Popcornbourbon

The first mash started as a practical question: Popcorn is made of corn... popcorn is delicious. So what if I roast the chickenfeed/ corn in the oven before mashing... and so I did. 

At the end of the roasting, my wife walked into the kitchen. She sniffed, smiled and she murmeled "Mmm, smells good, a desert surprice?" Her face, when she looked in the owen... priceless. She murmeled "Usj! Chickenfeed.."

Fermentation answered with an aroma that was surprisingly bright at first pass: warm corn, toasted husk, and a faint sweetness that sat somewhere between cereal and fresh bread. The SG was amazingly low, I hade done everything regarding releasing the carbs for the yeast...correct temperature, enzymes etc etc... I guess chickens get a low-carb diet these days. So I had to add sugar.

Distillation went good. Distilled with lots of corn in the still. Nice cuts, a decent portion of hearts. It got quite good!

But underneath that noise, the corn-forward core was undeniable. It did not read as generic sweetness; it read as material, with texture, weight, and a grounded grain identity worth protecting.

The notebook from this trial is mostly correction marks: BETTER CORN, enzyme timing and finer collection intervals to separate character from smear before the spirit loses definition.

Even as a first attempt, the experiment made one thing clear: popcorn is not a gimmick input here; it is a structural variable that can reshape mouthfeel and aromatic direction when handled with intent. I matured in a glass jar with some sherry cask oak. It got quite good. I filled a 3L stainless steel/ wood barrel. Wood from a used sherry cask. Will keep it there for around 5 years. 

Next round, the aim is straightforward—tighten the method, keep the corn signal intact, and push toward a cleaner, more articulate spirit that explains itself in the glass instead of asking for excuses.