Lightning appears to have struck two years in a row, sparking some amazing recognition for Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks.
The annual ASCOT Awards—the American Spirits Council of Tasters—has chosen Journeyman’s signature ‘wheated whiskey’ as the BEST IN SHOW, worldwide, for a second year. We learned about the honor in the national business publication Forbes Magazine, which seemed to express some surprise, followed by increasing praise for Journeyman’s creation ‘Corsets, Whips & Whiskey’:
(The following is reprinted from Forbes Magazine)
The American Spirits Council of Tasters—also known as the ASCOT Awards—convenes annually to judge the best in booze, across all categories. The council is comprised of 43 industry professionals who blind-taste over 1,100 entries through several days. They’ve just revealed their Best In Show, the single greatest liquid tasted during the 2023 iteration. And the winner is…absolutely shocking. Corsets, Whips & Whiskey by Journeyman Distillery out of Three Oaks, Michigan has taken home the grand prize.
The shock value here doesn’t come from the whiskey itself. It’s great. Nor are we surprised by the fact that the distillery exists outside of the traditional production nexus of Kentucky/Tennessee/Indiana. We’ve been exposed to plenty of great American whiskey from all corners of the country. No, the insane thing here is that this particular expression of wheated whiskey just hauled in the ASCOT Best In Show for the second year in a row!
What in tarnation is happening here? Let’s dig in and find out.
For one, when we say “wheated whiskey” we are not talking about a wheated bourbon. Popular examples of the latter include names no less prominent than Pappy Van Winkle, Old Fitzgerald and Maker’s Mark. Theses expressions are built primarily out of corn (as is required of any bourbon), but incorporate wheat—as opposed to rye—into the mash bill, imparting a softness that seems to be quite popular with cognoscenti.
Corsets, Whips & Whiskey stands apart as it is single distilled entirely from 100% organic wheat. Not only that, it’s sourced wholly from Journeyman’s home state of Michigan. It’s safe to say that this marks it as an entirely unique product, from an ingredient standpoint. 100% wheat whiskies are already rare on shelves. But the ones you will find are likely to leverage cereal grain sourced from Kansas and/or North Dakota. Together those two states account for about 80% of US wheat output.
From the Michigan terroir you’re gifted a vanilla-laden dessert sort of dram. It’s not overly sweet, but it does cruise along with custard and cinnamon-dusted flan upon the mid-palate; perhaps even a nod toward Bananas Foster. In the finish a pinch of allspice and clove comes out to play. It’s the sort of approachable, rounded spice you might expect from an Irish whiskey as opposed to anything distilled along the shores of Lake Michigan. And yet here we are.
(above reprinted from Forbes Magazine)
