Featured at World Whisky Day 2019: Since its founding in 2008, Corsair has been making creative spirits on the cutting edge of American craft distilling. In the early years, like many young distilleries, Corsair had to outsource part of the process. Introduced in 2015, the Corsair Wildfire is their first “grain to glass” offering, meaning the distillery handles every part of the production process. The barley is grown on a farm in Tennessee owned by the distillery and is smoked with hickory, a wood often associated with southern BBQ.
Distillery: Corsair
Region: Foreign
Age: NAS
Strength: 50%
Price: $49.99
Barrel: Batch 2; bottle 549 of 594
Location: Nashville, TN
Nose: Cherry Coke, lime, hickory smoke
Palate: Spice, starlight mint
Finish: Sweet, sarsaparilla
Comments: Delicious as is, it is also worth experimenting with a few drops of water to see if you like the change in character they bring.
Adam – I am fascinated by the Corsair Wildfire. Working with only the same basic ingredients of water, barley and yeast, how exactly did they get it to turn out just so? The higher alcohol strength gives a slightly thicker mouthfeel when you drink it unwatered, and the hickory aspect is very apparent in the nose. Coupled with the mixture of spice and an undertow of sweetness, it really does give a sensation reminiscent of BBQ. And you better like that BBQ essence if you’re picking up a bottle of this, because this isn’t a spirit of many layers: what you see is what you get. Though with what it lacks in chthonic depths, it more than makes up for with a very friendly demeanor that works well on its own to sip while you’re grilling outside or to add some pizzazz to your cocktail.
Meghan – It’s sweeter on the nose than I expected. I wanted to get hit with a wave of hickory but it’s lighter on the nose than that. There is a definite BBQ essence but sweeter.
I don’t want to say young like it’s a bad thing or raw. More like it’s youthful.
Michael – Sipping the Corsair Wildfire is like I went to the BBQ store, got a pulled pork sandwich and a Coke, and it was blended into a glass. Not a lot of undertones, just all the flavor at once. A very good offering from this distillery.
Mary-Fred – Fresh apple and apple crisp came to mind, just on the nose. There’s some tang. It feels very fresh. I don’t want to say young like it’s a bad thing or raw. More like it’s youthful. There nothing stodgy or staid about it. Maybe lively? It’s got quite a bit of heat to it but has enough rounded edges to it to be good and lively. The apple works with the liveliness, like a good fall dram. What’s missing for me is that even though it has a nice heat, it doesn’t have a lot of depth. It lacks layered nuance.
Ben – Smells like when you open a bag of BBQ potato chips. Or like everything I want on a pancake. I get a lot of marmalade.
