Vermont-based WhistlePig, noted for their rye whiskies, have gone one step beyond with their latest limited edition farm-to-bottle whiskey series – FarmStock Beyond Bonded – where all whiskies in the series have been bottled in bond, having been harvested and distilled at the WhistlePig farm and distillery in Vermont in one season. Whistlepig FarmStock Beyond […]
Vermont-based WhistlePig, noted for their rye whiskies, have gone one step beyond with their latest limited edition farm-to-bottle whiskey series – FarmStock Beyond Bonded – where all whiskies in the series have been bottled in bond, having been harvested and distilled at the WhistlePig farm and distillery in Vermont in one season.
Whistlepig FarmStock Beyond Bonded series will include a straight wheat whiskey, straight rye whiskey and a straight Bourbon whiskey.
All three WhistlePig FarmStock Beyond Bonded spirits were bottled at 50% alcohol by volume [100 proof] and originate from the distillery’s nine grain fields across 500 acres, have been distilled and proofed with the farm’s well water and aged in their sustainably-harvested Vermont oak casks.
Only 23 barrels [11 rye, nine bourbon, three wheat] of WhistlePig FarmStock Beyond Bonded series whiskies are being made available, exclusively in Vermont until the end of summer 2023.
This year’s Heaven Hill Limited edition is the Parker’s Heritage 15th Edition – Heavy Char Wheat Whiskey, the third in the “Heavy Char Barrels” series they’ve been doing. It started with the rye, moved to the bourbon and is now turning to their wheat whiskey. They have 6 total mash bills at Heaven Hill and […]
This year’s Heaven Hill Limited edition is the Parker’s Heritage 15th Edition – Heavy Char Wheat Whiskey, the third in the “Heavy Char Barrels” series they’ve been doing. It started with the rye, moved to the bourbon and is now turning to their wheat whiskey. They have 6 total mash bills at Heaven Hill and it’ll be interesting to see if they go through all of them.
Though to make it through all of them, they’ve have to do the corn whiskey in used Heavy Char, so maybe the rye casks they dumped with the first edition. Hmm that could be incredibly interesting. Imagine a Mellow Corn aged for 4+ years in heavily charred ex-rye casks, I bet it would be amazing.
Circling back to this Heavy Char Wheat Whiskey, it was fun to re-reading my review of the old Parker’s Heritage Wheat while sipping on a glass of this. Besides the obvious oak increase, a whole new profile emerged that was darker, richer and dirtier; sooty almost. Though we’ll get more into all of that when we jump down to the review below.
Parker’s Heritage 15th Edition – Details and Tasting Notes
Whiskey Details
Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Style: Wheat Whiskey Region: Kentucky, USA Distiller: Heaven Hill
Mash Bill: 51% Wheat, 37% Corn, 12% Malted Barley Cask: New Charred Oak (#5 Heavy Char) Age: 11 Years ABV: 61%
“The 15th edition of Parker’s Heritage Collection features the same mashbill as Bernheim Wheat Whiskey, but aged in specialty barrels that were charred for 90 seconds, as opposed to our traditional 40 seconds.” – Heaven Hill
Parker’s Heritage 15th Edition Tasting Notes
EYE
Polished oak
NOSE
Oak, cherry-heavy dried dark fruit, roasted nuts, spice, slight farmy and biscuity notes.
The oak DOMINATES the aroma, but not to the point of being one-dimensional.
PALATE
Oak, cherry-heavy dried dark fruit, roasted peanuts, cinnamon-heavy spice, leather, pepper, clove and bits of cornbread and vanilla taffy.
More complex and, slightly, less oaky than the aroma. Still an oak monster to be sure though.
FINISH
Log -> Oak, dried dark fruit and peanuts fade to spiced oak.
BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Decent sense of balance, full round body, slightly dry and tannic.
Parker’s Heritage 15th Edition – Overall Thoughts and Score
I’m astounded this isn’t a complete mess. The regular Bernheim Wheat is pretty good, and the old Parker’s Wheat was awesome, but they’re not super robust whiskeys. Conceptually, I thought giving it the heavy char treatment would result in a tannic, over-oaked, mess on such a delicate mash bill; I was wrong. It’s an oak monster for sure, it’s definitely dry and tannic, but it has a decent balance to it. Picture Groot swaying his way down a tightrope.
This Heavy Char Wheat Whiskey starts tight and needs a bit of time and air to help it blossom, but when it does… yum. Velvety darkly sweet notes and rustic earthy notes emerge, collide and work well well together. The more it opens the more I like it, especially with a bit of water. Adding a few drops to open it further reveals more spice and a slightly metallic and slightly floral notes on the aroma. On the palate more leather and cocoa peek in and the cinnamon-lead spice amps up a bit.
All-in-all, I’m enjoying the Parker’s Heritage 15th Edition. It’s a good, fun and funky, whiskey and I hope they continue this heavy char experiment to see how the rest of their mash bills take to it. It offers a crazy amount of oak, but that’s kind of the point – a whiskey that caters to the oak freaks.
*Disclosure: The sample for this wheat whiskey review was graciously sent to me by the company without obligation. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
Parker's Heritage 6th Edition, Blend Of Mashbills Review
$140
Summary
The oak is heavy, and a touch oppressive at times, but what’s under the oak is great and makes this whiskey something worth trying.
Heaven Hill’s highly anticipated annual fall limited release of Parker’s Heritage Collection is back and continues the recent series of heavy char barrel strength whiskey. For 2021—the fifteenth edition—Parker’s Heritage Collection is an 11-year Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey. I was a huge fan of…
Heaven Hill’s highly anticipated annual fall limited release of Parker’s Heritage Collection is back and continues the recent series of heavy char barrel strength whiskey. For 2021—the fifteenth edition—Parker’s Heritage Collection is an 11-year Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey. I was a huge fan of the 2014 Parker’s Heritage Collection, “Original Batch” Wheat Whiskey, and was excited to see what the heavy char barrels contribute to the same whiskey.
So, like PHC 13 (Heavy Char Rye Whiskey) and PHC 14 (Heavy Char Bourbon Whiskey), Wheat Whiskey makes the heavy char trifecta this year. Heaven Hill’s wheat whiskey was aged in Level 5 charred barrels, as opposed to the customary Level 3 for Heaven Hill. That’s 90 seconds of intense flame! Comprised of only 75 barrels aged on the sixth floor of rickhouse Y at the main campus in Bardstown for the past 11 years, this wheat whiskey was aged in the same location as last year’s Heavy Char Bourbon Whiskey.
As with previous years, Heaven Hill continues its support of ALS research in honor of Heaven Hill’s late Master Distiller, Parker Beam. Since 2013 with the Promise of Hope edition, Heaven Hill has raised more than one million dollars for ALS research and patient care by contributing a portion of the sales from each bottle. This remarkable effort by Heaven Hill should be much bigger news than it is.
Parker’s Heritage Collection Tasting Notes
Bourbon:
Parker’s Heritage Collection 11-Year Heavy Char Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey
Distillery:
Heaven Hill, Bardstown, Kentucky (distilled in Louisville and aged in Bardstown)
Mashbill:
51% wheat; 37% corn; 12% malted barley
Age:
11 years
ABV:
61% (122 proof)
Cost:
$139.99
Appearance: Dark amber with a slight red hue. Very similar to the first two heavy char PHCs.
Nose: Beautifully sweet aromas led by butterscotch with honeysuckle, vanilla, and snickerdoodle cookies, built around leather, oak, and black pepper. High proof is evident, but not 122 proof.
Taste: The gorgeous aromas get blasted on the first sip—this is not a delicate, mellow whiskey. It’s robust while balancing mouthwatering butterscotch sweetness and buttery graham cracker crust with bold spice, black pepper, some slight cinnamon, tobacco, and oak. It’s missing the creaminess of last year’s PHC and instead focuses on packing a wallop.
Finish: Long with a gear shift from the same butterscotch sweetness to somewhat drying tobacco, leather, and oak.
Bottom Line
Heaven Hill proves again that heavy char doesn’t mean more smokiness; it usually means more sweetness because of more hemicellulose breaking down into sugars, which explains the prominence of butterscotch. Between this year’s edition and the 2014 Original Batch, this also convinces me that I need more barrel strength wheat whiskey from Heaven Hill in my life. I highly recommend this Parker’s Heritage Collection.
Disclaimer: The brand managers kindly sent me a sample for this review, without any strings attached. Thank you.
