complex palate taste. It is bottled at 117.8 proof.
The company produces 100% corn whiskey by distilling it with heirloom purple corn and non-GMO yellow dent corn and aging it in European oak Bourbon barrels.
The dark amber-colored corn whiskey has wonderful aromas of dark honey and smoked pear with a sweet palate, including dark chocolate, cassia, clove, anise, and orange peel notes.
What is Corn Whiskey?
Corn whiskey is an alcoholic beverage produced from a mash bill containing 80% corn and unaged in oak casks. It is an 80-proof drink.
The History of Corn Whiskey
Corn whiskey is a precursor to Bourbon whiskey as they were traditionally made in the 17th century. Moonshine corn whiskey was the first liquor made in America during the probation period. Unlike bourbon, which can be kept for years in cast barrels. These whiskies are distilled from corn and immediately sold within 30 days.
Back-door sales of corn whiskey were very popular because it was illegal to sell strong liquor during those periods. Nowadays, many brands legally distill corn whiskey, and the United States regulation recommends 81% corn in the spirit.
How Does American Corn Whiskey Taste?
American corn whiskey has a light sweet taste because it is not like Bourbon whiskey. Instead, it has subtle flavors and aromas, making it one of the best sipping whiskeys.
It is also one of the best drinks to have on a hot summer afternoon by adding a few ice cubes. These whiskies give a light, sweet finish with no alcohol burn.
The Best Corn Whiskey Pairings
A Whiskey Lemonade
Corn whiskey has a light taste, making it the perfect base for making lemonade. Mix corn whiskey with lemon juice, simple syrup, and garnish with lemon wedges.
Mountain Dew and Corn Whiskey
Corn whiskey blends well with mountain dew, making it a light, fizzy cocktail.
Corn Whiskey Citrus
Make a zesty cocktail by blending corn whiskey with grapefruit juice ginger liqueur and garnishing with grapefruit wedges.
Corn Whiskey Delight
Combine corn whiskey, ginger liqueur, and grapefruit juice in a mixing glass.
Corn Whiskey Sour
Blend corn whiskey with lemon juice and distributors, egg white, and top it with lemon slices.
A Mule with Corn Whiskey
Make a zesty cocktail by blending corn whiskey with ginger beer and topping with lemon wedges.
Whiskey Corn Pumpkin
Blend pumpkin spice liquor with blue corn whiskey and add some ice cubes.
Corn Cola Cocktail
You can make a simple cocktail by grinding Coca with corn whiskey and garnish it with cherries.
Corn Whiskey Sweet Tea
Blend sweet tea with corn whiskey, lemon-lime soda tea bags, and honey.
Corn Whiskey and Ginger Peach Cocktail
Mix ginger beer peach juice with whiskey, mint, and lemon juice. Garnish with sliced peaches and ice cubes.
