Review: Popcorn Sutton's XXX Tennessee White Whiskey
Popcorn Sutton's XXX
White Whiskey / Moonshine - Tennessee, US
46.5%
Before anyone gets too worried, no this will not make you go blind. Though there was plenty of bad hooch going around during the Prohibition era, this little jar of shine is not one of those and is quite tasty, if of course you can manage to get your hands on it. This mason jar is almost elusive as its namesake. If you're traveling through the state of Tennessee, you may get lucky and find one on the back of a dusty shelf somewhere, but chances are what you will see is an updated version of this in an actual bottle and watered down more to 44% or 88 proof for those of you who like the ‘p’ word…
In true form just as Popcorn himself made it, this is an unaged spirit distilled from a mixture of grains and sugar. Not quite as strong as it likely was while it was still being made illicitly, but at 46.5% a couple sips is all you need to feel down home.
One whiff and the sweetness of corn will fill your nose, though at the same time a bit of berry and cotton candy comes through on the nose as well. Good moonshine should not taste like gasoline, hair spray or rubbing alcohol. It can be strong, but should still have a natural flavor, usually being fairly sweet when corn is (and often) one the main ingredients. The flavor here is very crisp of fresh alcohol, but dark and herbal at the same time with raspberry on the finish.
Understandably this may not be everyone's cup of tea, or glass of whiskey for that matter, but in the past few years there has been a substantial rise in moonshine popularity, especially flavored ones, like apple pie or lemonade, but I strongly urge you to try something of true quality like this before a mass produced mixture of cheap grain alcohol with some “natural fruit flavors” dumped into it. I've talked right with some of the folks that really “know" and unless you have some good connections to the ones who may or may not be in the deep woods of the southern US, this (even for being watered down a bit) is still some very good shine.