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Bardstown Bourbon Company released their first three “Origin Series” whiskies in January, 2023. This was the moment they had been waiting 6 years for. Their own bourbon and rye whiskey had finally come of age.
While most new distilleries wait for their whiskies to turn 4-years-old, Bardstown Bourbon Company set their minimum standard at 6-years-old. I can’t emphasize enough just how highly respected that decision was to the enthusiast community. Patience with maturation is the key to not releasing a substandard product that might ruin the reputation of a brand before it’s even begun.
The three Origin Series releases have been more-or-less well received. A lot of my friends picked up one or more of the bottles to try out and everyone agreed they were pretty good. The rye whiskey has been generally thought of as the best of the bunch followed by the ryed bourbon and then the wheated bottled-in-bond bourbon.
A new Origin Series release – “High Wheat”
Earlier this summer, BBCo released a new addition to their Origin Series with the name “High Wheat.” This is supposed to help differentiate between it and the first Origin Series Wheated Bourbon. The original recipe that was released in 2023 used a mash bill of 68% Corn, 20% Wheat and 12% Malted Barley (bascially a copycat Heaven Hill wheated bourbon recipe). But their new recipe uses a much higher percentage of wheat – this time 39%. With so much wheat in the recipe, they had to reduce the percentage of corn in the recipe to 53% and malted barley to 8%.
Another change from the original Wheated Bourbon Origin Series release is the barrel entry proof. Bardstown Bourbon Company has put this new High Wheat recipe into the barrel at an incredibly low 108 proof. If you’re a big wheated bourbon enthusiast, you’re probably pumping your fist in the air with news like that. Wheated bourbon and low barrel entry proofs go together like peas and carrots. This is why so many (good) wheated bourbons use low ones.
Now that you know it was put into the barrel at 108 proof, the 106 proof it was bottled at suddenly looks more attractive. BBCo used the bare minimum of water to cut the final batch proof and helped to preserve all of the flavor.
Up until I started writing this review, I was under the impression that Steve Nally was behind this new recipe. He was the Master Distiller for Maker’s Mark for a number of years, after all. He even followed that position up by making wheated bourbon at Wyoming Whiskey for a few years. Wheated Bourbon practically runs in his blood. That’s why I was surprised when I found out he didn’t actually create this bourbon. It was BBCo Head Distiller Nick Smith who decided to make something new while Steve Nally was gone on vacation back in 2018. Sneaky, sneaky!
So how does this new release taste? Will the huge amount of wheat snuff out other flavors or add to it? Let’s find out. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.
Tasting Notes
Nose: Lighter notes of beeswax, sponge cake and “new book binding” introduce my nose to this new recipe. If you think those notes are odd, trust me, I thought the same thing. The heaviest notes I can find fall somewhere between cedar wood and ground cinnamon. Speaking of spices, the two main ones I’m picking up on are nutmeg and nougat (not a spice?). There’s also the scent of fresh orchard fruit and citrus rind. Nice!
Palate: My tongue is introduced to a light, sweet taste similar to honeycakes. It’s followed by malted milk balls and poached orchard fruits with nutmeg sprinkled on top. Floral notes like geraniums and a very small amount of lavender are also found. Spice notes are relatively mild, but do have a little bit of heat. I’m talking cinnamon, red pepper flakes and ground white pepper. Tannins are hard to come by but seem to center around cork wood, barrel char and a hint of conditioned leather.
Finish: Lingering spice notes of ground cinnamon mix with sweet caramel sauce. Fruit notes that hang around include citrus peel and apple skin. There’s more beeswax like I found on the nose and a little bit of Cream of Wheat hot cereal. Tannins are relatively light but still show up in the form of barrel char and a little bit of seasoned oak.
Score: 7.3/10
I’ve tried only a few of Bardstown Bourbon Company’s own whiskies so far and I keep encountering one trait that links them all together. It’s hard to describe but it’s almost like they all have this light body and aroma. It’s a very different experience from your typical full-bodied whiskies like Old Forester, Booker’s, MGP and Wild Turkey. Those brands are where you’ll find lots of barrel influence, oily textures and extra spice & sweets. I’ve never found a Bardstown-distilled whiskey to have that heavy style – and after tasting High Wheat, I haven’t changed my mind.
But don’t take all of this as my way of saying I don’t like lighter styles of whiskey. BBCo High Wheat seems to be a pretty tasty wheated bourbon that has plenty of fresh, floral and lightly sweet notes. Yes there are tannins here and there but their absence makes for a whiskey that can easily be picked apart without having to look past a lot of oak and leather. Maybe that’s the style of whiskey you prefer, maybe it’s not. I can say with fairly good conviction that I haven’t tasted another wheated bourbon like this before. If uniqueness is what you’re after, you’ve come to the right place.
Final Thoughts
Time changes whiskey and our perception of that whiskey. What I say about High Wheat today may not be true tomorrow or another four years down the road. While I found this bourbon to be on the lighter side of whiskies doesn’t mean it won’t mature into something better later. All it takes is slight adjustments to the way it’s made, aged or blended to make a very different product.
I guess one of my main takeaways is that I like how Bardstown Bourbon Company is constantly tinkering with their processes and recipes and listening to what their customer’s feedback. This is a style of bourbon for people that want more nuance without the heavy aftertaste. Lovers of big, bold bourbons might want to look elsewhere. Which kind of drinker are you?
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