Notes: A fascinating whisky with a complex and unique story behind it! Made from a roughly 4,000-year-old ancestral species of corn called Cacahuazinle. They also use a form of cooking/preparation called nixtamalization a method to open up/breakdown corn into a much more metabolizable grain, yielding about 40% more usable proteins> The corn is boiled in an alkaline solution (with lime) and then hulled. The process radically increases the available proteins and opens up the flavor of the corn. Also, between the species and terroir of the corn, it tastes nothing like any corn whisky we have ever had before!

Aged in a mix of new and used barrels for two years in an open warehouse subject to the climate there is a lot of respiration of the spirit in the barrels over those two years and probably no small amount of Angels Share.

Appearance: Clear, light wheat straw gold colored. On swirling very light coating on glass, with thin legs developing as the edgeline recedes.

First Impression: Corn roundness and slightly fatty notes with a higher floral note with some spiciness developing. Muted malty grain notes in the background.

Taste: Delicious and unexpected from the nose. Was expecting more of a ‘standard’ kind of corn whiskey taste.Quite a bit different! Much more like a soft and very fresh, stone ground tortilla with heirloom corn notes, malt, spiciness, and earthiness with a bit of peppery notes. Juicy, but note fatty with a pleasant malty graininess to it and some fruity notes. Delightful stuff that really captures both your attention and imagination.

Drinks: After some experimentation and consulting with a bartender friend of mine ( Jacob Rakoven of the Spirit Room in Rochester New York). I think this spirit has some distinct and lovely flavors that should lend itself to some great cocktails. Also since this is a new spirit, any cocktails you come up with will be new ones you can take credit for! ( so many people reinvent the wheel ‘creating’ a cocktail only to find it has been done before somewhere) as a new spirit with a new palette of flavors, this is an unexplored and fertile ground.

Bottle: Very distinctive rectangular dark glass bottle with a textured finish, the neck is a bit short for pouring but otherwise nice design”ABASOLOis stamped in capital letter in a recessed rectangle on the sides. Simple but bold front label with raised printing and a number of its virtues/specs on the front label with a picture of the distillery and a short story on the back. Along with the website link for further information. The bottle is topped with a real cork( quite rare these days)and a wooden topper. Gives that satisfying cork opening sound that generates almost a Pavlovian response to us older crowd that remember such things.

Other: While this whisky may not be one of the best whiskies we have ever had as judged to conventional standards, it is certainly one of the more interesting ones in its composition, preparation, and overall uniqueness in flavor. It is also relatively modest in price given all of those factors, while not reflecting the usual higher-end boutique kind of price such unicorns tend to command. That is why we named it the spirit of the month.

Final Thoughts: A truly interesting corn whisky and a taste of traditional Mexican heritage in regards to culinary traditions and tastes. Abasolo whisky is a window to both the old and the new. Reccomended!

Website: www.abasolowhisky.com

A somewhat minimalist website with some information