Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Bourbon Review – Experimental Craft or Corn-Fueled Chaos? | Pour Decisions Wednesday

Jun 11

Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Bourbon – The Redemption Arc?

Welcome to another Pour Decisions Wednesday, where the pours are strong, the opinions are unfiltered, and the decisions… well, let’s just say hindsight is 107 proof.

In this week’s episode, Heather and B crack open a bottle that’s been equal parts myth and mystery: Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Bourbon. It’s a limited release. It’s experimental. And it might be the most ambitious project to come out of Bardstown since Heaven Hill figured out how to bottle nostalgia in Elijah Craig.

But before we start romanticizing this thing, let’s rewind.

Wait… Heaven Hill Does Craft?

Yes. Kind of. That’s what this whole “Grain to Glass” project is about. Heaven Hill set out to control every step of the process—from planting the corn to bottling the bourbon—and this bottle is the first result. No sourced grain, no outside yeast, no guesswork. Just a tight, vertical integration of bourbon geekery.

And we do mean geekery.

They didn’t just grow some corn. They used Beck’s 6158, a proprietary strain of yellow corn designed for maximum sugar yield and flavor development. If you’re the kind of person who looks for terroir in your whiskey—or thinks wine people have been hogging all the pretentious vocabulary—this bottle is for you.

But also… maybe not.

Flashbacks from the Rye

This isn’t Heaven Hill’s first Grain to Glass release. That honor (or horror) went to their Grain to Glass Rye, a bottle that tasted like someone dropped a peppermint into a vat of rye mash and dared us to keep drinking. Heather still twitches when she brushes her teeth.

So the bar is low. But also very high. Because if this release can overcome that legacy and actually taste good, it might be the comeback story of the year.

What’s In the Bottle?

Here’s the rundown:

Distillery: Heaven Hill (Bardstown, KY)
Project: Grain to Glass Series
Age: 6 years
Proof: 107
Mash Bill: 52% Beck’s 6158 corn, 35% rye, 13% malted barley
Yeast: House proprietary
Fermentation: Open-top
MSRP: $100

In bourbon terms, that’s an intriguing setup. High-rye, high-proof, single-source grains, and open fermentation? That’s usually craft distillery territory. But this is Heaven Hill. They’ve got the infrastructure and pedigree to pull this off.

Tasting Notes (According to the Internet)

We always like to look up what the bourbon whisperers say we should taste before diving in ourselves. Here’s the consensus:

Nose: Toasted cornbread, apple peel, baking spice, dry oak, light butterscotch
Palate: Creamy texture with warm caramel, cracked pepper, honey-roasted peanuts, dry cinnamon
Finish: Long and dry with lingering spice, toasted sugar, and oak tannin

Sounds dreamy, right? But if we’ve learned anything from prior Heaven Hill heartbreaks, it’s this: trust, but verify.

So… How’d It Taste?

[Here’s where we let the Tortured Bourbon crew react in real time on the show. Watch for Heather’s nose crinkle if it turns into a peppermint repeat, and B’s raised eyebrow if he tastes something worth shouting about.]

We won’t spoil the exact reaction here (go watch the episode!), but let’s just say this pour sparked a lot of discussion.

Ranking Time – Tortured Bourbon Style

Every bottle we taste goes through our highly scientific ranking system:

Piddlin – Save it for guests you don’t like
Bless Your Heart – Pretty bottle, shame about the taste
That Dog Will Hunt – Solid everyday pour
Hush Your Mouth – Legit good, share with friends
Cock of the Walk – Top shelf royalty, king of the rickhouse

Where did Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Bourbon land? You’ll have to watch the full video for the final verdict, but we’ll give you this teaser: It didn’t end in dental trauma.

Final Thoughts: Redemption, With a Corn Finish

Heaven Hill’s foray into true grain-to-glass territory is ambitious, calculated, and surprisingly grounded. It’s still a Heaven Hill product—there’s a familiarity under all the craft credentials—but it’s clear this bottle wants to be something more. And in many ways, it is.

This isn’t just a marketing gimmick or a farm-to-table stunt. There’s real complexity here, a depth of flavor that comes from thoughtful production—not just clever packaging.

Would we buy another bottle? Maybe. Would we drink it before brushing our teeth? Absolutely.

Cheers, Y’all

Whether you’re a die-hard Heaven Hill fan, a sucker for experimental releases, or just curious about what six years and a proprietary corn strain tastes like, this Pour Decisions Wednesday is worth a watch.

📺 Watch the episode on YouTube

💬 Leave your tasting notes in the comments

See you next week. Until then: make good choices. Or at least pour interesting ones.