Heaven Hill 10 Year (2009) The Whisky Cask Company

Review by: TOModera

What was the occasion: My father poured me one of his bourbons, so I poured him one of my bourbon samples. I save them when we’re drinking, because it’s fun.

Wait, have I gotten to the point where I have to explain what fun is? Man, the internet has changed us.

What whiskey did we review? Heaven Hill 10 2009 The Whisky Cask Company is a 10-year-old whiskey that was bottled and released in Switzerland by The Whisky Cask Company, an independent bottler of whiskey. For those of you who don’t know, independent bottlers buy casks from distilleries/warehouses and release them under their label. For those of you who did know, fling yourself down stairs to forget the last sentence. Or don’t, I mean.. Come on, stairs? In this economy?

What’s the distillery? I swear I’ve re-written this part multiple times. It’s almost like there was a recent hiccup with the distillery I’m having trouble not mocking.

Heaven Hill distillery is the seventh-largest alcohol supplier in the US, that’s how big they are. Thus it’s no surprise that independent bottlers end up with some of their casks. You’d think there would be more random MGP or Alberta Distillery whiskies, but so far I’ve run into more Heaven Hill ones.

What’s my bias? Well it’s not easy.

From a pure taste point of view, I actually really, really like Heaven Hill bourbon. They are some of my favourite American distilleries. I like what they make.

On the other hand, there was a little striking thing that happened that soured my view on them. I do my best to leave that out of the view of the whiskey, but I have this bad habit of holding a grudge. It’s extremely negative and something I need to work on.

Should I add a joke here? What am I even doing? Okay, we’re here to review a whiskey. I like independent bottlings and European partial aged bourbons quite a bit too. Given how angry commenters are when I mentioned the strike, probably not going to be what you focus on.

Let’s jump into the whiskey, shall we?

Distillery: Heaven Hills Distillery.

Bottler: The Whisky Cask Company.

Region: Kentucky.

ABV: 58.2%. Cask strength.

Age: 10 years. Distilled in August 17, 2009. Bottled in September 9, 2019.

Cask type: Virgin Cask.

Price: 95 CHF.

Color: 5Y 8/6

Nose: Cotton, cereal, tangerine, cream soda, strawberry

Interesting nose. First off, let’s get this out the door: I don’t know if this was aged at all in Europe. However, given the flavour profile is so different from your typical bourbon, missing raw wood notes and earthy elements, I think it’s fair to say it’s one.

Also: Sugar. Holy sugar overload. This starts as “oh, there’s some cereal” and then goes to “Baskin Robbins Oreo Milkshake death” levels of sugar. It’s not bad. I love sugar. I have a sweet tooth (just the one left due to my love of sugar).

Taste: Tangerine, mineral, golden syrup, cereal

First up, let’s pick out the aspects that aren’t sweet, shall we? Well there’s some mineral notes and some aspects of cereal.

That said, the sugar runs in here like a face hugger after someone yells “new species just dropped”. It’s running faster than you ever will if you eat the equivalent amount of sugar. It’ll run faster than your anus after you’re done eating all of it.

Finish: Currant, cranberry, cream soda, grape candy, anise

Oh thank fuck there’s some tartness and acidity and spice. Look, it’s still enough sugar to kill at least twelve Wilfred Brimley’s twice over. But at least there’s a bit more to it. It’s very sweet.

Conclusion: This was released for the Swiss market, and should have been shipped back to the US. No, it doesn’t taste like a standard bourbon (or even close, really), but it’s so sweet I’m pretty sure only a North American could enjoy it. Only a group of people (of which I’m one) who have eaten so much corn syrup that someday aliens will try to eat us and immediately explode can handle this.

I 100% know why it was poorly reviewed in Europe. Unbalanced and very sweet. That said, wow it’s a treat (literally). I’m a sugar fan. I am what I am. I grew up in a household where dessert was a given. I acted like a child while in Greece when they handed us an apple for dessert, and I was 19. It’s a terrible way to be.

And I enjoyed this. I can understand it doesn’t quite do much beyond be unique, but that’s what I go for. But again, wrong continent guys. The old line that giving a Dorrito to a middle-ages peasant would kill them? This whiskey is that. Get it if you like sweets.

Final Score: 82.

Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing.
  • 0-49: Blech.

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