Editor’s Note: We received a review sample of this whiskey from the brand. However, in accordance with our editorial policies, this has not influenced the outcome of our review in any way.
In the history of all things Heaven Hill Bernheim Original Kentucky Straight Whiskey holds a special place in this whiskey company’s more extensive portfolio. Produced at the originally named Bernheim Distillery in Louisville, it is meant to have a mellow taste, courtesy of its mash bill of 51% wheat, 37% corn, and 12% malted barley. This, Heaven Hill feels, makes it excellent for either sipping or using as a cocktail base.
Alongside the 7-year-old Bernheim Original Heaven Hill, in taking a part of its playbook from some of its other flagship whiskeys, also offers up a more limited edition variant that’s bottled at barrel strength.
What’s in the bottle
Bernheim Barrel Proof A224, which is what’s being reviewed here, is the first for 2024 of what will be two releases of this offering this year, playing to this bottling’s annual release schedule. First made available in late February, it shares the same mash bill as Bernheim Original but, being pulled right from the barrel, it is then bottled in an undiluted form.
Batch A224 was aged 7-9 years in Heaven Hill’s traditional open rick houses. It carries a proof of 125.2 and is priced at $64.99.
For the whiskey enthusiasts out there, batch number A224 follows a naming convention in which the letter in the batch number indicates which of that year’s releases the bottle was a part of, followed by the month (second character) and the year (last two characters).
