Editor’s Note: This article is republished with the permission of Texas A&M. Author credit goes to Kay Ledbetter and Beth Luedeker.
There are currently no scientific publications to turn to on corn whiskey flavor, Murray said, so he and Arnold are turning to science to determine what makes a difference in taste and to develop repeatable methods to test small samples.
The project is evaluating genetics; does the hybrid matter? Or, is it the environment – location and inputs – that matter? Or is it a combination of the two? From the Texas Panhandle down to Hidalgo County, varieties were grown to compare factors such as soil, topography and climate.
The concept of how wine flavor is impacted by grape variety, e.g. Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay, and growing conditions, Napa Valley, Bordeaux, Tuscany, is universally accepted in wine making, Arnold said.
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For many reasons — the most important of which being the rise and “blending” nature of the commodity grain market, which distillers turned to for grain after Prohibition — these same concepts of variety and environment, or terroir, have been largely ignored in whiskey, he said.
But this is slowly starting to change, largely due to the craft whiskey movement, and Murray and Arnold say they are working to unravel the underlying science.
They have now evaluated about 30 Texas A&M varieties and are scaling up a proprietary Texas A&M hybrid. One acre each of three hybrids have been planted by the F&R grower to do proof-of-concept work, and hybrid seed production for next year’s much larger production is planted in the Rio Grande Valley on contract.
“We have to work with the timelines of corn growing seasons, and good whiskey and bourbdon are aged for a number of years, so unfortunately whiskey aficionados will need to wait a few more years until they, like the Capitol Hill staffers, can taste the difference in corn selected for improved whiskey flavor,” Murray said.
