Blake Johns named Smokeye Hill for the Arizona high ground his family has held for generations, and shipped his first whiskey in 2024 under Hazelwood Spirits.
The mash is built on heirloom blue corn, a grain Southwestern growers have raised for thousands of years and one still uncommon in bourbon. Reviewers call it sweeter and softer than field yellow corn, which lands in the glass as a rounder pour with less grain bite. Smokeye Hill has the spirit contract distilled to its own recipe, then barrels it in Colorado Springs, mostly in 30 gallon new oak, for at least five years. Buy it for the blue corn.
