Rye grain | Cornmeal | Baked bread | Vanilla bean | Gentle oak

Building rye spice | Charred oak | Baking spices | Leather | Faint vanilla pudding | Light grain

Rye spice | Black peppercorn | Charred oak | Dash of leather | Lingering gentle spice

Heaven Hill Executive Chairman Max Shapira created the idea of Heaven Hill’s Grain to Glass series in the mid-2010s. The concept revolves around the company working with Beck’s Hybrids in Indiana to “hand select a unique corn seed varietal that has specific attributes desirable for Heaven Hill Grain to Glass, one of which is choosing seed which is best suited for growth in Central Kentucky.” From there, Heaven Hill works with Peterson Farms to grow the corn on one of two sites in Nelson County, Kentucky. Of note, both Beck’s Hybrids and Peterson Farms are also family-owned and lead companies, much like Heaven Hill itself.

The Heaven Hill Grain to Glass series is composed of three whiskeys. This includes the rye in review, along with a bourbon and a wheated bourbon expression. For the wheated bourbon, the company states the whiskey was distilled in 2018, aged for just over 6 years, and released in 2025. Heaven Hill emphasizes transparency for this release, providing a wealth of specific data for each whiskey. The corn seed varietal used for this edition was Beck’s 6225, which is prominently displayed on the front of the bottle. Additionally, the whiskey was aged at Cox’s Creek in rickhouses W5 and W6, on floors 3, 4, and 5.

Whereas last year’s edition was a bold, spicy pour, this year’s Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Rye release comes in more subdued. While spice is still present, it’s toned down a bit, providing space for other flavors to pull through. This is evident right from the start with a gentle nose focusing on rye grain and oak, which both appear midway through the sip but in slightly stronger form. A dash of sweetness is present in a faint vanilla pudding note before the finish comes into play and shines a light on spice and charred oak. It’s a gentler, toned-down version of last year’s whiskey that still focuses on its prominent grain and delivers a pleasing, easy-to-handle sip overall.