Originally published at Tiki Bar Online
After visiting the Corsair Artisan Distillery in Nashville, I naturally felt compelled to try something of theirs. A trip to a local liquor store yielded several options but one of the most intriguing was this Pumpkin Spice Moonshine, inspired by the seasonal pumpkin ales made by several breweries. They used malted barley and malted wheat to create the initial sweet malt whiskey, then infuse that by loading up the “pot still’s vapor basket with ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and pumpkin.” The resulting liquor is crystal clear in the bottle, as any good moonshine should be.
After popping the cork I put my nose to the bottle and got the unmistakable aroma of whiskey laced with the aforementioned spices and just a hint of pumpkin. The most noticeable note at this point was the cinnamon. I poured some in my rocks glass and swirled it around; the legs were extraordinarily slow-moving, almost as if I was looking at a slightly thinned honey. In the glass I did get a bit of a honey aroma while the cinnamon settled back a bit. Taking a sip, I got a bit of sweetness first, followed by a spicy, cinnamon tingle. On the way down the throat is when I got more of the whiskey/alcohol burn.
A friend recommended a milder cigar to go with this whiskey, so I fired up a CAO Cameroon l’Anniversaire, a slightly sweet, milder-bodied stick. The result was an intriguing interplay between the distinctive Cameroon wrapper flavor and the subtle autumn spices of the moonshine. Later I tried using this whiskey to spike my egg nog and my coffee, both to wonderful effect.
For something very different, this whiskey totally hit the mark. It was sort of like a flavored vodka in that the notes were not overwhelming or dominant–more like hints. The bottle states that this is made for cocktails, but it is also interesting as a sipping whiskey, although I am sure it would not pair well with stronger cigars.
With egg nog, eh? I might have to pick some up next trip through Nashville. My local shop in Jackson had their whiskey and vanilla vodka when I stopped in Friday. The vodka was not clear though which made it really stand out on the shelf. I prefer bourbon in my nog but would be willing to try this on your recommendation. Cheers.