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No other distillery has the distinction of bottling and releasing products that are aged for longer than 20 years more than Heaven Hill. This seems odd due to the fact that Jim Beam, Barton, Maker’s Mark all have similar numbers of warehouses aging similar numbers of barrels over the same period of time. I think what it comes down to is barrel management and just how many the distillery wants to keep tucked away for highly-aged releases.
The 10th Edition of Parker’s Heritage Collection
The bottle I’m reviewing today is one of those 20+ year-old wonders that Heaven Hill rolled out for the 10th release of their acclaimed Parker’s Heritage Collection. The amazing part is this isn’t even the oldest release the collection has seen – that would be the 2nd edition which used 27-year-old bourbon. The 10th edition is slightly different not just because it’s 3 years younger, but because it wears the distinction of being “bottled-in-bond.”

Within the 10th release, there were 2 different batches which are only identifiable through the back label. In the small text, you’ll either read that the batch was distilled in the Fall of 1990 or the Spring of 1991. The bottle I have today is from the Spring of 1991. I have the hindsight of tasting this almost a decade after it was released in 2016, but I want to point out that the dominant opinion among most enthusiasts is that the Spring version is superior to the Fall version. Opinions may vary, but I wanted to include this bit of information before going further.
“Pre-Fire” Heaven Hill Bourbon
If you know much about the history of Heaven Hill then you’d already recognize that the barrels used for this release were distilled at the old Heaven Hill distillery (DSP-KY-31) in Bardstown prior to fire that burnt it down in 1996. The one interesting thing I don’t think many people know is that Heaven Hill used a bourbon mash bill that was the same as Jim Beam and Wild Turkey – 75/13/12. Parker Beam adjusted it to 78/10/12 in 1999 when Heaven Hill purchased the New Bernheim Distillery in Louisville. He found that the stills couldn’t replicate the taste of the old product without some adjustments.

I couldn’t find an answer on which warehouse or floor that the barrels selected for this release came from, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say they were definitely from a lower floor. To last that long in the barrel would require lower temperatures to mitigate evaporation losses. I’ll update this section in the future if I ever find out more information about the aging location.
A quick note about another 24-year-old bourbon with similar roots
One last thing I’d like to point out is the slew of 24-year-old “Heaven Hill” bourbon releases that seemed to regularly come from a secret cache in Europe. Brands like That Boutique-y Whisky Company, Single Cask Nation, C. Dully and Must Have Malts own Quixotic Spirits Rare & Mythical Bourbon have been known to bottle from a vat of 24-year-old barrels that were distilled in 1994. The vat has maintained an average proof of around 98 which makes it very similar to this bottle of Parker’s Heritage. If my review has you intrigued when you’re done reading it, then I would advise you to check those out, too.
My review could not have happened without the help of my friend Mike over at Mostly Peaceful Bourbon. Thanks, Mike! Now let’s get down to tasting. As usual, I sampled this neat in a glencairn.
Tasting Notes
Nose: Scents of soft oak dominate the nose. What’s odd is I was expecting to be hit by lots of varnish, wood cleaner or antiqued oak. It’s not overwhelming in that way at all. Dare I say that Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year smells more mature than this bottle. Strange! Honey Graham Crackers, Werther’s Originals and butterscotch bring the sweet notes along with Crème brûlée and light chocolate. This seems very balanced at least. Fruit notes are almost non-existent with my nose only finding a toasted orange peel note. Spices are extremely docile and include anise and cinnamon.
Palate: Tannins dominate from the first sip. I find seasoned oak and antiqued oak along with dried tobacco leaf. As the session goes on, those oak notes become steadily more bitter but they never cross over the line to make this a bad pour. Sweetness comes from more Werther’s Originals, spiced honey and brûlée’d sugar. Fruit notes are hard to find once again, but I do pick up on an occasional fig and toasted orange peel flavor. Spice notes include anise, clove, camphor and cinnamon.
Finish: Bitter oak and seasoned oak linger in equal amounts. The whole theme of this bourbon is that it’s right on the cusp of being over-oaked without actually going over. Other tannic notes include barrel char that borders on ash, dried tobacco leaf and dried tea leaf. Caramel sweetness is an afterthought. Spice notes like cinnamon powder is the only one that remains. The fig from the palate seems to morph into more of a “date” note.
Score: 8/10
The whole experience of drinking this 24-year-old bourbon centered around my senses thinking it was going to be a bitter oak bomb but never having it happen. Each time, the sweetness seemed to balance it out just enough.
The one odd thing that I just can’t shake is that for all the more oak I found in this bottle, it was never accompanied by those heavy varnish notes like Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle 15, 20 and 23 year bourbon or even the 2023 Four Roses Limited Edition have. I typically use those varnish notes as a spiritual guide to speak to me about a whiskey’s maturity. This bottle of Parker’s doesn’t really have that sharp varnish bite for some reason. Come to think of it, I don’t often find it with older Heaven Hill products either. Do you?

Final Thoughts
After sipping on this and collecting my thoughts, I’ve come to the conclusion that my experience with PHC 24yr is much more similar to that vatted European 24 year Heaven Hill bourbon that I spoke about earlier. They both share a similar trait in that they don’t entirely convince me of their 20+ year age, either.
All of this goes to say that if you diversify the bottles for your collection based on uniqueness, there is no need to track down this Parker’s Heritage bottle if you already have one of those European 24 year bottles. I believe they offer similar experiences. That’s not to say this wasn’t an enjoyable sip, but it might not be the holy grail of aged bourbon you might believe.
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