Journeyman Distillery’s ‘Corsets, Whips and Whiskey’ Wins Best Of Award

by Gary Carter
June 17, 2022

Journeyman Distillery’s Corsets, Whips and Whiskey cask-strength wheat whiskey recently took home high honors from the 2022 ASCOT (American Spirits Council of Tasters) Awards, including Double Platinum, Best Wheat Whiskey, and Best in Class: Whiskey of the Year.

The brand’s Silver Cross Four Grain Whiskey earned a Gold Medal in this year’s awards as well.

Journeyman Distillery’s wheat whiskey beat out 800 submissions for Best in Show. To be honored with these awards, it had to be tasted alongside bourbon, Scotch, Irish and Tennessee whiskey.

Journeyman Distillery’s Corsets, Whips and Whiskey (image via Journeyman)

“This is like a minor-league team beating the Yankees at the World Series … this is Rich Strike winning the Kentucky Derby,” said Fred Minnick, founder of the ASCOT Awards and noted whiskey writer. “For the first time in any major spirits competition, a wheat whiskey was judged to be best.”

A statement from the distiller noted that Corsets, Whips and Whiskey showcases the quality and terroir of organic Michigan wheat, offering a soft, sweet smoothness from the wheat farm directly behind the distillery and aquifer that flows just beneath the Featherbone Factory.

“Journeyman started in 2010 and was built on the core principle of ‘Always a Journeyman.’ A mindset of never a master but always in pursuit of distilling excellence,” said Bill Welter, founder of Journeyman Distillery. “It’s amazing to have competed with some of the true masters of the trade and to have fared so well.”

The ASCOT Awards is a competition created by spirits personality Fred Minnick, which highlights spirits from across the globe. Submissions underwent a blind taste test by a panel of industry-leading experts, who then determined winners for both individual categories and the Best in Show.

Judges include Minnick; author, bar owner, and educator Martin Cate; the world’s first female Master Bourbon Taster and founder of the nationwide organization Bourbon Women Peggy Noe Stevens; educator and special events bartender Tiffanie Barriere; world-renowned mixologist and spirits industry educator Francesco Lafranconi; craft cocktail entrepreneur Denaya Jones; and author and bourbon columnist Susan Reigler.