Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Bourbon 2nd Edition Review (2025)

Heaven Hill
Grain to Glass
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
2nd Edition, 2025 Release
105 Proof
SRP: ~$100 (not announced yet for 2025)
Review

Please enjoy our 2025 Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Bourbon 2nd Edition Review! A Unique High-Rye Bourbon with a Bold Mission

Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Project and the Family Farms First Initiative

As a family-owned company approaching its 90th anniversary, Heaven Hill Distillery launched the Grain to Glass Bourbon project in 2017 to deepen its commitment to authenticity, craftsmanship, and collaboration with fellow family-owned businesses. The initiative focuses on producing bourbon from the ground up—literally—by working closely with trusted partners to cultivate and distill whiskey that reflects both place and people. Key collaborators include Peterson Farms of Loretto, Kentucky, a family farming operation with 13 generations of history, and Beck’s Hybrids of Atlanta, Indiana, a family-owned seed company established in 1937. Together, they supply the high-quality grains that form the foundation of each release. By selecting unique corn varietals and farming them in Central Kentucky soil, Heaven Hill creates a truly differentiated whiskey that honors both tradition and innovation.

In 2025, the Heaven Hill Grain to Glass project expanded its impact with the launch of the Family Farms First initiative in partnership with Farm Rescue, a nonprofit that assists farmers and ranchers in crisis. A portion of proceeds from each bottle—up to $100,000 annually—is donated to Farm Rescue to help preserve and protect American family farms facing hardship due to illness, injury, or natural disaster. This partnership reinforces Heaven Hill’s belief in preserving the legacy and livelihood of the people who make bourbon possible. With every bottle of Grain to Glass Bourbon, consumers are supporting a deeply rooted ecosystem of family-driven agriculture, stewardship, and American whiskey tradition.

The Specifics – Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Bourbon 2nd Edition Review

The 2025 Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Bourbon 2nd Edition is a 6-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey aged at Heaven Hill’s Cox’s Creek rickhouse site and bottled at barrel proof (105 proof). This small batch bourbon is non-chill filtered and features a mash bill of 52% corn, 35% rye, and 13% malted barley—a higher-than-usual rye content compared to Heaven Hill’s traditional recipes. The corn used in this edition is a Beck’s Hybrids varietal (Beck’s 6225), grown by Peterson Farms in Nelson County, Kentucky. After aging, hand-selected barrels were batched to showcase the depth of grain character and the careful stewardship behind every step of the Grain to Glass Bourbon process.

Tasting Notes – 2025 Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Bourbon 2nd Edition Review

Let’s taste it:

🛏 Rested for 15 minutes in a Glencairn

👉🏻Nose: Black licorice, lightly sweet caramel, soft floral notes, mild dark cherry, subtle brown sugar and hot cinnamon candy; mild dry oak; alcohol vapor appropriate for the proof
👉🏻Taste: Light sweet caramel, mildly sweet simple syrup, sweet citrus – maybe mandarin oranges; black licorice towards the end
👉🏻Finish: Black licorice; mild white pepper spice later on; dry oak, mild char; fairly dry; moderately long; pleasant deep warmth

The flavors in the nose of the 2nd edition of Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Bourbon are fairly subtle, but the more I look, the more I find. Black licorice stands out to me, on a background of sweet caramel, subtle brown sugar, soft floral notes, dark cherries, hot cinnamon candies and mild oak. As time goes on, the licorice fades a bit and the other flavors, particularly the dry oak, become more noticeable with every sip. The alcohol vapor is appropriate for the proof.

The taste is mildly sweet, with light caramel, simple syrup and a sweet citrus – maybe canned mandarin oranges. Black licorice appears later on and becomes more noticeable in the finish, lingering to the very end. The finish becomes fairly dry, with a mild white pepper spice later on. It is medium in length with tapering, but lasting, flavors ultimately leaving me with dry oak, remnants of white pepper spice, mild barrel char, and a deep warmth.

A Bit of a Surprise

The flavors in the second edition of Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Bourbon surprise me a bit. With the high rye content and the unique corn varietal, I would have expected fairly robust flavors, yet they are all on the milder side. Nonetheless, there are quite a few flavors present, but many are not those that I typically note in a bourbon. I suppose it is the rye that is creating the black licorice that I note throughout the sip. However, it is rare for me to get that in a bourbon, and I generally associate it with rye whiskeys. Interestingly, there are otherwise not a lot of rye spices evident, and the fruit notes that I am appreciating are not those that I typically associate with a high rye bourbon, as well.

Conclusion

Overall, the 2025 Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Bourbon 2nd Edition has quite a unique flavor profile, albeit being somewhat lighter, as well as lighter in body, than I would have anticipated. Although some of the flavors are not what I generally note in a Heaven Hill bourbon, they nonetheless make for a quite enjoyable pour. Have you tried any of Heaven Hill’s Grain to Glass whiskeys? What did you think? Cheers!🥃

We hope you have enjoyed our 2025 Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Bourbon 2nd Edition Review! Next, read the press release or learn about last year’s Grain to Glass series in our Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Wheated Bourbon Review. Additionally, you can learn more about visiting Heaven Hill Distillery in our Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience Review.

This sample was graciously provided by the distillery for my review. We appreciate it!

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