There's something refreshingly honest about a straight corn whiskey. In a world where everyone's chasing the next allocated bourbon, MB Roland Straight Corn Whiskey quietly does its own thing — and does it well. This is a Kentucky straight corn whiskey bottled at a punchy 53.4% ABV, and it landed on my bar with no age statement and zero pretension. I like that.
For those who need the quick legal primer: corn whiskey requires a mashbill of at least 80% corn, which puts it in different territory from bourbon's 51% minimum. That higher corn content fundamentally changes the character of what ends up in your glass. You're getting more of that raw grain sweetness, more of the distillate's personality coming through rather than heavy oak influence. It's a style that rewards distillers who actually know what they're doing with their fermentation and distillation, because there's nowhere to hide.
At 53.4% ABV, this isn't messing about. That's a solid cask-strength-adjacent proof that tells me MB Roland wanted to preserve the spirit's integrity rather than water it down for mass appeal. I respect that decision. It means you get to choose how you experience it — neat, with a few drops of water, or in a cocktail where it can actually hold its own against other ingredients.
Tasting Notes
I don't have detailed tasting notes to share on this one just yet, but based on the style and category, here's what you should expect walking in. A Kentucky straight corn whiskey at this proof is going to lead with sweet, grainy character — think cornbread, raw honey, maybe some buttery richness. The higher ABV will carry those flavours with real conviction. Without a stated age, it's likely on the younger side, which in corn whiskey isn't a flaw — it often means more vibrancy and grain-forward punch rather than the oak-heavy profiles you get from longer-aged spirits.
The Verdict
At £61.95, MB Roland Straight Corn Whiskey sits in an interesting spot. You're paying a fair price for a full-proof Kentucky straight corn whiskey, which is still a relatively uncommon category on UK shelves. This isn't fighting for space against standard bourbons — it's offering something genuinely different. The 53.4% ABV gives it serious versatility, and the corn whiskey designation means you're getting a distinct flavour profile that most whiskey drinkers haven't fully explored.
I'm giving this a 7.8 out of 10. It's a well-made spirit in an underappreciated category, bottled at a proof that shows confidence in the liquid. It loses a couple of marks for the lack of transparency around age — I always prefer to know what I'm drinking — but the quality of the spirit speaks for itself. If you're the kind of drinker who wants to understand what American whiskey can be beyond the bourbon mainstream, this belongs on your shelf.
Best Served
This is a natural Old Fashioned whiskey. That corn sweetness pairs beautifully with a good demerara sugar cube and a couple of dashes of Angostura bitters — you won't need much sweetener because the grain does a lot of the heavy lifting. Two dashes of orange bitters alongside the Angostura wouldn't hurt either. If you're drinking it neat, add literally three or four drops of water to open it up from that 53.4% — it'll reward your patience. On a warm evening, don't sleep on this in a Whiskey Sour either. The higher proof means it punches through the citrus and simple syrup without getting lost, which is exactly what you want from your base spirit in a sour.
