Candy corn | Brown Sugar | Apple peel | Very light

Candy sweetness | Cane sugar | Caramel | Slight citrus | Smooth, easy sipper

Toffee | Kentucky cream pull candy | Slight spice on the backend | Lingering sweetness

The Shucked Bourbon brand was inspired by the musical, Shucked. The musical is primarily owned by its producers, Christopher Allen and Kevin Duda, however Shucked Bourbon is independently owned. In the musical, one of the primary characters, Lulu, owns a whiskey distillery. This inspired the packaging design for the bottle, which has a small round handle akin to a maple syrup bottle. The initial release is 6,000 bottles, and the company has plans to make the bourbon an ongoing product beginning in spring 2025. Their goal is to introduce it wherever the musical stops during its tour, which is expected to last about 4 years.

The bourbon is immediately approachable but straightforward. It’s quintessentially sweet, which is a bit serendipitous considering that, like the musical, it features an image of corn on its label. It starts with an incredibly light aroma of candy corn (the irony), brown sugar, and a hint of apple peel. On the palate more sweet flavors follow, with an overall candy sweetness that’s further enriched by cane sugar and caramel, along with a slight citrus note. It’s a smooth, easy sipping bourbon through and through. On the finish a hint of toffee emerges, along with Kentucky cream pull candy, which is accented by just a small hint of spice on the back end before transitioning to a lingering sweetness.

Tying the brand in with a musical and syncing the flavor profile into the fold, Shucked Bourbon is immediately likable and handles its straightforward sweet notes well. While it’s sourced from MGP’s Ross & Squibb Distillery like many other bourbons, Shucked Bourbon actually doesn’t taste like many other MGP bourbons out there. On the other hand, being so focused on the sweet side means that it lacks the dimension and complexity necessary to elevate it to greater heights, instead going all-in on its heavily sweet flavor profile.