I remember years ago my dad showing me a photo of a Beyke Farms truck dropping off corn to an Owensboro distiller and wondering, “Are we drinking Beyke Corn Bourbon?” I’m sure at some point I have, but I’m not naïve enough to think my family was the sole contributor to their massive production of whiskey. I’m sure other families have felt the same, taking pride in knowing there’s at least a small, unspoken tie to this industry we love.

Years later, it felt serendipitous when the same distiller my family had once sold to reached out. They offered the chance to collaborate on a blue corn bourbon, a style that’s become one of my favorites from several producers across the US. There’s something about this heritage grain that, to me, adds more depth, richness, and nuance than many of its yellow corn counterparts.

Beyke’s Blue is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey blended for balance and bottled with the drinker in mind. This first batch is a six-barrel blend of 6.5-year-old bourbon with a mashbill of 70% blue corn, 21% rye, and 9% malted barley. Full of flavor, it lost none of its best qualities when finding the optimal proof, in fact, the opposite.

Beyke’s Blue is rich and powerful, yet deeply complex. The time it rests in the glass, the order it’s tasted in a flight, or even the amount of water added will reveal different sides of this whiskey, which is what I love most about blue corn bourbons. That same complexity made it a workout to decide where it should land. After experimenting with different water types, gathering insight from colleagues across the industry, and slowly reducing it to proof over the last few months, I think we’ve created something that secures its own spot in the market.

In the glass, you’ll find incredible fruitiness on the nose, with excellent terroir and depth on the palate that is characteristically Kentucky, yet drinks with the elegance and nuance of whiskeys several years older. 

I truly hope you enjoy every angle of this bourbon.