Woodford has officially entered the wheat whiskey game with Woodford Reserve Wheat Whiskey.
In the last few years, Woodford Reserve has been on quite the expansion path. For years, the brand remained pretty traditional with their flagship Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select and then Woodford Reserve Double Oaked joining the party in 2012. But now with a Malt Whiskey, Rye Whiskey, and Wheat Whiskey, things are really starting to get interesting.
Wheat whiskey has been around for decades, but is only recently getting some attention in the United States’ market. To be classified as a wheat whiskey, a whiskey will need to carry at least 51% wheat in its mashbill as defined by Congress. After Prohibition, the government needed a way to regulate whiskey, since it was finally legal and all. So in 1935 they passed the Federal Alcohol Administration Act and officially created categories for bourbon, rye, malt, and wheat whiskey. In the United States, bourbon and rye were certainly the popular whiskey routes with malt and wheat whiskey being largely ignored. But then in 2005, Heaven Hill rolled out Bernheim Original Wheat Whiskey.
While Bernheim certainly isn’t the most known whiskey out of Heaven Hill, it still managed to make a name for itself. Now Woodford is giving Bernheim a little competition. Woodford Reserve Wheat Whiskey is an extremely light, yet rather dry whiskey. The nose carries lots of sweet fruit smells with a hint of baking spices, while the taste focuses more on woody oak. The finish is peppery with lots of aromatic spices, which is a nice compliment to the sweet apple and pear flavors up front. All together it’s an enjoyable drink, but not necessarily complex or as standout as we would expect from Woodford.
As far as the battle between Bernheim and Woodford, well…Bernheim might just come out on top. For starters, Bernheim is a full $10 cheaper and also comes with a full 7 year age statement, while Woodford has no official age statement. While we’d certainly never turn down a glass of Woodford Reserve Wheat Whiskey, for now we’ll stick to the Woodford OG.
STATS: Woodford Reserve Wheat Whiskey
- Price for us: $37 for 750 mL
- Proof: 90.4
- Aged: NAS
- Distillery: Woodford Reserve, owned by Brown-Forman
- Recommendation: Neat
