Evan Williams 1783 Small Batch American Hero Edition Review

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I have found that many reviewers tend to outright ignore one of the most fascinating aspects of Evan Williams American Hero Edition – the fact that if you take away all of the stuff about veterans, this is essentially a Heaven Hill Single Warehouse (Rickhouse?) release. So let’s explore that in the first part of this review.

Single Warehouse Evan Williams 1783?

One of the hot new trends in bourbon is knowing the warehouse your whiskey was aged in. If you’re not already tracking, this trend may have originated with fans of Wild Turkey (Kentucky Spirit, Kentucky Legend and Russell’s Reserve Single Barrels). Four Roses also joined in the fun in the early 2000s. Then Wild Turkey went as far as to create batched versions they called “Russell’s Reserve Single Rickhouse” in 2022.

These distillery’s robust single barrel programs enabled enthusiasts to clearly identify which warehouse, floor and (sometimes) even the rick that their barrel came from. Having access to this information fostered fierce debates as to which building created the best whiskey. When there is consensus among different groups. the bottles that came from that run are typically lionized and the secondary market price explodes. Discourse breeds curiosity and that, in turn, generates sales. It’s a win for both sides.

Whether or not you believe that warehouses have such a direct correlation to how a whiskey tastes, the fact is that enthusiasts love any and all information about a bottle they buy. They want to know what makes it unique. The only downfall is that these bottles typically cost much more. Heaven Hill broke through that price and exclusivity barrier with the American Hero’s Edition. It might only be bottled at 90 proof and non-age stated, but it’s a start.

I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Heaven Hill has previously given us warehouse info on bottles like Parker’s Heritage offerings or single barrels of Elijah Craig and Larceny. But at those price points, you’d expect to know as much. Evan Williams Hero’s Edition doesn’t even try to mask where they’re drawing the barrels from with a weird QR code or spokesperson dropping a nugget of information in a podcast. They simply put it on the necktag label for all to see.

Since American Hero Edition is an annual release, here’s the stats on which warehouse(s) they were sourced from:

2023 – Warehouse 1E and 1J (Bernheim Campus)

2024 – Warehouse W3 (Cox’s Creek)

2025 – Warehouse 1-I (Bernheim Campus)

Okay, so technically 2023 isn’t from a single warehouse/rickhouse, but since Bernheim campus is all brick warehouses, it’s kind of the same thing.

2023 Hero’s Edition

At its base, “Hero’s Edition” is designed to give back to veterans by awarding grants to organizations that help veterans. Evan Williams doesn’t randomly pick the crew of six veterans who will help pick the barrels – instead – they have the veterans organizations submit names of who they’ve chosen. Heaven Hill just facilitates their experience at the distillery.

The six veterans and the organizations they support are highlighted on Evan Williams American-MadeHeroes.com. But what I’d really like to know is “how are the barrels selected?” Because the average batch size is between 200-300 barrels (so, roughly the size of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof). Obviously six people are not tasting and selecting hundreds of barrels. Does Heaven Hill set out a single barrel from each warehouse? Are there just a handful of their ~70 warehouses to choose from? Do they mingle batches from each warehouse and have the crew select from those pre-made batches? I need to know how this works!

The batch I’m reviewing today is from the very first release. As I mentioned, it’s not exactly a single warehouse release, but the two that they selected barrels from happen to be from the same campus. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Heaven Hill is known for sweet notes that reminds me of Halloween. That’s because I can associate the three main scents with things from that day: Candy Corn, Kettle Corn and Candy Bars. This bottle smells like peanut brittle, kettle corn and vanilla frosting. There are some spices like cinnamon and nutmeg to round it out and even a little bit of oak influence. It’s not complex, but it’s pleasant to keep sniffing.

Palate: The sweet caramel and vanilla combine with some nuttiness that makes it seem like I’m eating a melted PayDay candy bar. There is a slight grainy taste like sweet corn that is spiced up with the cinnamon and nutmeg. For fruit, I find a little bit of cherry and orange peel. The orange peel is new and kind of reminds me of the kind I find in bourbon from MGP’s brick warehouses. I wonder if that’s the common trend? Otherwise, the whole dram has little burn to match the little bit of oak I find. Overall, it’s pretty balanced.

Finish: A short-to-medium finish that sees lingering caramel sweetness along with a touch of drying oak and some vanilla and praline’d nut flavors. It’s not exactly memorable, but it also doesn’t have any bad notes either. Just sweet and to the point and waiting for you to take another sip.

Score: 6/10

For the 2023 American Hero’s release, I still find a lot of the same notes that I did when I reviewed the regular 1783 Small Batch version. The one thing I think sets it apart is the tiniest bit of fruit found in the AH bottle. This likely has to do with the brick warehouse maturation because the cooler, more steady climate inside might reduce the liquid-to-barrel interaction or possibly make it have different interactions.

Still, I find a perfectly sippable bourbon that should be a crowd pleaser no matter who the audience is. That’s Evan Williams in a nutshell and he would be proud that this bourbon has his name on it.

Final Thoughts

American Hero’s Edition has mass appeal no matter how you look at it. Either you love the patriotic theme to the bottle and the feel-good vibe of knowing that you’re helping a charitable organization or you love to nerd out about the unique warehouse identifiers. Maybe it all boils down the price because $23 for a 750ml bottle is a steal these days (and the 1.75L version is only $14 more). There’s really no reason you shouldn’t pick up a bottle unless you are already setting on a closet full of Evan Williams. And if you are, send me a picture. I really want to know who the biggest EW fan is of all.