Parker’s Heritage 10 Year Old Cask Strength Rye Whiskey Review (2023)

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

When I read the stats on the 17th edition of Parker’s Heritage, I felt some sympathy for the folks working in PR and marketing at Heaven Hill, because I blanched at the thought of the response I knew was unfolding on bourbon forums: “A 10 year old cask strength? Yawn/fake outrage. That is just Heaven Hill trying to rob us of our cash!”

Well, that is the internet. Some corner of it rails with the most potent of venom against rainbows or puppies, and in bourbon circles they look at a series like Parker’s Heritage and scoff whenever the release isn’t ultra-aged. As cringey as toxic nerdom is, in whiskey circles their attitude is often a benefit to the rest of is, because if they aren’t buying bottles like Parker’s Heritage 10 Year Old Cask Strength Rye, that leaves more for those who are less hidebound and do want it.

This edition ends a recent run of the collection experimenting with heavy char and double new oak aged whiskeys, and reverts to basics. It’s simply a 10 year old rye, derived from the same stock as Rittenhouse and Pikesville ryes. The whiskey was barreled in 2012 (which makes me smile, since that is after this website was founded) and aged in Rickhouses H1 and H2, the fifth floor of Rickhouse FF, the third and seventh floors of Rickhouse BB and the second floor of Rickhouse DD. It’s bottled unfiltered at a potent cask strength of 128.8 proof.

The Whiskey
Even with a generous helping of water, the color on this whiskey is a deep, reddened-orange bronze. I tried some on the rocks (it is still late summer as I write this), and watching the cold bring out the oils in the unfiltered whiskey was a delight; there was quite a bit of oiliness in there.

As a Kentucky rye, the nose is subdued rather than spicy. Instead, the scent is thick with melted brown sugar and caramel, and the spicy current is much more herbs and cookie spices than peppery, although a grain of pepper is there. As for the palate, it has a baked apple with cookie-spiced crumbles character at its core, but one seasoned heavily with spearmint. Again, a grain of pepper is there, but this is a well-matured Kentucky rye, so nobody should be look to it for big, bold peppery notes. The finish turns earthy, drawing cocoa and coconut notes to the fore that were wholly absent before now, giving the close some complexity.

The Price
Officially, this release goes for $185 a bottle. My opinion is that is a bit much for what this installment actually is, but even scarier is what retailers will do with it. Last year’s edition is currently fetching an average of $890 a bottle with retailers (as in licensed sellers, not the black market). If $185 is high for a 10 year old, cask strength Kentucky rye, then almost a thousand dollars is far too high.