Old Elk 10-Year-Old Collection: Straight Bourbon, Straight Wheat Whiskey and Wheated Bourbon Review

Old Elk Distillery
10-Year-Old Whiskey Collection
Straight Bourbon, Straight Wheat Whiskey and Wheated Bourbon
10 Years Old
103 and 105 Proof
SRP: $69.99 Each
Review

Please enjoy my Old Elk 10-Year-Old Whiskeys Review!

Old Elk Launches Three 10-Year-Old Whiskeys

Middle West Spirits acquired Old Elk Distillery in May 2025. In July 2026, the brand launched the Old Elk 10-Year-Old Collection, its first major new release since the acquisition.

The collection consists of three distinct expressions: the Old Elk 10-Year-Old Straight Bourbon, Old Elk 10-Year-Old Straight Wheat Whiskey and Old Elk 10-Year-Old Wheated Bourbon. All three are available nationwide at a suggested retail price of $69.99 each.

Details — Old Elk 10-Year-Old Whiskeys Review

• Brand: Old Elk Distillery
• Parent Company: Middle West Spirits
• Collection: Old Elk 10-Year-Old Collection
• Age: 10 years
• Availability: Nationwide
• SRP: $69.99 each
• Straight Bourbon Mash Bill: 51% corn, 34% malted barley and 15% rye
• Straight Bourbon Proof: 105
• Straight Wheat Whiskey Mash Bill: 96% soft red winter wheat and 4% malted barley
• Straight Wheat Whiskey Proof: 103
• Wheated Bourbon Mash Bill: 51% corn, 46% wheat and 3% malted barley
• Wheated Bourbon Proof: 105

Tasting Notes — Old Elk 10-Year-Old Straight Bourbon Review

Let’s taste it:

🛏 Rested: 15 minutes in a Glencairn glass

👉🏻 Nose: Mildly sweet; sweet caramel, sweet corn, raspberry jam, graininess and breadiness, mild dry wood; alcohol vapor appropriate for the proof
👉🏻 Taste: Mild simple syrup sweetness, mild tannins and dry wood; becomes drier later on; hints of raspberry syrup and light caramel
👉🏻 Finish: Increasingly dry, with tannins, white pepper spice and lingering raspberry syrup; mild dry wood and a hint of char at the end; lingering spice and a touch of raspberry syrup persist; fairly long

Tasting Notes — Old Elk 10-Year-Old Straight Wheat Whiskey Review

Let’s taste it:

🛏 Rested: 15 minutes in a Glencairn glass

👉🏻 Nose: Mildly sweet; mild graininess with whole wheat bread; sweet dark berries and cherries; subtle mint, maybe spearmint and wintergreen; alcohol vapor appropriate for the proof
👉🏻 Taste: Raspberry jam, mild simple syrup sweetness, then mild tannins; somewhat dry
👉🏻 Finish: Hints of berries remain and fade as white pepper spice grows; fairly rapidly becomes increasingly dry and spicy; fairly long, with lingering spice, tannins and a touch of dry wood

Tasting Notes — Old Elk 10-Year-Old Wheated Bourbon Review

Let’s taste it:

🛏 Rested: 15 minutes in a Glencairn glass

👉🏻 Nose: Mildly sweet with simple syrup and caramel, cornbread, cherry candy alternating with raspberry jam, mild graininess and whole wheat bread, mild dry oak and orange peel; alcohol vapor appropriate for the proof
👉🏻 Taste: Mildly sweet, with cherries, simple syrup, mild tannins and dry wood later on; subtle whole wheat bread; fairly light-bodied
👉🏻 Finish: Rapidly becomes fairly dry, with growing and lingering capsaicin spice, lingering cherries and hints of simple syrup; growing tannins, mild dry wood, spice and hints of sweet cherries at the end; moderately long

Shared Character Across the Old Elk 10-Year-Old Whiskeys

Although the Old Elk 10-Year-Old Straight Bourbon, Old Elk 10-Year-Old Straight Wheat Whiskey and Old Elk 10-Year-Old Wheated Bourbon are distinctly different whiskeys, they share a number of similarities. All three seem to have some characteristics that I would associate with pot still-distilled whiskeys, although these were presumably column-distilled at MGP. They also share some graininess and breadiness, with the breadiness reminding me of whole wheat bread in both the Straight Wheat Whiskey and Wheated Bourbon.

Because of these characteristics, I would have guessed all three to be younger than their stated 10-year age. I can only assume that their somewhat youthful character is related to the high malt content of the Straight Bourbon, the high wheat contents of the Straight Wheat Whiskey and Wheated Bourbon, and Old Elk’s Slow Cut™ Proofing Process. The brand describes the latter this way: “Instead of a day, we spend weeks adding small increments of water to keep our liquid cool and save the delicate flavors our team works so hard to produce during mashing, fermentation, distillation, and maturation.” Perhaps this process leaves some of those more youthful flavors intact.

In addition, fruit notes were present up front in all three Old Elk 10-Year-Old Whiskeys and lasted somewhat into the finish. As the finishes developed, they became drier and picked up spice, although the character of that spice varied among the three. All of the finishes were fairly long.

Three Flavorful and Easy-Drinking Old Elk Whiskeys

Suffice it to say, I like all three of the Old Elk 10-Year-Old Whiskeys quite a bit. Their somewhat perplexing combination of youthful and pot still-like characteristics makes them quite flavorful and easy to drink. Have you tried any of these whiskeys? What did you think? Cheers!🥃

I hope you have enjoyed my Old Elk 10-Year-Old Whiskeys Review!

Next, read these related Old Elk reviews: Old Elk Blended Straight Bourbon Review, Old Elk Straight Wheat Whiskey Review and Old Elk Wheated Bourbon Review.

Note: These samples were graciously provided by the Brand for my review. I appreciate it!

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