Introduction
Launched on 28 January 2020 this is our ‘Bourbon Equivalent’ which we call Old Dog Corn Liquor – we produce a corn, wheat and barley mash which, following fermentation, is distilled by us in Hilda, our 1000 litre pot/column hybrid still, and then matured in new American oak casks.
The name ‘Old Dog’ comes from a local coal mine shaft in the Morda valley. The ‘Corn Liquor’ part of the name describes the contents of the bottle!
It is available in 70cl and 5cl bottles and is bottled at 41.5%.
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Awards
Won a Silver Medal at the London Spirits Competition 2022
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Tasting Notes
The London Spirits Competition gave the following feedback with our Silver Medal win:
“Notes of corn, tropical fruits, pear, caramel, honey, pepper and oak. It has a slightly creamy texture on the palate with hints of vanilla and smoke and has a sweet-spicy finish.”
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The pleasingly deep amber liquid has honey and soft fruity notes on the nose. There is an amazingly creamy mouthfeel, with caramel, spice, and hints of vanilla and smoke. The lingering smooth finish leaves notes of toffee and vanilla. This is a light, easy drinking spirit with a surprising complexity.
The following tasting notes were sent to us by one of our customers (thank you Carl!!):
“Nose: Sweet, honey, pear drops buttery
Taste: Honey, peppery got nice heat to it, pear drops, slightly creamy in the mouth
Finish: White pepper, oaky, waxy good medium finish“
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Reviews
Nononsense Whisky
There’s a great review by Vin at Nononsense Whisky (YouTube blog) which you can watch here – this was first published in July 2022
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Exploring English Whisky
We took part in the very first English Whisky Society (before it was re-named Exploring English Whisky) live tasting (via Zoom) on Thursday the 23rd of April 2020. During the tasting of Old Dog Corn Liquor a participant, Mr Edward J. Milner (twitter username @MrEdwardMilner), posted the following notes:
“Nose: A confectionery sourness,like Tangfastics. Sherbert and orange zest. Sugar syrup, green apple and cherry Haribo. Tropical fruit salad, toffee and fresh honey.
Palate: Soft, sweet palate, more sherbert. Would be great to get someone who isn’t a whisky fan into whisky! Mellow sweetness on the finish. Would be great for cocktails in lieu of sugar syrup“
Thank you so much for this review Edward!
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The World of Whisky UK
Jordan who runs the “the_world_of_whiskey_uk” page on Instagram kindly posted the following review on the 6th of June 2020:
“A massive thank you and shout out to the team at Henstone Distillery in the UK for sending me a sample of their Old Dog Corn Liquor which launched on January 28th 2020. Corn, wheat and barley are distilled and matured in American Oak Casks for 8 months before bottling, coming in at a punchy 41.5%. This is a brilliant English spirit that works brilliantly as a replacement for bourbon on the rocks, neat, or in a cocktail. Lets get tasting!
Tasting notes:
Nose: A sweet and fruity combination. Pears, apricots and apples come through, with additional notes of caramel, honey, vanilla, and cinnamon spice.
Palette: Thick and creamy, with fruity notes following from the nose. Interestingly, despite the bourbon front, there is a real peaty and smokey scotch character on the palette, which work brilliantly together.
Finish: Mid length and full bodied. More spice comes through compared to the nose and palette, leaving a tingling sensation on the taste buds. Cinnamon sweetness remains throughout and is the last to fade rounding off a very pleasant experience.
This is a really, really tasty juice and one of the most easy drinking spirits I’ve tasted. The mix between the bourbon and scotch character isn’t something I’ve experienced yet, but I was pleasantly surprised! A 70cl of the Old Dog will set you back £34.95 which based on what I’ve just tasted, offers excellent value for money. I’ll be getting a bottle that’s for sure! Go and check out Henstone Distillery on Instagram and try this for yourself! Cheers”
Thank you very much Jordan!
You can see the original post by clicking the button below.
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Feedback
Old Dog Corn Liquor receives amazing feedback!
An email that we thought was straight to the point. “just tried it, superb” – Thank you Jason!!
Another customer who recently visited us here at the distillery wrote to me afterwards saying “If you have any bottles available on the whisky run.. put me down for one! The corn liquor is seriously good!!“
And here is a little feedback from a Facebook user (thank you Debi, you know who you are). “Henstone Old Dog Corn Liquor is made in Shropshire so not technically a bourbon but is really delicious. There’s lots of aniseed/liquorice on the nose but this doesn’t come that strong when you drink it. There’s hints of caramel along with it and can’t wait to see how they develop. Definitely a distillery to watch for.” The following photo supported the post:
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Articles
There’s a great article about our Old Dog Corn Liquor on the Ryebeck website – we bought our still through Ryebeck who are the UK agents for the manufacturers, Kothe. You can read the article by clicking the button below.
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Finally, a LinkedIn connection said the following: “quick note to say what a great job you have done with Old Dog. Tim insisted I ordered a bottle from Master of Malt and am glad I did! I was in Bourbon capital before lockdown and Old Dog is on par, if not better than some of theirs. The cask finish is superb! Keep up the good work.“
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Buy
If you are interested in buying a bottle then take a look at our online page