by gillmang » Thu Oct 20, 2005 12:10 pm
Okay, thanks gents, Vatman it is. Mark, please feel free to append the name, or if I have to do anything further to make it happen, please let me know.
I do think corn whiskey and a wheat-recipe bourbon would blend well. The object would be to develop a straight whiskey palate of intensity without rye (or very much of it) but with a bourbon undertone: not an easy thing to do. One way to do it is to use old wheat-recipe bourbons (e.g. blend ORVW 15 year old, Pappy 15 and Pappy 20 for a true vatting), but to do it with young whiskeys is harder because they lack very much lignin sweetness. So adding corn whiskey, which has a strong palate due to the short aging in reused wood, would balance well with a mild wheated bourbon.
You might go one-third each Bernheim Wheat, Mellow Corn, Rx. Or just Bernheim Wheat and Rx. The proportions are important, too, when I've done this I find changing the proportions can radically change the flavour. Maybe 20% corn whiskey and 40% each of the other two would make more sense. Or 10% corn, 10% Bernheim, 80% Rx, to retain (hopefully) a bourbon feel. Corn whiskey as we know is strong-tasting and it would give body and a certain aroma to the blend if used in the right amount, but if overused would throw things awry (ahem again). Whereas the Bernheim is a smooth customer and you can't go wrong using a fair amount of that in a blend such as you propose, but too much would take away from the bourbon character. Of course when I do it I don't concern myself overly with what comes out the other end as long as it tastes good and of straight whiskey!
Gary