BOTTLE DETAILS

• DISTILLER:  Heaven Hill Distillery
• MASH BILL: 51% Wheat | 37% Corn | 12% Malted Barley
• AGE: NAS – Non-age stated, reportedly 7-9 years
• YEAR: 2024
• PROOF: 122.6 (61.3% ABV)
• MSRP: $65

DREW’S NOTES

SHARE WITH: The wheat whiskey curious, folks who like their barrel proof whiskey unusually approachable, and fans of apple pie.

WORTH THE PRICE: Yes, but the A Batch from earlier this year was a slightly better bang for your buck.

BOTTLE, BAR OR BUST: Bottle for those who haven’t added one of these to the home bar yet. If you’ve owned any prior releases (especially the A batch from February of this year), you may want to sample at a bar first to see if it’s truly worthy of your personal collection.

OVERALL: The second and final release of Bernheim Barrel Proof for 2024 is another solid addition to Heaven Hill’s wheat whiskey lineup, but it was always going to be hard to stand up to its immediate predecessor. While this latest edition still showcases lots of the qualities that made that batch such a standout, it lacks just a little of the body and concentration of flavor that propelled the A224 release into Must Buy/Bottle territory for me.

The nose is a little softer than the A release but again showcases warm, honeyed cereal baked to a golden brown. It’s a little more savory, too, almost buttery pie crust. As it opens, notes of cinnamon apples and caramelized sugar ooze out of the glass. The palate is rich and bright with notes of butterscotch candies, honey syrup, and caramel apple. It’s even more approachable than the A release, warm and round and without any classic barrel proof heat right up until the finish where a flourish of pepper and cinnamon RedHots sizzles into a long, silky conclusion accented by notes of toffee and apple chips.

No one is going to be disappointed with this one. It’s not quite the flavor bomb from earlier this year, but what it lacks in potency it more than makes up for in approachability.

BRAND NOTES

This extension to the Bernheim brand means you can now enjoy a premium Wheat Whiskey at full barrel proof. Like the original, Bernheim Barrel Proof is produced at the Bernheim Distillery and is the first wheat whiskey to use winter wheat as its primary grain, giving it a soft, sweet flavor that’s extra smooth. Released twice a year, each offering is aged for seven to nine years in our open-air rickhouses. This is a chance to experience our unique wheat mashbill in its pure form: non-chill filtered and bottled at barrel proof.

Tasting Notes

• Color: Mahogany
• Aroma: Oak staves and fresh bread
• Taste: Buttery notes of caramel and honey with clove spice
• Finish: Soft and complex; notes of honey and caramel

Disclaimer: Bourbon & Banter received a sample of this product from the brand for review. We appreciate their willingness to allow us to review their products with no strings attached. Thank you.