Episode #92
Born to Be Red: High Wire Distilling & the Jimmy Red Corn Story
What do you get when a nearly forgotten South Carolina heirloom corn meets a couple of obsessive entrepreneurs, a Charleston distillery, and a whole lot of whiskey? You get Jimmy Red. On this episode of Whiskey Rocks, we sit down with Scott Blackwell, co-founder of High Wire Distilling in Charleston, South Carolina , to hear the incredible story behind Jimmy Red corn and the bourbon that helped bring it back from the brink. Scott takes us from his unconventional path into distilling to the discovery of Jimmy Red, a nearly extinct heirloom corn that became the foundation for one of High Wire’s signature whiskeys. We dig into the importance of the grain, the farmers and people who helped preserve it, and what makes Jimmy Red Bourbon taste so different. Then we put three expressions to the Whiskey Rocks test: Jimmy Red, Jimmy Red Bottled-in-Bond, and Jimmy Red Double Oak . And because this is Whiskey Rocks, we finish with a lightning round covering rock & roll, whiskey, Southern food, concerts, questionable drinking decisions, and whatever else we can get Scott to answer before he escapes. It’s a story about whiskey, agriculture, Southern history, and the crazy things that can happen when somebody refuses to let a good thing disappear. Pour yourself something good and join us. Whiskey Rocks. Sip hard. Follow us @thewhiskeyrockspodcast on TikTok and Instagram for more
