Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is the 2024 first edition of Heaven Hill's seed-to-bottle project: Beck's 6158 corn grown by Peterson Farms in Nelson County, mashed at 52 percent corn, 35 percent rye, and 13 percent malted barley, then distilled at Bernheim in Louisville in 2017. Six years in new charred oak at Cox's Creek rickhouse W3, and a 107-proof bottling without chill filtration, let that extra rye read as orchard fruit and baking spice rather than a wall of heat. Each annual edition prints the corn seed, mashbill, and distillation year on the label. Pour it over a large cube.

Apple and pear lead, with caramel, cinnamon, and clove filling a viscous sip. Floral notes and fresh oak sit in the middle. The finish is long and dry: peppery rye, a hint of tobacco, and oak tannin that hangs on.