Review #139: Heaven Hill Heritage Collection (2024) 18yr Bourbon

COST: $300 MSRP for 750mL bottle (I am reviewing a sample.)

AGE: 18 yrs

MASH BILL: 78% corn, 10% rye, 12% malted barley

PROOF: 120

The 2024 release of the Heaven Hill Heritage Collection uses the regular Heaven Hill bourbon mashbill. It is a batch of 133 barrels that were filled in December 2005 and aged on the third floor of rickhouse 1I. (That is, numeral 1 and the letter I. Heaven Hill, if you happen to see this, awful choice for a side-by-side alphanumeric combination.😘)

While this is an expression that I would never actively seek out due to the exorbitant price point it’s typically found at (one bottle locally was priced at $1800, and commonly around $1200 online, and $400 secondary), it is an expression that if I got a chance to try, I wouldn’t pass it up. A friend provided me this very opportunity with a sample from this bottle.

Because of the mash bill, immediately my mind thinks, “This is just 120 proof Elijah Craig 18 year.” But these 133 barrels are considered by Heaven Hill to be exquisite barrels of their over 2 million barrels aging across all their campuses. Not being a big fan of EC18 (over-oaked), lets see if this is truly exquisite.

Reviewed neat in a Glencairn.

APPEARANCE: A bright mahogany color (1.5), fairly average looking viscosity.

NOSE: Big sweet oak note and cherry right away. I can slightly pick up on the malted barley in the background. I normally can’t do this with this mash bill. Pulling my nose away from the rim of the glass, I get a kind of Cookies and Cream Hershey bar note. There’s a light tingle of spice towards the end of the sniff. Overall, this is very familiar – ECBP familiar, though this noses like ECBP batches of yesteryears and runs a bit more delicate.

PALATE: A plush mouthfeel and coats the palate with ease. A bitter sweetness shows up initially, dark chocolate covered cherries and molasses. Sweeter notes of vanilla and caramel enter, followed by black pepper spice and orange peel. I get a very potent mint note that shows up towards the end of the sip and bleeds over into the finish.

FINISH: A medium to long finish and leans a bit tannic. That mint note bleeds over in the form of mint chocolate covered nuts. This fairly quickly fades into notes of sweet oak and tobacco with hints of cherry cola and a twist of orange peel.

RATING: 7.7/10

VALUE: 3.0/10 (This is an attempt to take into account price, tasting rating, age, and proof. See my spreadsheet for more details. I try to minimize the personal aspect of value in this score i.e. how it makes me feel, what I think of the story, etc.)

OVERALL: Way more enjoyable than EC18! EC18 is just way over oaked to me. This is sweeter, lighter, and more delicate than EC18 is. However, I’ve definitely had ECBP batches that I’ve enjoyed far more. I’m not a big fan of mint, and I picked up a good amount of mint on the palate and in the finish. I can appreciate what it adds to the whiskey giving it some sprightliness and complexity, but it’s just not a note that I personally enjoy much of. What I enjoyed the most about this sip is how layered the palate and finish were. I felt like I was able to keep peeling away layers on the palate in particular and could find something slightly new each sip.

I also can’t deny these being exquisite barrels. With it being the regular HH bourbon mash bill, it was rather unique compared to the more common HH bourbons that use the same mash bill. So, while it may not have jived with my palate as well as other expressions, it was still quite different than the rest from Heaven Hill.

As far as the value...like I said above, there are ECBP batches that I have enjoyed more...with MSRP of this being over $220 more...the value just isn't there. That said, it is unique, it is a rare bottle, so there's something to be said about that for collectors and HH fans.  

1 | Disgusting | ...I've not subjected myself to this level

2 | Poor | Balcones Lineage

3 | Bad | High West Double Rye, Jefferson's Ocean 28

4 | Sub-par | Weller's SR, Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select

5 | Good | Buffalo Trace, Sazerac Rye, Green River Wheated

6 | Very Good | Blanton's, Holladay Bourbons, Eagle Rare

7 | Great | Baker's 7yr SiB, WhistlePig PiggyBack SiB, 1792 BiB

8 | Excellent | Most ECBP batches, JD SiB BiB, High West MWND Act 11

9 | Incredible | Barrel Bourbon Batch T8ke, BBC DS #7, Four Roses OESQ

10 | Perfect | Found North Batch 08