A new blog post from Heaven Hill Distillery focuses on the history and rising popularity of Mellow Corn Straight Corn Whiskey, following the recent growth of the Mellow Corn fanbase The blog is part of broader content marketing efforts for the Heaven Hill Distillery line of whiskeys and Bourbons.

Heaven Hill Distillery launched a Mellow Corn Instagram to stay connected with consumers using the “corny” brand voice attributed to the brand by its fans. Read the full blog post and follow along on Instagram:

@MELLOWCORN

Also, watch for a new “Tales from the Hill” podcast episode about the rise of Mellow Corn and its corny community.

A History of Mellow Corn

Medley Distilling Co. in Owensboro, KY, created Mellow Corn 76 years ago, but it came to Heaven Hill’s portfolio in 1933 in a multi-brand acquisition deal with United Distillers. In the transaction, UD offered up legends like Old Fitzgerald, Dubonnet and Grand Canadian – brands Heaven Hill President Max Shapira really wanted.

But, when he saw Mellow Corn on the list, he recalled asking, “’You want us to take this, too?’ and they said, ‘Yeah, throw it in.’”

Despite new ownership, the Mellow Corn brand didn’t change. It remained on lower shelves in existing markets while Heaven Hill weaved the whiskey’s bottling and distillation into its production cycles. At that time, Shapira was content to let Mellow Corn remain a lesser-known brand “since it was brand new to us, and we knew little about it,” said Max. “It wasn’t a big seller, but it was taking care of itself. And we were fine with that.”

Bartender and Consumer Following

Nearly 30 years later, the strategy hasn’t changed much, yet Mellow Corn’s popularity is rising among bartenders and drinkers curious about historic brands like Mellow Corn.

“The bartending industry likes to latch on to weird little outliers like Mellow Corn,” said Morgan Schick, Hospitality Consultant with There There Co. in Portland, OR. “We like to pour it for our friends who appreciate something different, and I think it’s gotten a lot of industry creds that way.”

Meanwhile Mellow Corn also has found a niche fanbase in the subreddit whiskey community r/MellowCorn, created in 2020 by Anthony Bearhs. While riding out the early days of the COVID-19 shutdown, he was sipping Mellow Corn and suddenly was moved to write his first whiskey review.

“I reviewed it because I really enjoy it, not because I wanted attention,” said Bearhs, now known to those on r/MellowCorn as Corn Daddy. “I had no idea anyone else would read it, but they did.”

A year later, r/MellowCorn has grown to include an impressive 2,500 followers. Bearhs said the group is made up of whiskey drinkers who are tired of whiskey hype, and high prices send them hunting for whiskey bargains.