Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 'Jimmy Red Sherry Cask'

• Small batch 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 (4 years) 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 (6 months) in refill 225-liter French oak Oloroso sherry casks; non-age statement
• Produced in batches of 1–3 barrels
• A balancing act between floral corn silk notes, roasted corn, cedar box, and mild sultana winey-ness is repeated in varying degrees across a luscious palate and through a sustained, satisfying finish
• Non-chill filtered; 46.5% ABV

A significant port city for Atlantic traders in America’s early history, Charleston was a natural destination for fortified wines, particularly sherry. Charleston’s romance with this unique style extends to gastronomy: She Crab soup, a classic, employs a moderate dose at the finish. Still, while whisk(e)y drinkers are used to a significant influence of sherry maturation, High Wire co-owner Scott Blackwell sees finishes as shadings rather than broad strokes (and in this light, follows the lead of his peers working in kitchens). Accordingly, the sherry-cask presence in Johnny Red bourbon is to there to supply fruit to plump up the sweeter elements in the corn, and to give it sharper focus with its mild acidity. A Speyside “sherry bomb” this version of Johnny Red is not, but it does offer an intriguing glimpse of how these fortified-wine casks interact with, and influence, the flavors of whiskey.