Berry turnover | Vanilla nougat | Brown sugar | Lightly charred oak | Faint powdered sugar

Berry hard candy | White peppercorn spice | Faint cinnamon stick | Oak | Sandalwood | Faint vanilla

Cinnamon spice | Toasted oak | Light leather | Faint mixed berries

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 straight wheated bourbon in review, along with a bourbon and a rye 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.

Compared to the 2024 release of Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Wheated Bourbon, this year’s version comes across as slightly hotter, even though it’s over 14 proof points lower. Opening with a delightful array of sweet scents, the bourbon’s aroma plays well into its wheat component. The midpoint carries through a berry note in the form of a hard candy while oak and vanilla join in on the ride. Spice is present in a noticeable white peppercorn note, while a faint cinnamon stick adds to it. Ending on a dose of cinnamon spice and drier oak and leather notes, the bourbon comes to a medium length, spicier than expected finish. While it doesn’t quite live up to the highs that the 2024 version reached, overall, this is a nice showing by Heaven Hill.