Wheated Bourbon Reccomendations

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11 hours ago, mbroo5880i said:

It's odd how palates differ.  I have only had one bottle of Bernheim's and I fought it hot with a bite.  It was one dimensional and hot was what I got.  

Same here, but I enjoy it with a large cube of ice for some reason.

[non-distiller consumer]

Hey folks, new to the board. 

 

I would echo Jazzhead’s sentiment with Maker’s Mark forays into limited bottlings and barrel picks. I live in the Atlanta metro area and have been able to try a number of damn good Maker’s barrel picks over the past few years. As far as wheaters go, they are great bang for your buck. The variety of  staves used in the barrel picks  really give them that extra complexity lacking in a lot of widely available (and mostly young) wheaters.

 

Otherwise, The Old Fitzgerald 9 year was a real standout for me it terms of semi-affordable and obtainable wheaters,  but it’s been a few years since I sipped it. 

 

I usually stray towards the rye end of the spectrum though. 

Edited June 18, 2021 by non-distiller consumer

[Kepler]

My favorite regular wheaters are Rebel Yell 10 year, Weller 12, and Maker's CS & 101. 

I also loved the Old Fitz Bonded 9 year but that was a one time limited release.  I'm hearing good things about the new 8 yr version.

 

Another one I can recommend if you happen to come across it is a private store barrel pick of Larceny.  I've tried 3 different ones and all 3 were better than standard Larceny, with one being quite excellent (good enough that I bought a 6-case of that one).  These are an excellent value IMHO at under $25.

[geclbxf]

On 6/19/2021 at 12:27 AM, Kepler said:

My favorite regular wheaters are Rebel Yell 10 year, Weller 12, and Maker's CS & 101. 

I also loved the Old Fitz Bonded 9 year but that was a one time limited release.  I'm hearing good things about the new 8 yr version.

 

Another one I can recommend if you happen to come across it is a private store barrel pick of Larceny.  I've tried 3 different ones and all 3 were better than standard Larceny, with one being quite excellent (good enough that I bought a 6-case of that one).  These are an excellent value IMHO at under $25.

I really like the OF 8 year - and the price is even better. - much lower MSRP, even at the visitor center.

[Jazzhead]

A trend (gimmick?)  I've been seeing more and more of is four-grain bourbon,  with both rye and wheat in the mashbill.    I actually prefer these to most straight wheaters,  because even the hint of rye spice animates a good bourbon.     Tonight I'm sipping from a quality craft product,  Frey Ranch  Straight Bourbon,  from Nevada.   It's a four-grain that has been sufficiently aged to be a smooth, balanced sip.    I found this last month when visiting my brother-in-law in St,  Helena, California.    Biggest drawback is the cork's terrible seal;  I lost about two ounces of the stuff in my checked baggage on the flight home.  

[Shizzy]

On 6/5/2021 at 3:28 PM, Jazzhead said:

Don't overlook McKenzie's excellent (IMO)  wheated bourbon.    

I second the McKenzie's love coming out of Finger Lakes Distilling in New York.  Their wheaters are great and there are a couple of options with a bottled-in-bond and single barrels often both found on the shelves at TW here in NorCal.  Additionally, if you're into rye, I'd also give those a shot as I find them to be quite nice.

[fosmith]

19 hours ago, Shizzy said:

I second the McKenzie's love coming out of Finger Lakes Distilling in New York.  Their wheaters are great and there are a couple of options with a bottled-in-bond and single barrels often both found on the shelves at TW here in NorCal.  Additionally, if you're into rye, I'd also give those a shot as I find them to be quite nice.

Have you tried the most recent release of the wheated BiB?  I picked up a couple of bottles at K&L six months or so ago because I absolutely loved the previous release and the SiB cask strength as well.  Unfortunately, the new release of the wheated BiB was undrinkable with a nasty mustiness that did not lessen with air time.  Bad cork?  Possibly.  But I sort of remember that it had a synthetic cork so..  Fortunately, K&L offered to refund the $100 I paid for both bottles.  Kudos to them for great customer service. 

[flahute]

14 hours ago, fosmith said:

Have you tried the most recent release of the wheated BiB?  I picked up a couple of bottles at K&L six months or so ago because I absolutely loved the previous release and the SiB cask strength as well.  Unfortunately, the new release of the wheated BiB was undrinkable with a nasty mustiness that did not lessen with air time.  Bad cork?  Possibly.  But I sort of remember that it had a synthetic cork so..  Fortunately, K&L offered to refund the $100 I paid for both bottles.  Kudos to them for great customer service. 

Saw this for the first time at Total Wine this past weekend. Was momentarily excited. Then I remembered your experience with the more recent batch so I passed.

Thank you!

[fosmith]

8 hours ago, flahute said:

Saw this for the first time at Total Wine this past weekend. Was momentarily excited. Then I remembered your experience with the more recent batch so I passed.

Thank you!

You're welcome.  But I'd sure be interested to hear others' experience with the current batch of McKenzie wheated BiB.  I haven't heard a word good or bad..

[MJWP]

I like Makers 46 . 

[PowderKeg]

On 6/10/2021 at 1:41 PM, lemonman said:

It would be interesting to taste the WR Wheat against Bernheim, which I'm still trying to really like on its own...blends nicely with MM, though.

 

I believe Wyoming Small Batch is a wheater, as well.

 

 

 

 

Did that - I preferred the WR over Bernheim 7yr, now I gotta go do it again to refresh exactly why, but expect the same result.

[PowderKeg]

On 6/22/2021 at 10:51 PM, Jazzhead said:

A trend (gimmick?)  I've been seeing more and more of is four-grain bourbon,  with both rye and wheat in the mashbill.    I actually prefer these to most straight wheaters,  because even the hint of rye spice animates a good bourbon.     Tonight I'm sipping from a quality craft product,  Frey Ranch  Straight Bourbon,  from Nevada.   It's a four-grain that has been sufficiently aged to be a smooth, balanced sip.    I found this last month when visiting my brother-in-law in St,  Helena, California.    Biggest drawback is the cork's terrible seal;  I lost about two ounces of the stuff in my checked baggage on the flight home.  

I'm takin' a real likin' to Daviess County French Oak finished (white label).

[PowderKeg]

On 6/5/2021 at 10:31 PM, PaulO said:

 Rebel 100 (used to be Rebel Yell) is a Luxco brand that for a long time bought wheated bourbon from Heaven Hill.  To me, Rebel 100 tastes a lot like the discontinued no age statement (at least 4 years) Old Fitzgerald Bonded.  No surprise.  I don't know when Luxco will eventually start bottling their own distilled product, or how it will affect this.

Larceny has more often than not been a disappointment to me.  It seemed inconsistent.  I finally gave up.

 Maker's Mark should not be overlooked because it's easy to find.  Try the regular version.  If you like it, you can move up to the higher proofs or fancy barrel staves.

If you could find Weller SR around $25 - yes.

 

 

According to Luxco they've been contract distilling using their own recipe, not sourcing filled barrels of someone else's (HH) recipe.  When I toured the Bardstown distillery just after it opened they had their first wheater run in the tubs.  Most of the Rebel Yell labels (100, Reserve, 10yr, store selects) and DN1843 are loads better than HH (now at least, the old OF BiB is still a favorite and I've got enough bunkered for some years to come...).  

 

Like you I'm disappointed in Larceny, disgusted actually since HH took a huge steaming crap on the original OF BiB to crank out more L, and then gave us the shaft by dropping VSOF before releasing the current LE BiB at what 3-4x+ the price?  Larceny BP has been much better than the reg, but I've only found it twice at MSRP since it was first released, so it doesn't really get considered as an option.

 

MM101 has been a very pleasant surprise to me, surpassing MMCS as my preferred Makers.  I've had very mixed results with M46 and the multitude of PS offerings every LS and their brother keep putting out (and largely overpriced too IMHO).  A few of the WFS (RC6 and FAE-01) have been really good though and priced better than the store PS.

 

To the OP, a few others to consider (if in your area) would be David Nicholson 1843 and the previously mentioned Wilderness Trail BiB (yellow label)- the current WT BiB is MUCH better than their first run, which hit me as young and green.  1792 Sweet Wheat is notably different and well worth it when/if it can be found.

 

Not recommending any of the Wellers, as I find WSR meh at best, and all the rest have been rendered unobtainium by the taters.

 

 

[Shizzy]

On 7/7/2021 at 6:38 AM, fosmith said:

Have you tried the most recent release of the wheated BiB?

Nope.  Still working on my older batch and a couple of their single barrels, so haven't required a new bottle.  That's too bad about your experience with the newer batch.