Whiskey The Way it Was

Hickory Cane Corn

The open pollinated corn varieties used by our ancestors to make whiskey are disappearing, and when they are gone they will be gone forever. What follows is a detailed description of a program by which Pinckney Bend Distillery will produce whiskey ‘field to glass’ using rare and hard-to-find heirloom varieties of corn. The heirloom varieties we select will have been historically associated with making whiskey, and to the degree possible, grown in our region prior to the introduction of hybrids in the 1930’s. Pinckney Bend Distillery will:

• Research varieties and acquire seed
• Propagated as necessary at a downtown test plot
• Contract with local farmers to grow grain
• Mill grain and ferment mash
• Distill, age and bottle whiskey

What is Heirloom Corn?

Pinckney Bend’s Pencil Cob seed corn.

There is no established date for when a corn variety becomes heirloom. Some varieties such as blue corn have been grown and used by Native Americans for centuries. Others were developed as late as the early 20th century. Heirloom varieties all have three things in common. They are; 1. open pollinated, 2. no longer grown on a commercial scale, and 3. genetically quite different from today’s hybrid and GMO corns. Heirloom corn varieties are often (but not always) associated with specific geographic areas. They are also associated with specific characteristics.

In the 19th Century pioneers grew the corn that they brought with them. Over time some varieties performed better than others, and farmers in a given area often came to grow the same varieties as their neighbors. However, every farmer selected seed corn from his own fields for planting the following year. In this respect, every farmer became a hybridizer, and there is often considerable variability within specific heirloom varieties.

Heirloom Corn Varieties & Sources

Tennessee Red Cob

Dr. Brian Campbell, author of “Closest to Everlastin'”: Ozark Agricultural Biodiversity and Subsistence Traditions, is a Cultural Anthropologist. He has studied the Ozark Region extensively, and has been a valuable resource in helping us identify heirloom varieties that were commonly grown.

Downtown Test Plots

Planting Hickory Cane corn in the test plot.

Propagation and test plot sites were located on adjoining vacant lots on Main Street, only 50 feet from the distillery. This is excellent river bottom ground, which has not been cropped in more than a century.

Two 12′ x 12′ plots were established and provided seed for the following year’s one-acre production fields. With optimized fertility, moisture, weed and insect damage control, these plots produced about 1.5–2 bushels of shelled corn. This is enough seed corn for planting, plus sufficient spare grain.

Propagation plots were managed, planted and maintained by Master Gardner Greg Newell.

One-Acre Production Fields

Production fields are grown in partnership with a local farmers who have the land, equipment and experience necessary to grow open pollinated corn varieties.

Heirloom Program

One-of-a-kind corn creates one-of-a-kind whiskey. Each heirloom variety is as unique as it’s history. We release one variety a year, currently schedule through 2029. We believe variety matters and are dedicated to finding out what whiskey tasted like before prohibition. Join us on this program. Find your favorite.