Is this Heaven Hill bourbon having a fall from grace?
In 1838, an Irish immigrant by the name of Henry McKenna wound up in Nelson County, Kentucky. Working in his own flour mill several years later – and clearly bored – Henry decided to turn his leftover wheat into wheat whiskey. Henry did at least have previous experience in a Scottish distillery, so it wasn’t a total disaster, but he eventually switched to corn as the primary grain over wheat. From there, Henry McKenna started churning out a barrel of whiskey a day until his little hobby became a full blow business. McKenna’s bourbon was famed for its five year age statement, which was practically unheard of at the time, and its high sanitation standards due to Henry’s massive control issues around cleanliness. With high standards and high quality, though, the McKenna family enjoyed a lot of success for decades.
So what does all of this have to do with Heaven Hill? Nothing except some good ol’ capitalism, of course. The reason you’ve never heard of the McKenna Distillery is simple – it doesn’t exist. After the repeal of Prohibition, the McKenna Distillery just couldn’t really get back on their feet. Add in the Great Depression, World War II, and the death of one of McKenna’s sons and you’ll see why Stafford McKenna decided to sell the distillery to Seagram’s around 1941. Later on, Seagram’s sold the company rights to Heaven Hill Distillery and the rest is history.
Now, Heaven Hill certainly has a lot of little whiskey angels hanging around including Bernheim, Rittenhouse Rye, Larceny, Elijah Craig, and Evan Williams. But the McKenna line, including the original Henry McKenna bourbon and Henry McKenna Single Barrel, has long been a jewel in the Heaven Hill crown. So then, why the heck has the original Henry McKenna bourbon been wiped from Heaven Hill’s website and marketing?
The easy answer – the taste. Henry McKenna bourbon carries an oily mouthfeel with an incredibly thin flavor. If you’re really concentrating, you’ll be able to pick up a bit of oak and a slightly artificial and saccharine caramel flavor, but that’s really all she wrote. A small bit of heat greets you at the front sip, but oily oak quickly washes that all away. Yes, this bourbon is certainly marketed as a bottom-shelf bourbon at just $10, but for $4 more you could have Evan Williams Black or Benchmark Old No. 8 Brand for a dollar less. With much more appealing competition, the price point isn’t enough to make this bourbon tempting.
By comparison, the Henry McKenna Single Barrel is aged for 10 years, bottled-in-bond, and holds more than a few fancy awards. It might not be too far of a stretch, then, to think that maybe Heaven Hill is pushing the original bourbon out in order to focus on its schmancy sibling. And honestly, after a few sips, we wouldn’t mind if that were true at all.
It’s about time for Heaven Hill to push the original Henry McKenna bourbon through its pearly gates.
STATS: Henry McKenna Bourbon
- Price for us: $10 for 750 mL
- Proof: 80
- Aged: NAS
- Distillery: Heaven Hill
- Recommendation: Mixer
