Editor’s Note
AN HEIRLOOM INDUSTRY Just in case the collection of colorful cobs on the cover didn’t tip you off, we’re featuring heirloom corn in this issue. Hope you enjoy reading the cover story as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it—and putting together the webinar that features many of the key innovators featured in the article (if you’re reading this before May 6, there’s still time to register; if after, you can access the archived webinar at the ACSA website—free for members and $59 for non-members). The whole process of putting this feature together got me thinking: Many, perhaps most, of you don’t work with heirloom corn (or even make whiskey, for that matter), but the piece is about all of you. That’s because craft spirits, regardless of what fermentable substrate you use, is an heirloom industry. Okay, I know that sounds corny (pun very much intended), but bear with me. Producers of heirloom corn-based spirits are using heritage grains, untethered from mass-market commoditization. Sound familiar? Craft distilling has everything to do with heritage and nothing to do with cranking out indistinguishable commodities. Each variety of heirloom corn has its own idiosyncrasies and personality; doesn’t always behave; is unfailingly expressive; and isn’t a fan of conformity. And it goes without saying that authenticity is the name of the game. You’re probably getting the idea now. These corns of many colors represent just some of the tools craft distillers have to put their stamp on a market in which it’s increasingly difficult to do so. I’m a huge fan of the case that Gary Hinegardner of Wood Hat Spirits makes for heirloom corn. The mega-distilleries haven’t sunk their claws into the heirloom space in any significant way and it’ll probably be about a decade before they do. Now is the time for craft producers to get a massive head start and own that space. Granted, that’s often easier said than done and this issue’s cover story lays out many of the reasons why (it’s still a potentially costly leap of faith for many). But the more producers who throw their hat into the … uhh, cornfield,
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Craft has everything to do with heritage and nothing to do with cranking out indistinguishable commodities. the less risky it eventually becomes for others. Even if corn’s not your grain (or even if you don’t distill grain at all), just about every bit of flora that eventually finds its way into a fermenter, and then a still, has some heirloom connection. On my recent trip through the Southwest (which you can read about on page 46), Flying Leap’s Mark Beres was absolutely rhapsodic about White Sonora Wheat, a heritage grain that’s grown in Arizona for around 400 years and has modern consumers lining up at bakeries that make bread out of it. And even though its yield is much smaller and its price tag considerably higher than more common wheat varieties, Beres is making whiskey out of White Sonora Wheat because few grains are as quintessentially Southwestern and capture the local terroir quite like it does. And consumers these days are willing to pay a premium for anything heirloom. If you don’t believe me, just go hang out at the tomato stand at your neighborhood farmers market. ■
Jeff Cioletti Editor in Chief
C R AF T S PI R I T S MAG .CO M