William Heavenhill 16 Year Small Batch (6th Edition)

Full, oak, tingle

4th edition. 144.6. Maple sweet oak power house. Balanced and punchy. One of the best.

The color is a deep amber that is someday sparse on the legs. The nose is full of oak, floral rye, buttercream, cinnamon, molasses and a touch of caramel. The palate starts with a burst of creamy oak with a wave of cinnamon for a rich mouthfeel that reaches all corners of the mouth. Smooth vanilla, caramel and cooked brown sugar follow up with just a hint of cherry syrup. The finish is long with the corners of the mouth tingling with a nice spiciness with sweet and creamy oak staying in all corners of the mouth leaving you chewing on it and waiting for more. This whiskey is perfectly balanced and is a real treat.

I actually picked this up at the gift shop back in the Oct 2018 after tasting it and liking it. I just finally got around to opening it recently to celebrate a birthday and have had a couple of pours now so thought I'd write something up. Appearance - dark mahogany with amber highlights and thick legs Nose - Dark brown sugar, varnished oak, oiled leather, dark chocolate, orange peel, toasted vanilla, a hint of cherry and a smoky char note. Palate - follows the nose with dark brown sugar, cocoa, maple syrup, vanilla and baking spices,. The spice lingers on the finish as the oak asserts itself. The lengthy finish is dry but with just enough of that maple sweetness to keep it from getting too tannic or bitter. So this is definitely an oak-forward bourbon, just as you'd expect given the age. I happen to love it, but I can see how it might be a bit overbearing for some. It's not super complex, but there's a depth and intensity to the flavors that I really enjoy. Given the price I have to knock the score down a bit, but it's still excellent and intend to savor the bottle on special occasions.

Must be a HH junkie to appreciate it. Not amazing but very good

Decided to get around to reviewing this one. This bottle has been open at least 6 months. The first impressions I have had were VERY bad so lets see how about 1/4 of the bottle consumed (much of that given away) where this one is. Nose - Fruity notes, dry almost astringently dry oak, varnish, cherry, and alcohol. Taste - cherry, light spice, wood. That's all I'm getting here. Then just boring old bourbon. Adding water. Ok now i'm getting more cherry a touch of maybe chocolate, and the oak which when this bottle first opened up was funky and was almost like a wet blanket over the flavor has left but now I just get too much oak and not that good finished dusty oak that we want. Adding more water can i get citrus, almost grape fruit or perhaps watered down tangerines...it's subtle but there. Finish is mostly the wood, and some vanilla. Nothing special I was really hoping this one had opened up in the bottle and was now a wonderful dram but sadly it's changed but it's still a pretty disappointing bottle of bourbon. I'm still scoring it 2 stars as there's a lot of complexity in the wood notes and this is not a simple daily drinker. It really does force you to take your time which I think is of value. If it weren't nearly 250 (it's 250 if you don't find it in a store like I did), I'd consider moving this up to closer to 3.0 which is for normal priced whisky where I say go buy it if you like the style and the price is in your normal range. This is just so expensive and it doesn't deliver at all. I will note I do wonder if perhaps there were better bottles out there as I've seen some good reviews from those I respect and the group I was with who bought these at retail have been disappointed.