Clyde May's Cask Strength 8 Year Old Alabama-Style Whiskey

After serving in World War II, legend has it that Clyde May returned to his native Alabama to raise his eight children and tend to the farm that he had purchased before the war began. Like many farmers at the time, Clyde would distill the excess grains he harvested into corn whiskey — "branch-farming," he liked to call it. From the 1950s to the 1980s, May managed to produce nearly 300 gallons of whiskey a week just southeast of Montgomery in a still that he had designed and built himself. While much of May's whiskey was sold unaged, a portion of the whiskey he produced was aged in charred oak casks into which dried apples were dropped in order to enhance the flavor.

This 8-year old whiskey is bottled at Cask Strength to release a full nose of citrus, peach and cedar. At 117 proof, the Cask Strength delivers layers of rich spice, apple and oak on the palate, and finishes with a lingering complexity of zesty orchard fruits and white pepper. A spirit this pure is best served with just one large piece of ice to help bring out its natural flavors without watering it down.