Bernheim Bernheim Original Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey NV 750ml

This seven-year-old small batch whiskey is a powerhouse. Oak and vanilla aromas skew sweet. The palate is deep and dark, silky and spicy, showing cocoa and espresso. Adding water doubles down on the espresso notes, bringing clove and black pepper forward into a big, grippy finish that sings with spice.

Wheated bourbon fans will enjoy this wheat whiskey with its distinctly bourbon nose of sweet cornbread and new oak, topped off with mint and pine aromas. It starts soft on the palate, but flavors build nicely as it rolls along, delivering graham cracker, citrus fruit, pecans, and cake batter. It remains really fresh and lovely, as caramel corn and drying cocoa powder emerge on the finish. A well-crafted and easy-drinking alternative to bourbon.

The warm, welcoming nose has the appetizing aromas of a bakery at Sunday brunch. The palate is of pancakes, cornbread, buttered corn, peach cobbler, pecan pie and pints of vanilla ice cream with butterscotch sauce. Finishes with a hint of soft, leafy, balancing dryness.