Sneak Peek: Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 20 Year Old Corn Whiskey Review (2023)

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A-

Heaven Hill launched their Heritage Collection last year with a 17 year old bourbon, but the distillery has a habit of using their annual series to showcase the breadth and depth of what they make there (witness the variety of Parker’s Heritage over the years). So their choice for the second installment of Heritage Collection makes perfect sense: a 20 year old corn whiskey.

This is an ultra-aged version of Mellow Corn, of course, drawing on stock of the same mash bill of 80% corn, 12% malted barley and 8% rye. Another feature to recall about corn whiskey is that it is aged in used barrels; this is key to separating it from what would otherwise be high-corn bourbon. They had 110 barrels of this stuff, socked away for five times as long as Mellow Corn, from the 3rd floor of Rickhouse 1K. In my opinion, it’s worth recalling that if this stuff had been bottled on the Mellow Corn maturation arc, it would have been on store shelves in the days of Bush the Younger. It’s bottled at 115 proof.

It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to do a Sneak Peak. I only name a review as such when it is both done before the whiskey goes into distribution and is the first review to get out. So, without further ado…

The Whiskey
Reflecting that the whiskey was aged in old, not new, bourbon barrels, it has a golden coloring in the glass. Corn whiskeys are often marked by their scent of sweet corn at best and corn husk at worst, but I didn’t find that here, and this despite what Heaven Hill themselves say about it. The nose was more fruity than grainy. It came across as a cinnamon and apple cookie, something like the Quaker Cinnamon and Apple oatmeal, but without those oats. The flavor is much the same, and superbly mellow.  The finish is also rather on the sweet side, making this a supremely easy-drinking pour. I have a hard time seeing anyone not enjoy it.

The Price
Officially, this will go for $290 for a 750 ml bottle when it hits store shelves on March 1. Unofficially, expect mark-ups. That is the way of things nowadays… but maybe, just maybe, this one won’t be marked up that fiercely. It is a corn whiskey from a new series after all. That might just offset the 20 Year age statement.