When we visited Kentucky last fall, one of the places we toured was Woodford Reserve…not so much a tour, I guess, as a “tasting experience.” I maintain that standard Woodford Reserve is good, albeit not amazing, and a bit overpriced for the experience it delivers…and their vaunted Double-Oaked expression is much better, but still overpriced, especially now that I’ve had several other double-oaked whiskies that are better (some much better) for the same price or less. But during the tasting experience, we had a chance to some whiskies that I had never noticed on the shelf at home before: rye, malt, and wheat whiskies.
Let’s be clear…these whiskies were on the shelves at some stores back home. I never noticed them because I was “over” the Woodford brand as a whole and just didn’t pay attention. When I tasted them, though, I wanted to know more, so I ended up buying the malt and wheat whiskies at the distillery store and brought them home (the rye ended up not interesting me that much).
Starting with the Woodford Reserve Wheat, they claim it is based on historical recipes “but influenced by the iconic core Woodford Reserve Bourbon brand.” The mash bill is made of 52% wheat, 20% malted barley, 20% corn, and 8% rye. It is bottled at 90.4 proof (45.2% ABV). On the nose, it smelled sweet, almost honey-like aroma with touches of vanilla dancing around. Taking a sip, it was smooth and soft and sweet, what you might expect from a wheat whiskey if you are into wheated bourbons. This doesn’t have quite the sweetness level of a bourbon, though, and tends more to a slight wheat funkiness. Their tasting notes online suggest spiced apple sauce and toasted coconut, but I didn’t get either of those…maybe a little apple in the sweetness, but that was about it. This particular bottle was the first wheat whiskey I ever bought and maybe the first one I tried…and I do like it…but I’ve found that others in the category far exceed this one in terms of complexity and flavor.
The Woodford Reserve Malt whiskey is a “barely malt” recipe featuring 51% malted barley, 47% corn, and 2% rye. This maintains a fair amount of bourbon-like flavor because the corn content is so high, while building up the notes that the malt will bring with it. It is also bottled at 90.4 proof. The nose for this one does present the malted barely up front, but not nearly as prevalent as an American Single Malt or Scotch would do. Instead there is some cocoa powder and some dried fruit in the mix with some baking spice. On the sip, the chocolate comes through really strongly as this ends up with that malted barley note enhanced with a great amount of sweetness from the corn content, then finished with a touch of rye spice.
When I bought these two, I enjoyed the wheat whiskey more, but over time, I’ve grown to enjoy the Woodford Reserve Malt Whiskey heads and shoulder over the wheat. I still find both of them to be more interesting than the standard Bourbon from Woodford. Depending on where your tastes and curiosity lie, I can firmly recommend either of these for your home bar, especially if you can find them for about $35-37.
