Table Of Contents
The Details
| Rating | 92 |
| Style |
Rye American Whiskey Whiskey |
| Produced In |
Kentucky United States |
| ABV | 61.6% |
| Availability | Limited |
| Price | $99.00 |
| Reviewed By | |
| Review Updated | 2024-07-29 |
Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey (2024) Review
Heaven Hill’s new Grain to Glass series launched with three core expressions: Bourbon (with a rye-heavy mashbill), Wheated Bourbon, and Rye. The expressions are the brainchild of Heaven Hill executive chairman Max Shapira, with grain development in collaboration with Indiana-based Beck’s Hybrids and local farming led by Kentucky-based Peterson Farms.
Today, we’re taking a look at Grain to Glass Rye, the only one of the three expressions bottled at cask strength. (In this case, a robust 123.2 proof.) Though it’s a rye whiskey, like all expressions in the 2024 Grain to Glass series, this bottling is focused on a specific corn variety used in the recipe: Beck’s 6158.
This cask strength rye is distilled from a mash bill of 64 percent rye, 24 percent corn, and 13 percent malted barley. Notably, that’s higher than Heaven Hill’s usual rye mash bills that contain just over the legally-mandated 51 percent rye grain. Outside of some Parker’s Heritage releases, it’s relatively rare to taste Heaven Hill’s ryes at cask strength. (For years, I’ve personally been advocating for a barrel proof version of Elijah Craig Rye.)
Grain to Glass Rye was aged at Heaven Hill’s Cox’s Creek rickhouse site for just over six years. That particular warehouse location is situated at the highest elevation in Nelson County, Ky., which receives more direct sunlight than almost any other aging facility in the surrounding area.
Let’s see how the first-ever Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Rye tastes!
Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Rye: Stats and Availability
Heaven Hill’s Grain to Glass series is an annual, limited, nationwide release showcasing specific grain varieties. In 2024, the MSRP for 700-milliliter bottles is $99. (The brand has stated the 700-milliliter format will make international distribution easier in the coming years.) Anecdotally, I’ve seen bottles in this series go anywhere from a few dollars below suggested retail all the way up to $160. That said, they haven’t reached nearly the markups of other allocated Heaven Hill products like the Old Fitzgerald Decanter series. Given the relatively low age statements and novel nature of the series, I don’t expect we’ll see these bottles go for big multiples of MSRP anytime soon.
Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Rye Review
As with all of VinePair’s whiskey reviews, this was tasted in a Glencairn glass and rested for at least five minutes.
Disclaimer: I originally sampled these expressions on a brand media trip to Heaven Hill facilities. However, for the purposes of this review, I revisited the expression in the same controlled environment where I taste all spirits for VinePair reviews.
Nose
This may not be a true Kentucky-style rye based on mashbill alone, but the nose starts off with notes of grain and sweet, sticky caramel; freshly baked stroopwafel wafts out of the glass.
It’s decadent, but fleeting. That sweet concoction is followed in very short order by grassy and minty notes: light dill, spearmint, wintergreen, lilac, lavender, and aspen bark. The rye whiskey’s proof quickly pushes aside the sweeter notes, and what remains is heavily herbal and floral. Once acclimated, it’s pleasantly nostril-clearing without the ethanol becoming fiery or fuel-like.
Those floral notes are eventually joined by pine resin and toasted coconut, the wood’s influence taking gradually more space compared to the rye-forward distillate. Overall, there’s a well-defined narrative here, from a lightning-fast and caramel-sweet first act to a pungent combo of mint and flowers, with just enough wood and earthy notes to keep things interesting at the tail end.
Taste
The first couple sips drink remarkably below proof, and once again, the whiskey leans quite sweet early on. Honeysuckle and rose simple syrup coat the tongue early and continue on through the midpalate, along with baked green apples and cinnamon. Semi-sweet blackcurrant jam also lingers toward the front of the tongue. Two tastes in, and I’m already liking this a little more than the regular Grain to Glass Bourbon, and at this point, it’s about on-par with the Wheated Bourbon.
Sweetness eventually cedes center stage to rye spice, but it’s not nearly as quick a handoff as it was on the nose. That rye spice has many of the usual hallmarks — cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and allspice, to name a few — all ensconced in traces of that floral sweetness. (Again, think honeysuckle and rose or lavender-infused simple syrup.)
Wood tannins hit their stride right along the midpalate; there’s more oak than one might expect on a six-year rye, along with traces of leather and damp charcoal. The back of the palate leans back toward sweet, this time with noticeably more vanilla than early on.
It’s a full bodied sip I’m glad they bottled at cask strength. Even after tasting with additional water, I find myself gravitating back toward the 123.2 bottling proof.
Finish
The finish is moderately lengthy and rich in sweet mint, dark chocolate, and toasted oak. I wouldn’t have minded a longer final act and even more tannins, though that’s a tall order for even a very good six year old rye.
Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Rye Rating
92/100
Recap
To my palate, Kentucky Straight Rye is the best of Heaven Hill’s inaugural Grain to Glass releases. It’s a mighty flavorful whiskey that never leans too far in any direction, instead bringing some variety to a classic Kentucky rye profile. While I would have appreciated a slightly longer finish, even that phase brought solid depth (and a surprising dark chocolate sendoff). Of all the bottles in this lineup, the rye is one I’ll likely come back to most often.
*Image retrieved from Heaven Hill
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