Two years in, most craft whiskey brands are still fighting for a spot on the back bar. Smokeye Hill is collecting hardware instead.
The Colorado Springs–based brand just added two fresh accolades for its limited-edition Barrel Proof Blended Rye Whiskey—and it did it with a grain most American distillers have barely touched: heirloom blue corn.
Double Platinum, IWSC Gold, and a Runner-Up Finish
At the 2026 American Spirits Council of Tasters (ASCOTs), the small-batch producer earned Double Platinum for both its Barrel Proof Rye and Barrel Proof Bourbon, and was named Runner-Up for Best American Rye Whiskey out of hundreds of ryes judged.
The rye then picked up a gold rating and 95 points at the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC). Those wins build on the brand's 2024 ASCOT Bourbon of the Year honor—a remarkable trajectory for a label that only launched in May 2024.
Why Blue Corn Is Still Untapped in American Whiskey
Founder Blake Johns built Smokeye Hill around heirloom blue corn, the heritage grain tied to his family's Southwestern roots and their historic Arizona cattle ranch. Released in October 2025, the Barrel Proof Blended Rye marks the brand's entrance into the rye category—and, per the brand, the first-ever rye made with blue corn on the market.
The whiskey is crafted from a proprietary four-grain mashbill of rye, heirloom blue corn, yellow corn, and malted barley. It's distilled in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, then barreled and matured in Colorado Springs at 6,100 feet in 30-gallon American white oak casks charred to Nos. 2, 3, and 4 for added depth.
That altitude does real work. Colorado's fluctuating climate accelerates aging by forcing the barrels to expand and contract, pulling more from the wood in less time.
The Tasting Notes
The result reads like a craft whiskey buyer's wish list:
- Nose: butterscotch, honey, warm spice, and dried fig
- Palate: caramel, cinnamon, dried apricot, vanilla, toasted oak, and a touch of pepper
- Finish: long and lingering, with honeyed oak, warming spice, and black tea
Why It Matters
The "drink less, but better" mindset isn't a soundbite—it's a purchasing pattern reshaping the spirits shelf, and Smokeye Hill is a clean case study in how to win with it. For beverage directors, retail buyers, and on-premise operators, three takeaways stand out:
- A differentiated grain story sells. Blue corn gives a young brand an immediate, ownable point of difference in a category crowded with sameness—useful for menus and staff training that need a hook beyond "another rye."
- Third-party validation lowers your risk. ASCOT Double Platinum, a Best American Rye runner-up finish, and an IWSC 95-point gold give buyers credible proof points for a two-year-old label, making it easier to justify shelf and back-bar space.
- Craft and provenance drive trade-up. As consumers buy fewer bottles but spend more per bottle, heritage-driven, high-proof, limited-edition releases are exactly where margin is moving.
Availability is still selective, which is part of the appeal. Smokeye Hill is carried in stores across California, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Georgia, Texas, Alaska, and Tennessee, and online nationally through Seelbachs, Spirits Network, and Keg N Bottle.
The Bigger Picture for Spirits Buyers
Buyer-judged and taster-driven competitions are increasingly the shortcut operators use to vet emerging brands—a shift we've tracked in coverage like the buyer-judged PR%F Awards. And heritage-led positioning is proving to be a durable differentiator across the beverage aisle, from zero-proof to whiskey, as seen with brands like MEDASE Cocktails.
Is a blue corn rye on your radar for the next menu refresh—or are award medals no longer enough to earn placement? Drop your take in the comments, and explore more spirits and beverage coverage from Food & Beverage Magazine.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Top 40 Under 40” for founding American Wholesale Floral. Politz is also the founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
