Review #237: Seelbach’s Private Reserve Wheated Bourbon Batch 1

MASH BILL: 70% corn, 21% wheat, 9% malted barley

AGE: Blend of 7yr and 4yr and 10mo barrels

PROOF: 107

COST: $50 for 750mL bottle

I do love some wheated bourbons! This is a batch of 7 yr and almost 5 year wheated bourbon. Based on the mash bill, I’m taking a guess that these barrels are from Green River. I’ve had Green River wheated bourbon before and really enjoyed it! However, I only had their 90 proof variant and haven’t tried their full proof or a single barrel wheater from them. So this will be the highest proof Green River wheated bourbon I’ve tried (again, I’m guessing this is Green River distillate). Let’s see how it is proofed up!

Reviewed neat in a Glencairn.

APPEARANCE: Light auburn color (1.4), oily with moderately thick legs that creep down the glass.

NOSE: I get roasted sweet corn early as the glass is approaching my nose. Then gingerbread, nutmeg, grilled peaches, and caramel open it up. A light vanilla marshmallow note is buried a little deeper. A kiss of dried oak and toasted maple lie in the background.

PALATE: A creamy, soft mouthfeel. Big vanilla and caramel lead off but are quickly followed by dessert fruit sweetness: spiced apples, cherry turnover, blackberry cobbler, and candied nuts. The full gamut of spices build in with cinnamon, clove, ginger, allspice, and a touch of anise. Mild wood sugars are present towards the end and going into the finish in the form of sweet, vanillin rich oak and lightly toasted maple.

FINISH: Long finish that leans spicy and tannic. The vanilla and caramel notes from the palate transfer over well at first but fade out leaving mostly spice. Cinnamon and clove actually grow in intensity and linger the longest. The slight vanillin rich oak note note from the palate also carries over well into the finish and presents some char with it as well. The red fruit notes from the palate occasionally make an appearance but are fleeting. All that said, it shouldn’t be mistaken how spicy this finish is.

RATING: 7.2/10

OVERALL: This has a great balance of sweet and spice on the nose, but has a more defined transfer between sweet and spicy on the palate. It comes back together briefly in the finish, but overall ends spicy. The fruit notes that lead off the palate were a tease in that they were short lived. I found myself sipping this rather quickly because I wanted those robust dessert fruit notes to last longer and to balance out the spice that was mostly left with me on the finish. After enjoying this dram, I went back to look at my tasting notes for the regular Green River Wheated Bourbon at 90 proof, and a lot of the notes are similar and consistent with the transition from sweet on the nose to spice in the finish. So at least we’re consistent! This expression has a wonderfully creamy mouthfeel that I would expect of a wheated bourbon at this proof point, and while it was at my perfect proof of 107, it was slightly hot late in the sip. I think $50 was a good price point for this bottle, but there are better wheated bourbons for not much more in price. That said, this was a bit unique in how spicy this was towards the end. For those rye drinkers out there that enjoy some heat, this would be a great wheated bourbon to try out.

 

1 | Disgusting | see my 1/10 ratings

2 | Poor | see my 2/10 ratings

3 | Bad | see my 3/10 ratings

4 | Sub-par | see my 4/10 ratings

5 | Good | see my 5/10 ratings

6 | Very Good | see my 6/10 ratings

7 | Great | see my 7/10 ratings

8 | Excellent | see my 8/10 ratings

9 | Incredible | see my 9/10 ratings

10 | Perfect | see my 10/10 ratings