Woodford Reserve Wheat Whiskey

Woodford is an interesting brand. Back in the days where we could get Old Pogue for 40 bucks, Van Winkle Lot B was on shelves for 60, Rip van winkle was 27-32 (depending on abv, yes there were two abvs), EC 12 year was a thing and EC18 year was collecting dust on shelves at 60 bucks....well one of the most well respected and though of bourbons was Woodford Reserve. An NAS bourbon for 30 bucks (about the same prices today) was the non in the know bourbon drinker's idea of what was better than Makers Mark. At the time I turned my nose up at woodford as it was frankly below par bourbon, for 10 bucks I could get Ancient Ancient age 10 YEAR old and it was better. Sadly fast forward 15 years and the laughably priced woodford reserve is now actually a pretty good value and we no longer laugh at NAS bourbons as if they're a joke if they cost more than 20 bucks. I bring this up to start the context of a review for this new actual wheat whisky, not wheated bourbon. Woodford has effectively been a brand that has always been respected but has never been a great whisky maker either. They are consistent and put out quality all be it nothing special. Their prices have remained consistent and for all that, a brand I used to turn my nose up at, I must say, I've grown to really respect their pricing and consistency so bring on new expressions as long as they don't start asking for premium pricing with an age statement (lets not discuss their 130 dollar bottles). Nose - I know it's a bit silly but I smell wheat. Very sweet much like you'd get with a wheated bourbon. I get almost rock candy and golden wheat like notes. I'm getting zero barrel notes. Perhaps a drop of caramel. Really deep nosing and I get some toasted notes and a bit of alcohol. Taste - You get the woodford element right away, a sort of chocolate and just a classic woodford finish. The first notes are very sweet almost grape and vanilla. I do get a hint of nutty notes. I could see rasberry jam or something instead of the grape as well, maybe some apples or even pears. This a really fruity note. On the finish I can get some oak and wood, it's still pretty subtle. So in 2019 for 35 bucks, it's a gosh darn good whisky. Yeah in 2005 this would just sit on shelves for my money, but in 2019 woodford has really hit a winner. I'm giving this a 2.75. I can't say everyone will love this. If you don't like sweet whisky or you want more abv or you're just someone who wants aged whisky...this is not for you. If you however just want an easy drinker that's sweet. I can't recommend it more given that price point.

Fruity without spice! No burn

Different bourbon distilleries are known for different things. Some distilleries use different brands to portray their whiskey (Jim Beam; Buffalo Trace). Some distilleries experiment with wood to bring out thousands of flavor combinations (Maker’s Mark). But, Woodford Reserve has to be the master of grain variation. I have the Corn (standard), the Rye, the Malt, and, now, the Wheat. And I love each one in its own way. This wheat is a fantastic and couldn’t be more inviting on the nose. It has warm caramel and creme characters that come through both on the nose and the palate. I also get this hint of raisin bread minus the cinnamon. Although there are a lot of beautiful baking spices that come through as well. The thing I love about what Woodford does is that, because everything is the same except the grain used, their whiskies open up a huge learning opportunity when it comes to other whiskies. If you love bourbon you must get the Woodford Rye and the Woodford Wheat as these are competing secondary grains in a lot of different bourbons. A lot of bourbons use rye as their secondary grain and some use wheat instead. By comparing the two Woodford’s, it’ll make it much easier to discern what grains are used in a certain bourbon. But, you can’t forget about the malt as well, as most bourbons contain malted barley. Like I said, this is a great whiskey for something different and I recommend having all of the different whiskies that Woodford offers for a fantastic learning opportunity.

Truly more than decent. Doesn’t quite have the depth as the Bernheim wheat whiskey but delicious all the same. I’ll always keep a bottle of this in my bar.

Very smooth. The vanilla comes through nicely.

Biting in the front, cloying finish

Not bad but not my jam regular woodford is way better this is meh all the flavors come through but it just doesn’t deliver.