Tasting notes

nose

red berries, bread pudding, nutmeg and clove, with caramel and brown sugar

palate

buttery caramel and toffee, toasted nuts and dried fruit, with cinnamon, dried cranberry and a little chocolate

finish

medium-long; dried fruit and baking spice stay, with sweet oak and cinnamon at the end

Mash bill

25% Bloody Butcher corn, 25% heirloom white corn, 25% Bruce's Blue corn, 20% malted rye, 5% malted barley. The three heirloom corns, one red, one white and one blue, give the bourbon its name; Bruce's Blue is a variety the Nethery family developed and grows only on its own farm. Splitting the corn three ways keeps the house's usual 75% corn, 20% malted rye and 5% malted barley balance.

Why it's craft

Red, White & Blue is Jeptha Creed's bourbon for veterans: visitors sign barrels at the distillery, each batch publishes the barrel numbers it used, and part of the sales goes to a veterans' charity, Paws of War for batch 4. The distillery opened on Veterans Day 2016, and the Nethery family grows its heirloom corn on its Shelbyville farms and distills, ages and bottles the whiskey on site.