Slipknot Teams With Iowa Distillery For A New Whiskey

Heavy metal band Metallica has one, and so does rival band the Scorpions. Why not, therefore, Slipknot? What we are speaking of, of course, is a whiskey that’s been done in collaboration between a band and a distillery. In the case of Slipknot, who was founded in Iowa, they are working with local whiskey maker Cedar Ridge on the project.

What’s being called Slipknot N0. 9 Iowa Whiskey, according to those behind it, is the result of Slipknot’s M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan desire to have a whiskey tied to his immensely popular brand. This is a whiskey (Fred Minnick describes it as “a blend of straight rye and straight bourbon”) that’s made in part from local Iowa corn grown on Cedar Ridge’s family farm. It has a sweet and spicy flavor profile balance due to the increased amount of corn & rye in the mash bill (56% corn, 36% rye and 9% malted barley).

“Slipknot and Cedar Ridge Distillery – two groups of people born and raised in Iowa, and committed to quality and hard work,” said Crahan in a prepared statement. “We collaborated on No. 9 Whiskey, which in addition to Iowa corn, gets some extra spice from its rye content. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Live life, and always be safe.”

“As we came to know the Slipknot guys,” added Owner and Founder of Cedar Ridge Distillery Jeff Quint, “we realized we share a lot of the core elements of a good Iowa foundation – these guys are very down-to-earth, hard-working and care deeply about their followers. Building this whiskey with them was an easy, natural process that resulted in a strong and spicy expression, just the way they wanted it.”

“Our challenge was to produce a whiskey that represents Slipknot’s style of music; something bold, something with distinguished character, something that you don’t exactly come across every day,” noted as well Cedar Ridge Head Distiller Murphy Quint. “At the same time, it needed to be a whiskey that satisfies a true whiskey aficionado, regardless of its ties to the band. I feel that this blend of bourbon and rye hits that mark.”

As it stands now plans call for two variants of this whiskey to be released: No. 9 Iowa Whiskey (90 proof) will retail for around $40 and No. 9 Reserve Iowa Whiskey (99 proof) will retail for around $70. Both will be available August 10th at select retailers in all 50 states and at the band’s headline Knotfest Roadshow North America tour. No. 9 Iowa Whiskey can also be obtained at select markets on the North American tour ahead of the August 10th official launch.