Burnt brown butter | Burnt caramel | Bread crust | Cigar box | Charred oak | Faint Cavendish & Harvey Berry candy | Earthy

White peppercorn spice | Cinnamon spice | Peppery charred oak | Mixed berries | Berry turnover

Pop of mixed berries | Charred oak | Leather | Burnt caramel | Faint burnt brown butter | Toasted vanilla

Heaven Hill Executive Chairman Max Shapira created the idea of Heaven Hill’s Grain to Glass series in the mid-2010s. The concept revolves around the company working with Beck’s Hybrids in Indiana to “hand select a unique corn seed varietal that has specific attributes desirable for Heaven Hill Grain to Glass, one of which is choosing seed which is best suited for growth in Central Kentucky.” From there, Heaven Hill works with Peterson Farms to grow the corn on one of two sites in Nelson County, Kentucky. Of note, both Beck’s Hybrids and Peterson Farms are also family-owned and lead companies, much like Heaven Hill itself.

Where the past two releases in the Heaven Hill Grain to Glass series were composed of a bourbon, a rye, and a wheated bourbon, this year’s release focuses exclusively on wheated bourbons, which the company is calling the “Year of Wheat.” Specifically, this year’s Grain to Glass series contains the wheated bourbon in review, along with a wheated bourbon aged in French oak barrels, and an extra-aged 9 year wheated bourbon. Molly Vincent, Associate Director of Luxury Whiskey at Heaven Hill states, “We’ve worked with wheat for a long time across our whiskeys, but this allows us to explore it more intentionally, how it softens, how it builds complexity over time, and how it ultimately shapes the character in the glass. The ‘Year of Wheat’ is about bringing that deeper understanding forward.”

For this standard wheated bourbon release, the company states the whiskey was distilled in 2019, aged for just over 6 years, and released in 2026. Like past releases, Heaven Hill emphasizes transparency for this release, providing a wealth of specific data for each whiskey. The corn seed varietal used for this edition was Beck’s 6269, which is prominently displayed on the front of the bottle. Additionally, the whiskey was aged at Cox’s Creek in rickhouse W9 on floors 4 and 5.

This year’s Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Wheated Bourbon has an earthier focus. It starts with burnt brown butter and caramel notes, along with focused cigar box and charred oak scents. A faint Cavendish & Harvey Berry candy scent adds a touch of sweetness before transitioning to a light spice-filled midpoint. Peppery oak mingles with mixed berries and barry turnover note, which adds contrast. The berry note pops in the finish before a focus on charred and burnt flavors takes over.

This year’s edition of Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Wheated Bourbon displays similar fruit notes of years past; however, they’re not the main focus, instead playing second fiddle to more earthy flavor notes. For the past 2 years, the wheated bottle in the Grain to Glass series has been the standout offering. For 2026, Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Wheated Bourbon sets a good baseline to build upon, but it does fall a bit short compared to last year’s release. Overall, this continues to be a fun series, showcasing how various corn variables can make a large difference in the resulting whiskey.