Mash bill: 51/39/10 corn, rye, barley

Tasting Notes: Custardy, fruity, and aromatic. The nose leads with plush cherry cordial and red apple, followed by pecan praline, soft honeyed orange zest, and butterscotch candies.

The palate opens with spiced apples and roasted almonds, semi-dry with white pepper and dried cherry, before that chewier praline note from the nose resurfaces.

It tapers into softly spiced graham cracker and butterscotch, with a lightly buttery, medium-length finish.

About: Mama Tried. Sung by Merle Haggard and covered by the Grateful Dead, the song’s history mimics the cowboy-hippie attitude of our home in Missoula, Montana and the spicy bent of our high-rye bourbon whiskey. Made with the most rye we could stuff in the mashbill and still call it a bourbon, Mama Tried high-rye marries the hard tack cowboy with the mellow hippie into a heavenly whiskey. Despite our mama’s best efforts, we keep returning to this.