Heaven Hill is doing a partial relaunch of its famous wheated bourbon brand, Old Fitzgerald. While Old Fitzgerald was originally part of Stitzel-Weller distillery of Pappy Van Winkle fame, and it was later acquired by Heaven Hill. Of late, the releases have been a bottom shelf wheated bourbon and an extremely limited release ultra aged bourbon. The idea is to have Old Fitzgerald 7 Year Old Bottled in Bond to be positioned in the same price range and availability as Heaven Hill 7 Year Old Bottled in Bond. I am really excited to try this offering. The mashbill is 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley, and as it is Bottled in Bond labelled, it is 100 proof. I paid $60 for this bottle; only some of the bottles in the case had the cool bag. Not that presentation means that much to me, but the decanter style bottle and the octagonal wooden top with the Old Fitz logo on top are nice touches.

The color is a nice deep amber; what you would expect on a seven year old bourbon. On the swirl is a thick film with long thick legs. Very nice. On the nose is classic wheated bourbon – hot baked cinnamon rolls, caramelized sugar, and a mixture of light citrus and dark fruits. On the palate, this bourbon has a very rich mouthfeel, with flavors of baked cinnamon rolls, with some citrus, honey, toasted almonds and walnuts, and a hint of clove. On the finish, I get cinnamon, clove, dried orange rind, oak, and leather, but a little of that peanut funk I get when a Heaven Hill bourbon has been chill filtered, and I confirmed with some research that it is chill filtered. After the bourbon gets a little air, the funk pretty much disappears. Most people don’t even pick up the peanut note; I think it is peculiar to some people’s palates, sort of like how some people think cilantro tastes like soap. After I let it get air for two days, the peanut funk is thankfully gone, and the whiskey has even more character; maybe even tastes a little bit older.

This is a truly solid, complex, well aged wheated bourbon. I honestly do not like regular Larceny, which Heaven Hill attempted to position as its main wheated bourbon, although I do like their barrel proof releases. It is going to be nice if this bourbon actually becomes a regular on the shelves, as my favorite mid point wheated bourbon, Weller Antique 107, is no where to be found lately. This is really good at a nice proof. For wheated bourbon fans, this release is surely gong to be a hit with them. It is really flavorful and complex and dangerously drinkable at its old school 100 proof. But it does need a little air to truly shine.