Despite their location in the bourbon heartland, Kentucky- and Tennessee-based Corsair is well-known for being one of the more off-kilter craft distilleries, having made their mark with weird experiments like quinoa whiskey, and unique takes on craft trends like cherry-smoked whiskey.
Corsair’s brand is “booze for badasses,” and that macho perspective touches everything from the distillery’s seemingly Reservoir Dogs-inspired logo to the beat-you-over-the-head ethos of some of their spirits. That’s not to say it’s bad whiskey. It’s just kind of a lot. The distillery is pretty much anti-subtlety, naming their inventions with aggressive puns like Buck Yeah and Oatrage.
That ethos is perhaps nowhere more on display than with Grainiac, a bourbon made with a real mouthful of a mash bill: in addition to corn, barley, rye, and wheat, it contains oats, quinoa, triticale, spelt, and buckwheat. That’s all the grains Corsair uses as a distillery, in one expression. Buckle up!
This is labeled as bourbon, meaning it has to be at least 51% corn. There’s no word on what proportions the other grains are used in, or on aging. It’s bottled at 94 proof.
Tasting Notes: Corsair Grainiac 9 Grain Bourbon
Vital stats: 750 ml; 47% ABV / 94 proof; retails around $50.
Color: Deep, reddish copper
Nose: Predominantly sweet, but it leans toward dark, intense sweet, not sugary sweet—think rich vanilla, dark caramel, and burnt sugar, verging into leather and dark chocolate. I also get some hot cinnamon. In the empty glass, I even get smoke.
Palate: More caramel and burnt sugar, with oak more apparent than on the nose. Texturally, it’s fairly hot and very mouth-coating, almost drying. I get a little cocoa on the back of the palate.
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