Like those whiskeys, this is expressive and well-spiced. The nose shows more barrel notes than the wheated release, with plenty of oak and clove, but there’s a thick layer of caramel sauce and gooey apple pie underneath that makes for a silky, sweet aroma.
You may have plenty of craft bourbons on the shelf with a similar story to this one, but how many truly grain-to-glass bottles do you own from the big boys?
The aroma is initially a bit gritty and grain-forward, with lots of roasted cereal and creamed corn upfront. With time to unwind, silkier notes of butterscotch, vanilla pudding, and peanut butter arrive, but there’s still not a ton of depth.
This is a deep, rich bourbon. The aroma is dark with molasses, Demerara syrup, and a bold fruitiness alternating between bright, fresh berries and fortified wine. As things open up, some crunchy toffee and pipe tobacco arrive.
If any tells you bourbon is too one dimensional, all vanilla and butterscotch, hand them this bottle. It’s a veritable fruit salad of flavor and aroma, kicking off with a rich, buttery nose of caramel-covered red apple, soft baking spice, and cocktail cherry.
It’s a whisky as impressive for its variety of flavors as for how those flavors develop. Even if I had Bill Gates’s bank account, I wouldn’t want to drink something like this all the time or casually when I did. I want to think that’s by design.
Share with Elijah Craig fans, golfing buddies, and Scottie Scheffler, who could probably use a pour or four right about now.
The aroma is warm, with savory notes of saddle leather, oak, dark caramel, and brown butter. The palate shows a bit more sweetness than the nose, but things still skew more toward the wood and spice corners of the flavor wheel.
When Heaven Hill added Bernheim Wheat Whiskey to its barrel-proof portfolio early last year, it filled a big market hole. Wheat whiskeys at any proof are rare, but this barrel-proof offering is the only one from a major brand like it.
The nose on this latest release is expressive and elegant, burly initially with damp oak and cigar box notes that quickly sweeten to cream soda, buttery cinnamon apples, and Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies.
