Review #146 Parker's Heritage Barrel Finished: Bourbon

Score: 9.0 / 10

Distillery: Heaven Hill Distillery

Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

One of Heaven Hills premium limited release lines. Generated as a tribute to Parker Beam, the legendary master distiller at Heaven Hill. Parker Beam, a sixth-generation distiller, worked at the distillery for over 50 years and played a significant role in shaping the company's whiskey production.

Parker's Heritage Bourbon releases have garnered critical acclaim and have been highly sought after by collectors and whiskey enthusiasts. The series has received numerous awards and accolades, highlighting its exceptional quality and craftsmanship.

Parker's Heritage Barrel Finished which is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon finished in Orange Curaçao barrels. This whiskey was the 12th edition Parkers originally released in 2018 - its a 7 to 8 year bourbon finished in orange Curaçao casks for 4 months.

Whiskey Review:

Nose: Vanilla, sugar, cake frosting, raisin, condensed milk, and agitating the glass kicks up plenty of sharp rye notes. There's some pear with light ethanol buried under other notes. Revisiting the glass I find rich caramel and light leather. Rooting around deeper into the glass unveils graham cracker and marshmallow (s'mores?).

Palate: Very citrusy with a burst of lemon and red apple right as it hits the palate followed by luscious chocolate orange. The backend transitions to big notes of caramel with a building of pepper and cinnamon spice that lingers in the background while never getting too intense. Immediately after there's quick hit and run of raspberry and sugary tartness (sweeTARTs candies). Finally chocolate orange appears again for a second act and sweet fruity notes lead into the finish.

Finish: Moderate in length and mildly tannic, more chocolate orange, orange zest, cacao, a bit of spice lingers before its muted leaving more of that condensed milk (some Café au lait), apple skin, and finally oaky/woody notes.

Score: 9.0

Scale:

S+ Sensational - The Pinnacle (9.5+)

A - AXEceptional (astounding) (9-9.5)

B - bravo (step aBove average) (8-8.9)

C - competent (7-7.9)

D - disappointing (6-6.9)

F - flush it down the toilet (fail) (5.9 below)

Notes: Availability? Uncommon - Not very hard to find at places that have cabinets or top shelves. Also, generally there because the price tag is enormous.