This is My Bourbon Podcast · Perry Ritter | This is my Bourbon Podcast

Ep. 398: This is my Heaven Hill Grain to Glass 2025 Bourbons & Rye Whiskeys Review

September 10, 2025·56 min·5 clips

Perry gives the Heaven Hill Grain to Glass high rye bourbon a dismal 1.5 out of 5 for nose and palate.

1. This Is My Bourbon Podcast episode 398 features host Perry's solo side-by-side review of all three 2025 Heaven Hill Grain to Glass releases. 2. Perry hosts the show alone, working through the lineup with tasting notes scored on nose, palate, finish, and price. 3. The episode's core question is whether the 2025 Grain to Glass lineup — each bottled at roughly 105-107 proof and priced at $100 — can justify that price point against other Heaven Hill offerings. 4. Perry opens with a blind-style taste of the Spring 2025 Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond 9-Year at 100 proof as a baseline for Heaven Hill's wheated distillate before the Grain to Glass comparison. 5. He notes that Heaven Hill has created a 'corner' for itself with the Decanter series, now competing against its own $60 shelf-stable seven-year Old Fitz Bottled in Bond. 6. The 2025 high rye bourbon at 105 proof scores nose 1.5, palate 1.5, finish 1.0 — Perry calls it 'really not doing it for me' and 'pretty put off,' a step below the previous year's 'underwhelmed' reaction. 7. The 2025 wheated bourbon at 106.6 proof earns a better nose score of 3.5 (Twizzlers, cigar ash, leather, orange zest) but falls to a 2.5 palate and 1.5 finish with a bitter drop-off Perry didn't love. 8. The 2025 rye whiskey at 105.2 proof is described as 'classic rye' with brown sugar, orange zest, wintergreen, and mint on palate and finish; Perry scores it nose 3, palate 4, finish 4. 9. Perry notes the 2025 barrel entry proof dropped from 125 to 107 across all three products compared to 2024, which he links directly to the lower bottling proofs this year. 10. The combined $300 MSRP for all three products, before out-of-state markups or secondary pricing, frames the value discussion throughout. 11. Final scores with price: high rye bourbon 7/20, wheated bourbon 10.5/20, rye whiskey 14/20; Perry recommends only the rye as worth purchasing. 12. Perry recalls meeting representatives from The Brothers Wright, a craft Eastern Kentucky brand, at Paddock Bourbon Club in Lexington, and tasting their barrel proof alongside a pour of 2024 Maker's Cellar Aged. 13. He also ran into Matt Preston of the Lexington Bourbon Society at a University of Kentucky tailgate, sharing Weller 12, and met podcast host Austin Shuck of 'What the Shuck' for a TikTok review of Never Say Die. 14. The Barrel Rings segment features a voicemail from listener Jared, who calls out Perry for condemning AI while proposing AI-integrated driving-enforcement systems on a prior episode. 15. Perry's defense distinguishes mechanical vehicle feedback from artificial intelligence, calling Jared's framing 'complete slander' while acknowledging Jared's ongoing support. 16. Listener Mike Schneider asks about self-imposed dry weeks; Perry admits he doesn't practice them, then reflects on a weight-loss journey that started in 2023 and changed how consciously he drinks. 17. Perry mentions he will be attending Bourbon and Beyond festival the following week for the first time since 2022, having missed 2023 due to a home move and 2024 due to his second child being born that same week. 18. The episode ends with Perry noting he may split the Bourbon and Beyond content across two episodes so that episode 400 can be 'as big and as robust as possible.' 19. The tone is conversational and solo-review focused, with Perry shifting freely between tasting critique, personal storytelling, and listener interaction. 20. Best suited for bourbon enthusiasts tracking annual Heaven Hill releases; likely to bore listeners primarily interested in interview-format content.

As heard by us

A direct three-way tasting that keeps the verdict plain.

Episode 398 lays out Heaven Hill's 2025 Grain to Glass bourbon, rye, and wheated bourbon releases in a clean side-by-side format, with Perry contrasting this year's three-wave rollout against last year's all-at-once approach.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a no-nonsense read on Heaven Hill's 2025 Grain to Glass lineup.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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