Creamed corn | Candy corn | Light vanilla essence | Hay | Slight grassiness | Light oak | Light overall

Light caramel | White peppercorn spice | Corn syrup | Kentucky cream pull candy | Hint of orange cake | Predominantly sweet undertones | Thick mouthfeel

Vanilla syrup | Corn syrup | Touch of brown sugar | Rush of peppercorn spice | Lingering syrupy sweetness and prickly heat

Old Hickory is a storied brand that originally got its start in Fayette County, Kentucky in 1868. Over the years, the brand changed hands and locations several times. Today, the brand is owned by R.S. Lipman Company, which saw Robert Lipman both resurrect and move it back to Tennessee in 2011. Old Hickory Hermitage Reserve Barrel Proof Whiskey is a blend of barrel proof whiskeys from MGP that was matured in 18 year old ex-bourbon barrels. While the youngest whiskey in the blend is 10 years old, the brand stated to us that the majority of the whiskey in the blend is 13 years old.

Old Hickory Hermitage Reserve Barrel Proof Whiskey provides for a very sweet overall sip. It opens with a nose that is lighter than expected considering its proof. Scents of corn are prominent in the form of creamed corn and candy corn along with a slight grassiness. The midpoint of the sip delivers a chewy thick mouthfeel that is very sweet almost to a fault, focusing on heavy syrup notes. The finish ends things on a sickly sweet note that is capped off with a pronounced prickly heat that seems out of place considering the wave of sweetness that the rest of the sip rode up on until this point.

What’s striking about this whiskey is the lack of age that it presents. That’s not to say this whiskey tastes youthful, more so for a whiskey where the majority of its blend is 13 years old and is aged in used 18 year old bourbon barrels, it surprisingly carries little hint of aged traits in its sip. If you love a high corn mashbill whiskey, this will scratch that itch nicely, however for the casual whiskey drinker, a bottle of Mellow Corn, while lower in proof, will be a nice way to explore high corn mashbill whiskey for almost a fifth of the cost.