Last Straw Sprouted Corn Whisky

As with everything Last Straw makes, what comes out of the barrel goes into the bottle. But at what abv? For their brand new sprouted corn whisky, the team at Last Straw distillery invited distillery visitors to taste the whisky at four different strengths and vote on their favourite.

This soft, sweet, creamy whisky began with 100% organic Ontario yellow dent corn, grown at Sheardown Family Farm in Simcoe County, and malted by King Farm Mills in York County. Before it had reached four years maturing in #3 char American Oak the spirit already tasted pretty good with spicy peppers, hints of cinnamon and vague hints of corn cobs. When the Last Straw team poured samples at Whisky Ottawa, guests agreed it was ready for release.

“It's part of our move towards celebrating the origins of our spirits,” Last Straw distillery’s Mike Hook tells us. “Building relationships with local farmers and mills helps to keep more of the benefits of our business within our local community. For our customers, it helps to ensure that our products will have a character all their own. These kind of relationships take time to build, and perhaps the biggest challenge is finding small-scale suppliers at the right price. Small farms, like other small businesses, don't have economies of scale like the big guys do... plus the margins in distilling in Ontario are awfully thin to begin with…”

Last Straw sprouted corn (sCorn) whisky: A recommended buy for fans of small batch and terroir.

 And that final abv? 49%. According to Mike Hook “it stood up surprisingly well at the higher proofs. We're not sure how many bottles yet, but we estimate in the ballpark of 300-350 when all is said and done.”