Preservation Distillery is best known for their portfolio of brands consisting of sourced products, including Pure Antique, Very Olde St. Nick, Rare Perfection, Wattie Boone & Sons, and Old Man Winter, among others. For those brands, very little information is provided on the background of their source of distillation and often mashbill. The company’s latest release changes that, as Preservation Estate Pot Distilled Wheated Bourbon is the first 100% in-house distilled product produced by Preservation Distillery.

‍‍The brand states that each release is only composed of 1-3 barrel batches that will range in proof between 110-118. While the exact mashbill percentage is not provided, the grains used in this wheated bourbon are. The distillery has labeled Preservation Estate Pot Distilled Wheated Bourbon as a bourbon versus a straight bourbon, which normally would be expected to appear on the label for a bourbon of this age.

Lifting the glass of the dark-colored bourbon reveals an instant bouquet of scents. Leading the pack are rich baking spices, spiced raisin, charred oak, and leather. Inhaling deeper pulls out spiced apple bread, cinnamon stick, spiced cherry, and vanilla cake. The aroma comes across as something you’d expect from a much older bourbon. Its deep spice-filled scents are delivered extremely effectively, and provide a really great foundation for the sip to start on.

Transitioning to the midpoint brings about a variety of spiced flavors and aged oak. Chewy charred oak mingles with baking spices, leather, and raisin, followed by a spiced syrup, forming a delicious combination. Cherry bread and cinnamon toast make an appearance to add further depth. For a wheated bourbon, it’s surprising how much spice it pulls in at the midpoint, and adds nice depth to the midpoint. Much like the nose, the palate comes across as more aged than the 6-7 years the bourbon rested in barrels, which is impressive.

The finish transitions to a chocolate malt note that is joined by green peppercorn and cinnamon spice. Dry oak and leather appear, along with spiced chocolate cherry. It’s chewy in nature, providing a lingering spiced-fueled heat. Never leaning too far into its dry oak or spice notes, the finish delivers an excellent capstone to the sip.

It can be a challenging endeavor when a distillery transitions away from sourced products to 100% in-house distilled whiskey. Consumers have gotten to know a brand for what it tastes like over the years, and suddenly, that changes. Preservation Distillery thankfully doesn’t have this problem, mostly due to the fact that each of their brands tastes identifiably unique, and also varies them release to release thanks to changes in age or where the whiskey was sourced from. Additionally, creating a new line extension versus trying to replace or integrate into an existing one helps sidestep this issue.

For a wheated bourbon, Preservation Estate Pot Distilled Wheated Bourbon is surprisingly full of spiced notes. Additionally, the sip is full of rich, charred, and aged oak notes, which convey an age higher than it actually is. Combining its wheat component with the company’s pot still produces a sip that is surprising from start to finish. This is a barrel proof whiskey that steps out for the first time and immediately can compete against more well known barrel proof bourbons like Elijah Craig Barrel Proof or Larceny Barrel Proof. It encapsulates everything you want out of a high proof wheated bourbon and focuses on a classic delivery without relying on barrel finishes or blending with sourced products to get there. It may not be the most unique bourbon in terms of technical specs, but for being the first time Preservation Distillery has released a 100% in-house distilled product after all these years, it's impressive.

Preservation Distillery bills themselves as a craft distillery that skews to the high end of the bourbon market. Their sourced products are usually well over $100 with many reaching multiple hundreds of dollars and then some. That’s why it’s no surprise that for their first in-house distilled ongoing product, they priced it over $100. In the case of Preservation Estate Pot Distilled Wheated Bourbon, the sip delivers and lives up to the price being asked, and has the chance to be more consistent than their other sourced bourbons. While barrel proof bourbons from larger, more established distilleries can be found for under $100, a pot still bourbon from a small craft distillery that drinks higher than its age will leave any consumer who does pick up a bottle satisfied with their purchase.

Preservation Estate Pot Distilled Wheated Bourbon delivers a surprisingly great sip from start to finish. Usually, when a brand releases their first 100% distilled whiskey, it’s more of a preview of what’s to come versus a finished product. However, in this case, Preservation Estate Pot Distilled Wheated Bourbon hits the ground running and shows that they have what it takes beyond just sourcing and blending bourbon. The sip is really well-defined and full of rich flavors that come across as older than the age statement on the bottle. Its high proof is used to the max without going overboard, resulting in a sip that’s incredibly enjoyable. Where the distillery goes from here is anyone's guess, but for now, Preservation Estate Pot Distilled Wheated Bourbon shows that they have what it takes to compete against their competition with their own still.

Editor's note: The photos accompanying this review are for representative purposes, as the proof stated on the bottle's label does not match the proof of the sample we used for this review.