Warbringer Big Cockerel Small Batch 750ml

Warbringer Big Cockerel is an unaged whiskey — an aguardiente-style spirit — from Sespe Creek Distillery in California, John Campbell's first release under the label. It's twice distilled in copper pots from a mash of 60% mesquite-smoked corn, 15% fire-toasted corn and 25% malted rye, and bottled clear with no time in wood. The nose runs toasted pumpkin seed, graham cracker and mesquite smoke; the palate is soft and velvety with molé-like spice, grilled mesquite and sweet potato, finishing dry and long with smoked peanut brittle and flan. It's a whiskey for drinkers who want the grain and smoke without the oak.

How to drink Warbringer Big Cockerel

This is a sipping spirit built to be tried neat, the way you'd approach a mezcal — the smoked-corn mash is the point, and dilution mutes it fast. A splash of water can open the graham-cracker sweetness if the 98-proof heat is too much straight.

Aguardiente98 proof · Mash bill: 60% mesquite-smoked corn, 15% fire-toasted corn, 25% malted rye · California