Inside the Blind: 2025 Year in Review

The 2025 Blind Bourbon tasting series featured four high-caliber double blind tastings, each designed to test taste, complexity, finish, and nose, all evaluated completely blind.

From high-proof rye whiskey to anniversary releases, wheated expressions, toasted barrels, and private selections, the 2025 experiences showcased a completely diverse lineup of whiskey bourbons.

Each blind tasting featured four bottles competing head-to-head where only one was crowned the winner from that lineup.

1st Blind Tasting

High Proof & Rye Showdown

January opened the season with a bold rye-forward lineup and a mature age statement contender.

Competing Bottles:

• Sagamore Spirit Double Oaked Rye

• Templeton Rye 10 Year

• Jack Daniel's Single Barrel, Barrel Proof Rye

• Smooth Ambler Founder’s Cask Strength Series Rye

This round leaned heavily into spice, oak structure, and proof intensity. While several bottles delivered powerful profiles, one stood out for balance and layered sweetness.

🏆 Winner: Sagamore Spirit Double Oaked Rye

Its combination of rich caramelized oak, dark fruit, and rounded rye spice gave it the edge in blind scoring, proving that secondary oak influence can elevate complexity without overwhelming heat.

2nd Blind Tasting

Legacy & Heavy Hitters

March brought a lineup stacked with heritage and widely respected expressions.

Competing Bottles:

• Wild Turkey Jimmy Russell 70th Anniversary

• Old Forester 1920 Prohibition Style

• Knob Creek 12 Year Small Batch

• E.H. Taylor Jr. Small Batch Bottled-in-Bond

This was one of the most anticipated rounds of the year: age statements, Bottled-in-Bond structure, and anniversary prestige all competing blindly.

🏆 Winner: Wild Turkey Jimmy Russell 70th Anniversary

In a tightly scored field, the anniversary release delivered depth, balance, and classic Kentucky profile: caramel, seasoned oak, subtle spice, earning its advancement to the championship.

3rd Blind Tasting

Wheated Bourbon Battle

June shifted the flavor profile entirely, featuring a wheated-heavy lineup known for softer sweetness and rounded mouthfeel.

Competing Bottles:

• Heaven Hill Distillery Grain to Glass

• Ben Holladay Soft Red Wheat Rickhouse Proof

• 1792 Bourbon Sweet Wheat

• Bardstown Bourbon Company Origin Wheated

This round highlighted how wheated bourbons perform in blind settings where softness can either shine or fall flat.

🏆 Winner: Heaven Hill Grain to Glass

The winning pour demonstrated structure alongside sweetness, avoiding the thinness that can sometimes accompany wheated mash bills. Its balance of grain-forward character and mature oak secured its spot in the final.

4th Blind Tasting

Toasted & Double Oak Clash

July brought secondary maturation into the spotlight: toasted barrels, double oak finishes, and cask strength intensity.

Competing Bottles:

• Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co. Double Oak

• Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel

• Angel's Envy Triple Oak

• Yellowstone Bourbon Toasted Barrel

This round leaned heavily into dessert-forward profiles of toasted sugar, baking spice, layered oak, and rich mouthfeel.

🏆 Winner: Peerless Double Oak

Its density, viscosity, and amplified oak sweetness distinguished it in blind scoring. The balance between char influence and underlying bourbon character earned it advancement to the championship round.

December's Final Pour

Four Styles, One Crown

The final of the 2025 blind tasting series was extremely diverse featuring:

• A Maryland double-oaked rye

• A Kentucky heritage anniversary bourbon

• A grain-to-glass wheated expression

• A dense, oak-forward double barrel bourbon

Each bottle had already proven itself. But in the final round, margins tightened and balance became everything.

How Heaven Hill Grain to Glass became our Bourbon of the Year

From the first nosing pass, Heaven Hill Grain to Glass showed something different.

Where others leaned heavily into oak extraction or proof intensity, Heaven Hill delivered:

• Soft baked bread sweetness

• Honeyed caramel

• Subtle stone fruit

• Structured but restrained oak

• A clean, balanced finish

Against Sagamore Spirit Double Oaked Rye

Sagamore brought layered caramel and rye spice with strong secondary oak influence. But in the final scoring, Heaven Hill’s smoother integration and longer, cleaner finish gave it the edge in overall balance.

Against Wild Turkey Jimmy Russell 70th Anniversary

The Wild Turkey delivered classic Kentucky backbone and depth. However, Heaven Hill’s grain-forward clarity and refined sweetness proved more cohesive in blind scoring.

Against Peerless Double Oak

Peerless impressed with richness and viscosity. Yet its heavier oak presence narrowed its flavor range, while Heaven Hill maintained complexity without becoming overbearing.

It wasn’t the highest proof.
It wasn’t the most oak-forward.
It wasn’t the most hyped.

It was simply the most complete pour of this blind tasting series.

🥇 2025 Blind Bourbon Champion

Heaven Hill Grain to Glass

The May winner rose above three elite contenders to become our 2025 bourbon of the year, proving once again that blind tasting removes hype and reveals what truly stands out in the glass.

In a field dominated by oak, proof, and prestige releases, a wheated grain-to-glass bourbon earned the crown.

And that’s exactly why we taste blind.