Drink of the Week: Balcones Baby Blue Corn Whisky

It’s an old agricultural aphorism that, to gauge the progress of a summer’s crop, a field of corn should be “knee-high by the 4th of July.” (This adage doesn’t necessarily hold up with modern genetics and technology, however—today, the Iowa Corn Growers Association says that under good growing conditions, corn plants can reach 8 feet high by midsummer.) So with the 4th of July holiday recently behind us, and the summer stretching ahead of us as far as the calendar can see, we’re turning to corn for this week’s Drink of the Week: Balcones Baby Blue Corn Whisky.

As contributing writer Nat Harry finds in a feature for our July/August 2023 issue, distillers across the country are turning their attention away from commodity-level corn (used to produce corn oil, fuel ethanol, and livestock feed, among other things) and in the direction of heirloom varieties promising much more character and flavor.

Waco-based Balcones was among the first modern craft distilleries out of the gate to start working with lesser-known corn varieties. Balcones launched Baby Blue in 2009, starting with New Mexico–grown Hopi Blue corn. The distillery now grows a hybridized blue flint corn (a type used for masa and other culinary purposes) in West Texas. As compared to the familiar yellow dent corn grown pretty much everywhere throughout the Midwest, the roasted blue corn has a rich oiliness that comes through in the finished whisky.

In the glass, there’s no disputing this whisky comes from a robust varietal of corn. The nose is big and rich, with aromas of kettle corn, butter, cocoa, toffee, and spice. This boldness comes through on the palate as well, with a full-bodied weight and flavors of brown sugar and tropical fruit, and a long, lingering finish ripe with vegetal spice.

At 92 proof, Baby Blue benefits from the company of an ice cube or two, and from watching one of those summer sunsets that seem to last forever. $36.99, caskers.com