How an Award-Winning Distillery Helped Saved a Grain From Near Extinction At the start of the 2000s, only two ears of corn remained.

They were the last two ears of Jimmy Red. A local moonshiner – and the last known grower of Jimmy Red corn – had just died, and the family no longer wanted to grow corn for whiskey distilling.

Jimmy Red corn was already making waves in the culinary world when they opened our doors in 2013. Named for James Island just over the bridge from Charleston, SC, Jimmy Red was a legendary ...

But when introduced to James Island, or “Jimmy” Red corn, their stories became entangled with that of the endangered grain, and ultimately, its resurgence.

Almost lost to time, US chef Sean Brock has helped revive an heirloom grain called Jimmy Red corn, serving the creamy grits with luscious cured egg yolks on top.

Still Austin isn’t the first to distill this grain, however—High Wire Distilling in Charleston has been making whiskey from Jimmy Red corn for almost a decade.

Here's how the baker turned distiller approaches flavor and organic farming in a refreshing way that's led to Jimmy Red Straight Bourbon Whiskey with a 100% corn mash bill.

They were the last two ears of Jimmy Red. A local moonshiner – and the last known grower of Jimmy Red corn – had just died, and the family no longer wanted to grow corn for whiskey distilling.

But when introduced to James Island, or “Jimmy” Red corn, their stories became entangled with that of the endangered grain, and ultimately, its resurgence.

At the beginning of the 1900s, Jimmy Red corn was pervasive across Appalachia, and it slowly spread east into South Carolina. The corn was used in everything from moonshine to grits due to its ...