Maker: McCormick, Weston, Missouri, USA.
Style: Bonded rye-recipe straight Missouri bourbon.
Age: 6 y/o (distilled autumn 2016, bottled January 26, 2023)
Warehouse/Floors: See photo below
Proof: 100 (50% ABV)
Michigan State Minimum: $60
Appearance: Medium reddish copper.
Nose: Spicy, with roasted corn, and a bit of caramel.
Palate: Caramel and amaretto chews, rock n rye soda, then cayenne. Water tames the spice and brings the sweet candy flavors to the fore.
Finish: Salted caramel, burn.
Parting words: The bourbon boom has seen a lot of new distilleries appear on the scene, and the last few years have seen the rise of a number of distilleries with promising futures, like (the new) Yellowstone, New Riff, Wilderness Trail, Woodinville, and many others. These folks are putting out great whiskeys right now, and are only getting better.
Something that has also happened is that a few old distilleries around the country have jumped back into the bourbon game, by releasing their own, new products. Ross & Squibb (FKA LDI/MGPI) is one example of that, and McCormick is another. When I first became interested in American Whiskey, I got to know McCormick as the making of Platte Valley corn whiskey, which comes in those distinctive stoneware jugs that used to have a cartoon Hillbilly on them. At 80 proof, it’s a bit weak, but a decent sip on a hot summer Saturday evening.
McCormick saw other distillers getting rich and asked themselves, “Why not us?” They already had the still, the corn, and the warehouses after all. They even found a historical mascot, Ben Holladay, a 19th century transportation mogul (hence the stagecoach) with ties to the distillery for the brand, So they distilled and aged some bourbon and released Ben Holladay Missouri Straight Bourbon Whiskey to the world in spring of 2022.
I had always assumed that Weston must be on the west bank of the Mississippi, just a stone’s throw from the Kentucky border. It’s not. It’s in the opposite part of the state on the northern edge of the Kansas City metro area. That makes it about 600 miles from Bardstown, Kentucky, and about 500 from Owensboro. The town’s population is about 1,700 people, which is not too different when the distillery was founded in 1856.
Missouri Straight Bourbon whiskey has more stringent standards than its Kentucky cousin. It must be made of corn grown in Missouri, and aged in a barrel manufactured in the state as well. That’s in addition to the requirements to mash, ferment, and distill instate.
Anyway, I like Ben Holladay 6 y/o. It’s sweet and spicy and mixes well too. My only complaint is the price. A bourbon from a venerable producer like McCormick shouldn’t be as pricy as a micro-distiller’s. That said, there are younger, less sophisticated bourbons being sold at twice the price right now, so I guess $60 isn’t too bad, but it could still be better.
Anyway, Ben Holladay 6 y/o BiB is recommended!
Sipology 