Corn whiskey (sometimes Corn Liquor, "White Dog", or "White Lightning") is an American liquor made from a mash made of at least 80 percent corn. It is based on the typical American moonshine, since illicit whiskey was usually made with corn for the mash (often with some sugar). However, several commercial distillers such as Heaven Hill and Buffalo Trace have started to produce corn whiskies for retail sale.
The whiskey is typically distilled to high proof (greater than 150 proof). Often, the corn whiskey is then diluted with water to 40 percent alcohol by volume and bottled. However, the whiskey can be aged in used or uncharred oak barrels. Aging usually is brief, six months or less, during which time the whiskey absorbs color and flavor from the barrel while the off-flavors and fusel alcohols are reduced.
A variant called "Straight Corn Whiskey" is also produced in which, the whiskey is stored in used or uncharred new oak containers for 2 years or more. Some whiskies produced in this manner and aged for at least 4 years can be designated bottled in bond.
Famous quotes containing the words corn and/or whiskey:
“Those poor farmers who came up, that day, to defend their native soil, acted from the simplest of instincts. They did not know it was a deed of fame they were doing. These men did not babble of glory. They never dreamed their children would contend who had done the most. They supposed they had a right to their corn and their cattle, without paying tribute to any but their governors. And as they had no fear of man, they yet did have a fear of God.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“There are people who read too much: bibliobibuli. I know some who are constantly drunk on books, as other men are drunk on whiskey or religion. They wander through this most diverting and stimulating of worlds in a haze, seeing nothing and hearing nothing.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)