Woodford Reserve recently released a four grain wheat whiskey which sounded pretty interesting as I haven’t tried a lot of wheat whiskies or four grain whiskies. As expected for Woodford this is NAS straight whiskey clocking in at their traditional 90.4 proof. Woodford Reserve tends to release solid products, they have been releasing a lot of nontraditional offerings over the last couple years and I have yet to review any of their whiskey so I’ll also be using this a jumping off point to do a small series on Woodford Reserve.
Woodford Reserve Wheat Whiskey
Age: NAS
Abv: 90.4 proof
Mashbill: 52% wheat, 20% malt, 20% corn and 8% rye
Price: $32.99
Neat
Nose: Sweet with butterscotch, apple and vanilla notes backed by some young grain, earthy notes and faint oak
Taste: Sweet but a little thin with apples, brown sugar, vanilla, more of the grain and earthy notes from the nose
Finish: Surprisingly long finish with apples, brown sugar, warm spice and faint oak
0 Stars - Fine: I would not specifically choose to drink this over other readily available options
Conclusion
First off I really enjoyed the sweet brown sugar and fruity apple notes but overall this was a little too thin and had too many young grain notes for me to love it. I definitely think a more aged, higher proof version of this has the potential to be delicious. I’m chalking this up as another wheat whiskey alongside Bernheim that makes me want to find a truly great one in the category. Next up is going to be another nontraditional mashbill offering from Woodford Reserve with their Oat Grain Bourbon.
TL;DR: Sweet, fruity, a little thin. Decent change up whiskey for the price.