Still Austin Bottled in Bond Red Corn 5 Year Review [In Depth]
Still Austin Bottled in Bond Red Corn 5 Year Bourbon
by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer
Founder, writer
Still Austin Bottled in Bond Red Corn 5 Year Bourbon Details
Distillery: Still Austin
Type & Region: Bourbon, Texas, USA
Alcohol: 50%
Composition: 36% Jimmy Red Corn and 34% White Corn (70% corn in total), 25% Rye, 5% Barley
Aged: 5 years
Color: 1.4/2.0 on the color scale (tawny)
Price: $80
From the company website:
The whiskeys in our Seasonal Bottled in Bond Series capture the ingredients, flavors and themes of the seasons from which they were inspired.
For this Summer 2024 release—represented by the heat-loving snake and cactus—we combined the robust nuttiness of Jimmy Red corn with the sweet spice of rye. This release was a fan favorite when it was released last year, and with an additional year of aging, it might be even better.
Still Austin Bottled in Bond Red Corn 5 Year overview
It turns out that Still Austin’s initial run of bottled in bond bourbons, released Summer 2023 to Spring 2024, is actually an annual release. The first one that was ever released was Still Austin Bottled in Bond Red Corn Bourbon, which did not sport an age statement apart from what is minimally required to be called a bottled in bond bourbon: 4 years.
But in Summer 2024, they took up a notch and put a 5 year age statement on the bottle. Because this is bottled in bond and everything in the blend must come from the same distilling season and year, it also means that every barrel in the blend is no older than around 5.5 years old. I hope that they continue to increase the age every year and see what happens.
If you haven’t read my previous review or don’t know much about why this bourbon is unique, it’s because of the Jimmy red corn. This is not the normal yellow dent corn that many of the major Kentucky and Indiana distilleries use. This is the fancy corn.
Still Austin isn’t the only distillery to use some type of heirloom red corn. Savage and Cooke, Jeptha Creed, and High Wire, among others, use Jimmy red or bloody butcher red corn in some / all of their bourbons.
Jimmy Red Corn is an heirloom corn native to the Southern United States. And yes, it is red…very red, and quite different from the yellow dent corn used in most bourbon today. Years back, it apparently was very popular in making moonshine, yet a bit of a hidden secret too to the point that it almost went extinct. You can read more about the special corn here in NPR’s article. It’s worth reading.
This is truly “craft” corn. The plant itself is far lower yield than the usual yellow corn, and it’s still grown at a relatively small scale, so there’s way way way less of it. As a result, less availability means more expensive, although the expectation is that the corn makes a meaningful positive difference in the bourbon.
Jimmy red corn makes up 36% of the mashbill, and Texas white corn, which is also not the usual stuff used in bourbon, makes up 34% of the mashbill. 25% of the mashbill is made up of rye, which is also relatively high for many bourbons.
Let’s find out if Still Austin delivers another winner in this Still Austin Bottled in Bond Red Corn 5 Year bourbon review.
Thank you to Still Austin for providing this bottle. All opinions are still my own.
As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for everything (they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass Set of 6, Set of 4, Set of 2, or just one. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
Still Austin Bottled in Bond Red Corn 5 Year smell
I smell toasted caramel, baked red apple and dried orange, nougat, vanilla, roasted oak, cinnamon, and a little pine, dried cherry, licorice, and earthy caraway seed. This has the oak, spice, and generally maturity of a 10 year old bourbon, which is crazy because it’s 5 years old. The dark sweetness, dried fruit, and abundant spice are great, and the fruitiness opens up more with time.
Still Austin Red Corn 5 Year has great richness, range, and character, but I wish that it had more pop and expressiveness. Honestly, this is great stuff so far.
After swirling, I smell fragrant caramel, baked red apple and orange peel, vanilla, roasted oak, dried cherry, cinnamon, rose, a slight mustiness, and a little tobacco and earthiness.
Still Austin Red Corn 5 Year becomes more fragrant and vibrant, and less earthy, with a nicely developed fruitiness that is wise beyond its years. It’s still plenty dark, roasty and spicy, and overall Still Austin Red Corn 5 Year Bottled in Bond smells even better than it did the first time.
Sure, It’s still not as bold and expressive as I’d like, but it’s still great. This probably would be even better at 55% ABV, but it is what it is.
Still Austin Red Corn 5 Year Bottled in Bond smells like a mature and complete bourbon.
Still Austin Bottled in Bond Red Corn 5 Year taste and aftertaste
The flavors start with caramel, dried apple and orange peel, cinnamon, roasted oak, dried cherry, licorice, nutmeg, and a little pine, roasted grain, and grassiness. They’re a little more roasty, earthy, and dry than the scents are, but there’s still a good mix of sweet, fruity, roasty, and earthy. I wonder if that extra age in oak brings out more roastiness, earthiness, and grassiness as compared to the 4 year old release.
There’s a gentle and distinct earthiness and vegetalness in here. It’s not quite earthy rye break, but I wonder if the red corn brings a unique / distinct raw vegetalness and pine-iness to the flavors.
From memory at least, this is less fruity than the original 4 year version is, but the heat is equally as well controlled.
After “chewing” I taste caramel, baked red apple, vanilla, dried orange peel, vanilla, roasted oak, cinnamon, licorice, candied pineapple, and some earthiness and grassiness. Still Austin Red Corn 5 Year Bourbon is way more rich, expressive, and vibrant now with more sweetness, fruitiness, and viscosity. The oak, spice, and roastiness are still clearly there and it rounds out the entire experience.
I wish that it was a little more bold and expressive, which might have come with a slightly higher ABV. As-is though, this is a great bourbon.
The finish leaves honey, dried orange peel, roasted oak, dried ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and some earthiness.
This is a very interesting and enjoyable bourbon with great flavor, range, complexity, and overall maturity that drinks like a 10 year old bourbon. It always blows my mind that Still Austin consistently extracts so much extra maturity for just a 5 year old bourbon. They are unmatched at making “young” feel “mature”.
Really a great job from Still Austin.
I’ve unfortunately lost some Glencairn’s while in transit, and that made me very sad. So, I wised up and bought this Glencairn Travel Case that comes also comes with 2 glasses so I don’t need to worry so much about them breaking. I think it’s great, and I think you’ll love it too.
Seriously, if you already have glasses, protect them.
Still Austin Bottled in Bond Red Corn 5 Year Rating
Still Austin Bottled in Bond Red Corn 5 Year Bourbon is yet another winner. At some point it must sound like I’m heavily biased in favor of Still Austin, but I swear that it keeps delivering well-crafted experiences that are worth the “Top Shelf” rating. There’s always something different, unique, and compelling with each release, and I’m all for it.
The vibrance, pop, richness, and range are all there to elevate this to “Top Shelf”, and it amazes me that this can be done at 5 years old. There are plenty of 8 or even 10+ year old bourbons that still can’t get to this level. I just really enjoyed smelling, tasting, and reviewing this…it’s a hard bourbon to beat.
Of course I still have some nitpicks, such as wanting more expressiveness, more pop, and more fullness that would take it to even higher levels, but I think those things will come in time as Still Austin continues to age their whiskeys. Here’s the thing though, they’re already going toe to toe with the big boys, and often winning.
As for how this is different from last year’s release, I honestly can’t tell. That sounds like a comparison is in order, if I ever get around to doing it. To highlight the red corn, I wish they released a two pack that would allow us to compare the “normal” corn to the red corn version.
So if you like a well-rounded bourbon that still has a more oaky and spicy side, then this one that you should definitely try, if not buy.
Still Austin is still on a roll and still making outstanding whiskey.
Meet the Author: Alex
I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.
There are no sponsors, no media companies, and no nonsense. Support The Whiskey Shelf by Buying Me A Shot.
Shattered glass really sucks, so if you’re on the move, this Glencairn-like stainless steel snifter glass should survive your travels. Full transparency, this is an Amazon affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
BrüMate NOS’R, Double-Wall Stainless Steel Whiskey Nosing Glass – 7oz (Matte Black)
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