Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 'Jimmy Red Double Oak'

• Small batch double-oaked straight bourbon whiskey produced by High Wire Distilling Co. in Charleston, South Carolina
• Distilled from 100% Jimmy Red heirloom red dent corn (Zea mays indentata) currently sourced from 4 (and historically sourced from as many as 8) local and regional farms
• Corn is milled at the distillery with a hammer mill and fed directly into the mash tun
• Water is sourced from the Edisto River Basin (filtered for chloramines for fermentation and distillation; deionized for proofing)
• Sweet mash fermented for 6–7 days in temperature-controlled, closed-top stainless steel tanks with barley enzymes and top-fermenting pitched yeast
• Distilled on the grain in a single pass on a CARL hybrid copper pot still (a dephlegmator on the column is set to minimize reflux)
• The harvest of each farm is batch-distilled and barreled separately before blending
• Aged a minimum of 4 years; initial maturation is in 53-gallon char #3 new American oak barrels with a medium toast that have been air seasoned for 18–36 months (primarily from Charlois and Kelvin cooperages); secondary maturation is in 53-gallon char #1 new American oak barrels from Speyside Cooperage and West Virginia Great Barrel Company; non-age statement
• Produced in batches of 3–5 barrels
• Buttery corncakes with apple compote and maple syrup—plus a whiff of cedar—on the nose lead to roasted corn and a greater sensation of char and barrel on the palate than other Jimmy Red expressions. Proof and burnt sugar carry the lengthy finish.
• Gold medalist at the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition
• Non-chill filtered; 53.5% ABV

The most assertively proofed and expressively oaked release in the current High Wire core lineup, this expression nonetheless embodies co-owner Ken Blackwell’s argument against over-oaked whiskey. Restraint is the focus of this application, with cooperage seeing extensive air-drying before toasting and charring. The result is probably the most familiar to traditional bourbon-drinkers, making for a compelling side-by-side with the Jimmy Red Classic expression.