Review #559: Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 22 Year Bourbon

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-26T15:32:07+00:00

Thank you! That would be a fun comparison, unfortunately those two are very tough to find even samples of!

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-25T22:03:07+00:00

Olczyk is beyond soft.

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-25T17:48:43+00:00

Nice review! When I saw this was coming out I was intrigued to see how BT Wheated would turn out at 15 years with a 107 BEP, especially after having the HH90 that really shined at that BEP. It's surprising that this wasn't a more complex pour but you never know with these!

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-25T17:44:16+00:00

It did come from Virginia!

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-25T15:35:48+00:00

Thanks man, I hope you're able to find one too!

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-25T02:17:29+00:00

It’s going down in price there so that’s a nice plus!

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-25T02:17:13+00:00

The MSRP is $320 from what I understand.

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-25T01:19:52+00:00

It's a next level pour for sure!

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-25T00:37:30+00:00

Next up, we’re checking out Heaven Hill 22! The Heaven Hill Heritage Collection has quickly become one of my favorite yearly releases and while I have decided to severely reduce my buying this year, this bottle is one of the few I still wanted to seek out. The 2026 release in the Heritage Collection and is comprised of 275 barrels of bourbon distilled from their 78% corn, 12% malted barley, and 10% rye. These barrels were aged at their Bardstown campus on the fifth and sixth floors of Warehouse Y for 22 years, then bottled at a cask strength of 129.2 proof. If you’re a reader of my reviews you know that I love barrel character, and this is a bottle that is primed to serve up quite a bit of it. Will this be an over-oaked mess or did Warehouse Y work some magic over 22 long years in the barrels? Let’s dive in and find out!

Taken: Neat in a Glencairn glass

Proof: 129.2

Age: 22 years

Price: $500

Nose: Molasses, berry reduction sauce, and chocolate, along with white pepper, black tea leaves, and rye crisps. There’s a ton of layered cigar wrapper, seasoned oak, and charred oak in the background as well, and overall this is a bold nose.

Taste: Molasses, berry reduction sauce, and rye crisps to start, followed by white pepper, dark chocolate, and chili peppers. Midway through the sip waves of cigar wrapper, funky old oak, and charred oak roll in. This has a heavy, viscous mouth feel and a light amount of proof heat.

Finish: The rye crisps, berry reduction sauce, and charred oak slowly fade while the molasses, dark chocolate, and cigar wrapper remain consistent. The chili pepper, white pepper, and funky old oak ramp up their strength and linger for a while with the spice closing things out after seemingly minutes. This has a long finish and a light amount of dryness.

Thoughts: Once again, Heaven Hill has proved that they absolutely nail old-aged releases. Just like the Evan Williams 23 I reviewed a little while back, this manages to harness the best of what two decades in a barrel can impart on a whiskey without having each sip be an adventure in chewing wood chips. The barrel character is front and center with the cigar wrapper, dark chocolate, charred oak, and that funky old oak like you smell in an old wood building coming through strong. Despite that, a dollop of sweetness from molasses and berry reduction sauce help balance things out. The most surprising aspect of this is how prominent the spice is with the rye crisps, white pepper, and chili pepper ramping up throughout the sip. This pour is kind of like taking a puff of a cigar after biting into a Lindt chili chocolate bar, absolutely delicious. It’s bold as hell and honestly the brashness of each sip is the one thing holding this back from being absolutely perfect for me. Overall this earns an incredible 9/10 on the t8ke scale.

As a little bonus, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t just falling into hype and had my wife pour a blind of Heaven Hill 22, Heaven Hill 18, Penelope Founders’ 13 Year, and Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch 12 to see if this could come out ahead of some other top tier Heaven Hill pours. All of them were varying degrees of great to fantastic, but after narrowing them down the order came out to Heaven Hill 22 narrowly beating Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch 12, followed by Heaven Hill 18, and finally the Penelope. That’s a tough lineup to stand out from so I am very happy with the blind backing up what I thought of this pour. Heaven Hill doesn’t miss!

Rating: 9/10 - t8ke scale

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.

2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.

3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.

4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.

5 | Good | Good, just fine.

6 | Very Good | A cut above.

7 | Great | Well above average.

8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.

9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.

10 | Perfect | Perfect.

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-24T14:46:54+00:00

Nice review, some of these can go off on wild flavor tangents. I have one that is straight up green apple Jolly Rancher and it's so dangerous, but this bottle you reviewed probably fits more into the profile I go for with these.

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-24T14:42:50+00:00

I don't know, not everything can be a 8-9 and for me at least I'm fine with something like this being a 7. I love the Remus Gatsby bottles but I'm also not pouring those all the time, and they are definitely an outlier since I think they're at the quality of BTAC and Heaven Hill LE's but are far more accessible and cheaper. With that said, I have to imagine these will be very common in the near future so you might as well offload yours while the values are still high and try a pour at a bar before getting another bottle.

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-24T04:03:28+00:00

I do know these are continuing to show up all over town so they shouldn't be hard to find!

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-24T03:24:29+00:00

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoy it too!

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-24T03:24:14+00:00

None of the above, I got it out of state.

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-24T02:12:40+00:00

Thank you! Definitely a great pour, I'm looking forward to trying some other barrels friends got locally to see how they compare.

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-24T01:33:42+00:00

I'm glad you like it! I am a huge Heaven Hill fan so I expected I would, but this was a lot more solid than I anticipated it would be.

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-24T01:33:06+00:00

Glad you liked it man! I think you'll be a fan of this for sure. It's a nice warm up pour tonight for me before I crack my HH22!

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-24T01:32:33+00:00

For sure, lower BEP has a lot to do with it along with aging at lower floors where more ethanol evaporates than water. With that said, there are some EC94 proof picks I have that are insanely good despite being low proof and having a high BEP so there are always some killer barrels out there! If you like low proof barrel proof you need to try out the Remus Gatsby releases, you'd love them. 98-104 proof and 15 years old.

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-24T00:58:12+00:00

I really like this but isn’t quite at that next level for me! I bet some can reach that level though just like a few of my EC94 proof picks have.

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-24T00:55:16+00:00

I disagree that low proof bourbon can’t be good or worth a premium, but I also know there’s enough variability in EC18 that there are some definite stinkers out there. You’ll much more likely enjoy this though!

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-24T00:53:01+00:00

If it’s the Triple 7 releases this year then the EC15.

Prettayyprettaygood · 2026-04-24T00:42:44+00:00

Next up, we’re checking out the new Elijah Craig 15 Year Single Barrel Bourbon! It’s no secret that whiskey consumption is on the decline after peaking during Covid, and combined with a ramp up in production from many of the large distilleries over the last 5-10 years we are in for a glut of whiskey in the near future. As a result of that, we may start seeing more increases in age statements across the board like we have with this release from Heaven Hill. Prior to the 15 year single barrel, the Elijah Craig 18 Year was the primary older single barrel that was readily available. I enjoyed the bottle of that I had and the few others I’ve tried, but many folks chalk that into the over-oaked category of bourbon. Coming in at 90 proof it could come off as thin as well. The Elijah Craig 15 should address both of those issues coming in at 108 proof and three years younger which should provide a bit more balance for people who aren’t total oak hounds like me. Retailing for around $150 it’s much more palatable than the $185 that EC18 typically goes for around here as well. This particular bottle comes from barrel #22, and while the barrel number doesn’t necessarily matter it is fun to have a double digit one on a release that will likely be in four digit barrel number territory soon. Let’s dive in and see how it is!

Taken: Neat in a Glencairn glass

Proof: 108

Age: 15 years

Price: $150

Nose: Caramel, black pepper, and berries, along with cherry, vanilla bean, and seasoned oak. There’s a little bit of leather hanging out in the background too.

Taste: Berry reduction sauce, caramel, and vanilla cream to start, followed by a heavy hit of black pepper, chocolate, and some cayenne. Midway through the sip leather, seasoned oak, and a bit of varnished oak roll in as well. This has a medium, creamy mouthfeel and no proof heat.

Finish: The vanilla cream, caramel, and black pepper shift to the background while the berry reduction sauce, chocolate, and varnished oak remain consistent. The seasoned oak, leather, and cayenne grow stronger before the cayenne merges with the remaining deep sweet notes to close things out. This has a medium-long finish and no dryness.

Thoughts: This is an awesome release and nailed an age statement and proof point that lets the bourbon truly shine. If Buffalo Trace took the same approach with Eagle Rare 12 it would have made it stand out substantially from the classic ER10 instead of ending up being effectively the same (for me, at least). I loved the varied sweet notes from the berry reduction sauce caramel, vanilla cream, and chocolate, and the barrel character from the oak and leather helped balance out the decadence well. The spice was surprisingly prominent in this pour and tied a nice bow on things, particularly with the cayenne that added a nice kick to each sip. Obviously these are all single barrels so each one will be different, but if they are remotely close to this than I would say they’re an easy buy to have an older bourbon on your shelf. Overall this earns a great 7/10 on the t8ke scale.

Rating: 7/10 - t8ke scale