Star Hill Farm American Wheat Whisky Review (Sneak Peek, 2025)

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A-

Two weeks ago, Maker’s Mark launched its latest whisky, and in so doing made a major departure from the way things are done down in Loretto, Kentucky. That is because the newest bottle from Maker’s Mark is a new brand representing two brand new distillates in a (for them) a new category: Star Hill Farms American Wheat Whisky. True, by reaching for wheat whisky instead of rye or malt Maker’s Mark is staying close to their roots as a wheated bourbon, but all of this is coming from a company that for seventy years has made nothing but that wheated bourbon.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to Loretto for a sneak peek at the whiskey, heard the thinking behind it and the emotions attached. Those latter two parts were covered in our feature of two weeks ago, so for this review of the new wheat whiskey I will stick strictly to the bottle. Maker’s Mark devised two new whiskies specifically for it, one a 100% malted wheat whisky and the other 70% wheat and 30% malted barley. The wheat concerned is entirely the red winter wheat already familiar to Maker’s Mark. The proportions used are 27% of the wholly malted wheat whisky and the rest being the wheat-malted barley distillate. These two distillates were aged in a mix of normal American Standard Barrels (ASB) with Char Level III and different experimental or exotic ASBs: barrels with ridged cuts made to the interior of the barrel; barrels with a mix of American and French oak; and all French oak. These were aged for seven to eight years without the customary Maker’s barrel rotation; those barrels were lodged in the rickhouse and left in the same spot for the entire maturation. The resulting whisky was bottled at a cask strength of 114.7 proof.

The Whisky
Although this cask strength whisky is drinkable as is, I had plenty of time with the stuff and found a splash of water definitely improved it, so the notes that follow are with water. Even with that splash, the whisky held onto its amber that leaned deeply into red.

The nose led with a gingerbread plus golden raisins and dried apricots, plus a dash of musty, earthy cocoa powder lurking in the background. Sipping took that nose and carried its fruity aspect halfway from fruitcake territory and towards fruit cocktail: fruity, a little floral and a little syrupy. That is backed by a dollop of caramel and another of honey, with just a dash of cinnamon and earthy cocoa to round things out. The finish led with a burst of dried red berries, but that gave way swiftly to a whiff of musty earth.

Excepting Heaven Hill’s work with Bernheim Wheat Whiskey and the nearly forgotten Woodford Reserve Wheat Whiskey, wheat whiskeys have remained largely the realm of small distillers. For example, Star Hill Farm 2025 is seven to eight years old, which is automatically older (insofar as we know) than anything out there that doesn’t come from Heaven Hill. Rob Samuels has elected to change that, and this first Star Hill Farm bottling is just that: the first in a limited edition series that will take on new twists with each iteration. It brings that unmistakable Maker’s Mark way of doing things to the wheat whisky category, which will only be a good thing for it, and this start is an excellent one.

The Price
The recommended price on this bottle is $100. If you see one priced for anything like that, snag it at once. It’s worth every penny.