The Grains We Grow: All About Corn

Corn is the cornerstone grain to any bourbon. We’re proud to partner with Newhard Farms for our corn needs. But what kind of corn is used for bourbon? Why was corn first used in making bourbon? How does corn change the whiskey? We break down everything you need to know about this American crop.

Where is Corn From?

Corn originated in the Americas. It is one of the most widely distributed of the world’s food crops. Corn was first domesticated by native peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. It was brought north into the central regions of North America and is now the largest produced grain in all of the United States.

What are the Types of Corn?

In the United States the first thing most people think about is sweet corn. Biting into a fresh cob of sweet corn is a favorite for summer barbeques, New England clam bakes, and other traditional American meals. However, sweet corn is only one of six different types of corn:

1. Dent Corn. This corn is named from the small impression or dent that can be seen on the kernels. Dent corn is often referred to as field corn and is primarily used for animal feed or food manufacturing.

2. Flint Corn. This type of corn is most often used as decoration, but it can also be eaten as hominy in the United States.

3. Flour Corn. Flour corn has a soft texture and is used to grind into corn flour.

4. Popcorn. Is actually a type of flint corn and when heated the water in the cells expand and the kernels explode.

5. Pod Corn. Pod corn or ‘wild maize’ is a type of corn that develops leaves around each kernel. It’s a unique corn, few have seen with their own eyes.

6. Sweet Corn. Sweet corn is sold canned, fresh or frozen. Often people refer to sweet corn as a vegetable, but in fact corn is a vegetable, a grain, and a fruit–that is one powerful plant!

What Kind of Corn is Used for Bourbon?

Corn is a staple of bourbon. In fact it’s law. In order to be called bourbon, at least 51% of the grain used to make it must be corn.

Many people who refer to the sweet taste of bourbon may think it comes from sweet corn. But in fact, bourbon is made from dent corn. Dent corn is grown similar to wheat and rye, where the grains turn hard and dry.

Once the hard kernels are harvested from the cob, they are milled, or milled, into a powder to unlock the sugars vital to making bourbon.

The milled corn is then mixed with other grains and hot water to create the mash. The mash is then fermented, distilled, and aged to make the bourbon we know and love.

How Does Corn Change the Taste of Bourbon?

American distillers introduced corn into whiskey making some time in the mid-1700s. Corn is often credited for providing bourbon with the sweet flavors, but no grain actually provides sugar content in whiskey because sugar doesn’t go through distillation.

Corn typically doesn’t provide strong flavors in bourbon, which is why it’s often combined with other grains that do provide flavor. That sweet, caramel flavor in your bourbon actually comes from the wood sugars in the charred barrels used for aging the spirit.

However, corn is also used for corn whiskey. Corn whiskeys are either unaged or aged in used barrels. In corn whiskey you are better able to taste the influence of the corn because the barrel flavors are not getting in the way. These typically do have a sweet, syrupy flavor, primarily coming from the corn.

But don’t let us be the judge, pick up a bottle of our Bourbon Whiskey and see what flavors you can taste!

Cheers!