Review #268: Rabbit Hole Heigold SiB CS USA 250 North Carolina Limited Edition

MASH BILL: 70% corn, 25% malted rye, 5% malted barley

AGE: 7 yrs 4 mos

PROOF: 113.4

COST: $60 for 750mL bottle

I was telling a buddy about working on a review for my 250th r/bourbon review, and he was like, “you should do a review of an America’s 250th Anniversary release for your 250th review.” What a great idea! Only problem was, I didn’t have another 250th anniversary release that I was planning on getting that I hadn’t already reviewed. He happened to have this bottle though and said I should do a review of it. As it turns out, I’ve not reviewed a Rabbit Hole Heigold Single Barrel Cask Strength bottle before, and the label really captivated me… I had never seen this label before and was immediately curious about researching it as I didn’t recall seeing any press releases about these unique USA 250 releases by Rabbit Hole. So, down the rabbit hole I went!

After doing a little research, I couldn’t find anything online about this North Carolina label, but I did see that Virginia also had a Rabbit Hole USA 250 release with a label that had different art than this North Carolina bottle. Now I was even more intrigued! Did Rabbit Hole make bottles for every state with different artwork? Maybe just for the original 13 colonies? The plot thickens! I reached out to Rabbit Hole with these questions while I continued my own research.

Further research didn’t reveal too much, but it wasn’t completely futile. After discussing my suspicions with my buddy that leant me this bottle, he saw that Ohio also offered a limited edition 250 label as well with another unique art work. This got me to thinking that maybe Rabbit Hole did a SiB with a unique label for each control state they distribute in (or at least offered it to each of them) since NC, VA, and OH are all control states. So, I checked a few other control states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maine, Maryland, Alabama, Mississippi, and Utah. Out of all those, it looks like only Pennsylvania may also have one of these limited release labels, but I can’t seem to find a picture of one online. However, their online product listings shows a Rabbit Hole Heigold SiB CS expression for a much lower price than the regular cask strength variant and with a strange looking product code versus the other Rabbit Hole products.

While I have yet to hear back from Rabbit Hole about this label series and see how many states might have one, why the price is significantly less than the regular cask strength SiB labels, etc., I do think there’s something special and truly limited here. It would be pretty cool to pick up each of these special revolutionary looking labels. Regardless, at $60 for a 7+ year single barrel cask strength whiskey from Rabbit Hole…that’s more than 50% off their normal SiB CS products, so you can’t go wrong. Have you found one of these cool labels in your local store? If so, feel free to share a picture of it in the comments or any details. As a community we may piece this together quicker than Rabbit Hole gets back with me.

This bottle is from barrel 1-19B07A. Reviewed neat in a Glencairn.

APPEARANCE: Rich, red mahogany (1.6), clings to the glass and slow to form legs.

NOSE: Quite sweet. Malted milk balls, confectionary sugar, and a mix of fruit sweetness including fresh raspberries and apricots. A light baking spice note adds a little prickle to an otherwise delicate dessert nose. There is a touch of orange zest in the background and a slight oakiness that comes and goes.

PALATE: The mouthfeel is thinner than I expected based on the appearance. I initially get a pop of fresh raspberries dusted with powdered sugar. As the raspberry fades, vanilla malted milkshake with a butterscotch drizzle replaces it. A couple seconds in there is some nice spicy oak and tannins that replace the sweetness, a touch of anise, and bright orange zest. A rather large transformation happens from the start of the sip to going into the finish.

FINISH: Medium to long finish that leans rather spicy compared to the nose and palate. While some butterscotch and orange zest lingers, toasted oak, dried corn husks, malted grain, and white pepper dominate the finish. As some of the earthier notes die off, more spice builds with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.

RATING: 7.2/10

OVERALL: When I originally tried the core Rabbit Hole expressions side by side, the regular Heigold didn’t make an impression on me, and as such, I’ve not revisited it for years. But this cask strength variant has way more complexity than I remember! It undoubtedly spent a lot more time in the barrel than the standard 95 proof variant I first tried about 5 years ago which certainly helps, but I think it being delivered at cask strength illuminates the character that the malted grains in the mash bill provide. With 30% of the mash bill being malted grains, there’s a noticeable cereal like sweetness and malted grain note. The big 25% malted rye component adds nice warming, baking spices that creep in late on the palate and into the finish while the 70% corn provides the upfront sweetness. When thinking about this in context of being a USA 250 Limited Edition SiB release, it represents what bourbon is quite well with ample sweetness from the corn and lingering baking spice.



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