Corsair Centennial Hopped Whiskey

Corsair Centennial is a barley malt Whiskey that smells like roses, oranges, and ale.

Andrew Webber and Darek Bell own and run the Corsair Artisan Distilleries (there are two of them) located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee. Friends since childhood, Andrew and Darek began as beer brewers out of their garage and later hit a snag while working on a prototype bio-diesel thing-a-nabob. Darek turned to Andrew and said something like, “You know, distilling Whiskey is a lot more fun than bio-diesel.” Bell had attended Bruichladdick Distilling Academy in Islay, Scotland, so soon after they opened up Corsair — a distillery dedicated to producing a range of small-batch spirits through relentless experimentation. And quite a range it is. They currently have seven “official” releases and no less than seventeen seasonal and experimental products.

Corsair Centennial gets its name from a brand of hops used is brewing craft beers — Centennial Hops. The spirit itself is actually traditional malted barley that is fermented and distilled in the traditional manner, with one exception. During the process they suspend those special hops in a vapor basket the same way you would infuse botanicals in Gin. So this is like a Whiskey-Gin with Centennial Hops as the only botanical. The result does NOT taste like beer at all — it is all Whiskey. But there is an added floral aroma of hops that is more on the nose than the palate. But it is a bang-on good idea and — since beer and Whiskey are cousins — it feels like it belongs.