Holladay 6 Year Soft Red Wheat Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon

NEAT NOSE - Immediately, I like this more than the bourbon. Notes of caramel, apples, and honey. It smells exactly like a caramel red apple. PALATE - Creamy, silky smooth mouthfeel. Incredible roundness to this bourbon. Its sweet, but not sweet enough to categorize this as a desert bourbon in my opinion. The nose carries over to the palate effortlessly. The notes are easy to pick out and to be honest, I’m not getting much else. Ive had pours with similar notes but not with this level of balance. For the price, this bourbon is amazing and I can’t wait to see what they taste like as the age goes up. FINISH - Short. Sweet oak. BUY? - Absolutely. Support craft especially when its done well! BUY AGAIN? - Yes!

I bought this bottle at Total Wine for $55.99. It's a golden copper color in the glass, is of course 100 proof, is six years old, and has a mash bill of 75% corn, 15% soft red wheat, and 12% barley. NOSE: On the nose I first got an overwhelming note that I could only characterize as charred grain, though it's something I've smelled before and I'm sure it's not actually that. At any rate it's pleasant. As I continued to nose the juice I got a distinct peanut shell note, which I've found is characteristic for me of Heaven Hill whisky - I never expected to find it here. Then came dark honey, puffed wheat (I've never yet gotten that note and then disliked the whisky), honeysuckle, honey butter, milk chocolate, and MAYBE a faint note of leather. MOUTHFEEL: Silky. TASTE: Honey butter, a little cinnamon, and a surprising note of hot cocoa - which I enjoyed, though I HATE hot chocolate. I wasn't able to dissect the palate any further than that, though it's obvious there are other things in there that perhaps time will bring out for me. In addition to the few specific notes I could discern, I got an impression that this whisky tastes sweet and clear and good. FINISH: The finish is on the long end of medium, beginning with honey, then going into sweet water, bringing in an oak note, and finally ending on a lingering chocolate. SUMMARY: This is a good, complex whisky which might require some time to fully understand. I wasn't able to get many discrete notes on the palate, but this is NOT a boring whisky. I definitely recommend it. RATING: In my hick system, which has 8 levels with 1 at the bottom, I give this a 6, which I call Fine. That's the same as 3.75 stars, 75/100, or 7.5/10.

Nose: dark fruit, caramel, and oak Palate: brown sugar, cherry, barrel tannins, and vanila. Overall: Excellent whiskey. Have been waiting to try this for a while now. Worth the purchase.

Holladay 6 yr BIB soft red wheat straight Missouri bourbon. Distilled Fall 2017, aged 6 years in new charred Missouri oak in Rickhouse 3, and bottled at 100 proof in March 2024. Tasting neat. Rosy copper and average coating legs in the glass. Nose is light and fruity, berries and a little sweet orange citrus, and then some vanilla and grassy spice way way in the background. Not much there. Tannic oak and ethanol "BANG" open in the mouth. Sweet corn syrup and honey, and then floral vanilla and citrus. Mouthfeel is thin and dry, even astringent. Pepper and baking spices come on in the finish, sweet grass and mint, and a little sour at the end of a long dry finish. The more I taste this, the more I think the finish may be the best part of this whiskey. An ice cube dampens the oak tannins and sweetens up the citrus/sour notes. Maybe better? Love the distillery's story, label, and bottle, particularly the old school metal screw cap. Why not! As a distilling company they seem to be doing things the right way, even though I'm not totally sold on the taste profile of this particular bottle. It's not the soft wheated bourbon I was expecting--more bite to it. That's ok, and I look forward to trying their rickhouse proof offerings. I have a feeling they're going to be more entertaining. And, of course, I'll come back and revisit this review if the bottom of the bottle changes my mind. Cheers.