Matt and I tasted this whiskey at the Heaven Hill cigar event a few weeks ago. We knew then that this was an extraordinary whiskey and we both purchased a bottle when the distillery made them available to the participants at the event. It is a wheat whiskey with a mash bill of 51% wheat, 37% corn and 12% malted barley. It must have been aged in the lower levels of the warehouse because there is wood in just the right amount, without it making the whiskey bitter. We tasted it when we got home and decided it was in the running for Whiskey of the Month. We then blind tasted it against three other whiskeys and it was our favorite. Here are our tasting notes.
Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 19 Year Old Wheat Whiskey
Proof: 100
Age: Nineteen Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Caramel toffee, apples, hazelnuts, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, honey, fresh baked sugar cookies, oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Caramel, milk chocolate, apples, hazelnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and cardamom and ginger spice come forward. Tasted with a pecan and the caramel toffee and milk chocolate are enhanced.
- Matt: Caramel, honey, brown sugar, black cherries, chestnuts and oak wood. The dried cranberry added some black pepper spice. The pecan added some hazelnut coffee notes.
Finish:
- Mike: Long with oak wood, cinnamon and lingering apple. The dried cranberry made the finish long and spicy with oak wood and ginger spice. The pecan made the finish very long with oak wood, caramel and milk chocolate.
- Matt: Long with oak wood and black pepper. The dried cranberry added some lingering caramel. The pecan added some lingering hazelnut coffee.
I would pair this fine whiskey with a Padron 1964 Anniversary Series Maduro cigar. The vanilla, chocolate and cedar spice in the smoke would complement the sweetness and spice in the whiskey.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller