Abasolo whiskies

History

The project was born at the end of the 2010s at the hands of a group of Mexican businesspeople from the spirits world, who wanted to show that corn, the most important grain in Mexico’s history, could produce a whisky with an identity of its own. They worked with local farmers in the Jilotepec area and adapted traditional techniques such as nixtamalisation and toasting the grain. The whisky came onto the market in 2019, and alongside it the house launched a corn liqueur, Nixta, which has also been very successful.

House style

Abasolo has a very distinctive flavour of toasted corn, tortilla and cereal, with vanilla, caramel and spice, and a smooth texture. It is distilled in copper stills and matured in oak casks. It is bottled at 43% ABV. It is a whisky very different from bourbon, even though it is also made from corn, because of the effect of nixtamalisation and toasting. It is enjoyed neat, on the rocks or in cocktails, and is a good example of the creativity of new Latin American whisky.

Where to start

Abasolo is the catalogue’s entry. Compare it with Balcones Baby Blue, another corn whisky with plenty of personality, and with a classic bourbon such as Buffalo Trace to see what nixtamalised corn brings. It is a highly recommendable curiosity for fans of American whiskey. It also works very well in an Old Fashioned, where its toasted corn flavour stands out in a very original way.

• Abasolo El Whisky de MéxicoOther · 43% ABV