Heaven Hill’s New Bottled In Bond Double Mash Bourbon Drops Next Month

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For many years, Heaven Hill’s bottled-in-bond bourbon was a high-quality, affordable bourbon that could be hard to find outside of Kentucky, but a favorite amongst whiskey fans. In 2018, the distillery discontinued that 6-year-old bourbon and replaced it with a 7-year-old version with a higher price tag and new packaging. Certain corners of the whiskey world were not pleased. That seems to have blown over, but it remains to be seen what the reaction will be to the release of the new Bottled-in-Bond Double Mash. We got an exclusive first look, and can report that this is indeed a very good bourbon.

Heaven Hill has been making bottled-in-bond whiskey since it was founded in 1935, releasing its first bourbon in 1939 at 4 years old. As a reminder, bottled-in-bond means that the whiskey must be aged for a minimum of four years, bottled at exactly 100 proof, aged in federally bonded warehouses, and the product of one distillery and one distilling season—a designation codified by the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. This new release is a first for the distillery, and perhaps a first overall. It’s a blend of two of Heaven Hill‘s mashbills: two-thirds is the traditional bourbon mashbill (78 percent corn, 10 percent rye, 12 percent malted barley) and one-third is the wheated bourbon mashbill (68 percent corn, 20 percent wheat, 12 percent malted barley). Both components were aged for nine years and bottled at 100 proof, as required by law.

“Double Mash was born from a desire to showcase not only our deep respect for the bottled-in-bond regulations, but also our understanding of the flexibility those standards allow,” Heaven Hill master distiller Conor O’Driscoll tells Robb Report about the new release. He recognizes the popularity of the classic bottled-in-bond expression, but went on to say that he wanted to create a completely different tasting experience rather than just releasing another variation of the original.

Given the age of the component whiskeys, the idea to combine mashbills had been in the works for some time, and it presented an intriguing opportunity for O’Driscoll. “One of the most interesting aspects is that while wheated bourbon has become a familiar style among whiskey drinkers, it’s not actually a separate legal classification under U.S. whiskey regulations,” he says. “That means we were able to combine our traditional bourbon and wheated bourbon mashbills while still producing a true bottled-in-bond bourbon. It’s a great example of understanding the regulations deeply enough to innovate within them, and that’s something we’re proud of at Heaven Hill.”

So how does this new bottled-in-bond bourbon actually taste? We were able to preview it, and the first thing you notice is that it is indeed very different from the 7-year-old version. The fact that the blend is a third wheated bourbon definitely shines through, bringing a bit more sweetness to the palate with notes of maple and honey butter. That classic Heaven Hill profile is certainly there, albeit with a bit more oak after nine years in barrels, along with notes of flamed orange peel, toasted peanuts, dark chocolate, dark roast espresso, caramel, stone fruit, and some black pepper.

If you’d like to try Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond Double Mash for yourself, you’ll have to wait till this August when bottles will be available nationwide in limited numbers with a suggested retail price of $50. In the meantime, you can find the seven-year-old version available at retailers like ReserveBar now.

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