Heaven Hill's Celebration of Wheat Continues with New Grain to Glass Trio

It’s been only two years since Heaven Hill launched Grain to Glass, a collection that underscores provenance, with each release made from grains sourced locally. In that time, there have been nine unique Grain to Glass whiskeys; the first three releases—a bourbon, wheated bourbon, and rye, distilled in 2017—were followed by a 2018 vintage of the core trio last year, as well as an explorative offshoot of Grain to Glass, its Specialty Barrel Series, that saw each whiskey fully mature in chinquapin oak. Now, Heaven Hill has once again retooled its vision of Grain to Glass with “Year of Wheat” 2026 cachet of releases that, yes, has wheat pulling focus.

As with the previous Grain to Glass collections, this one is comprised of three whiskeys. The first is the third edition of the wheated bourbon, a whiskey that, since its inception, has been made from 52% corn, 35% wheat, and 13% malted barley. The 2026 release builds on the foundation laid by its predecessors—they’re also aged for 6 years (in this case distilled in 2019), and entirely in no. 3 char American oak barrels—but now uses Beck’s 6269 corn, a varietal developed by Indiana-based retail seed company Beck’s Hybrids and grown by Peterson Farms in Nelson County, Kentucky. Master distiller Conor O’Driscoll pulled 170 barrels from the third, fourth, and fifth floors of warehouses W5 and W6, and bottled the whiskey at 53.5% ABV. It will hit shelves in June, with a suggested retail price of $100.

The second new Grain to Glass bourbon is also a wheater, and the same as the core wheated bourbon with one exception: it’s fully aged in char no.-3 French oak barrels. This release also comes from 170 barrels, taken from the fourth floor of warehouse W9. The whiskey is bottled at a slightly higher proof, coming in at a barrel strength of 54.6% ABV, and won’t be available until October, with a suggested retail price of $130.

Rounding out the trio of “Year of Wheat” whiskeys is an Extra Aged wheated bourbon, distilled in 2017 and matured for 9 years in char no.-3 American oak barrels. It’s the oldest release within Grain to Glass yet, and therefore also the most limited—the blend comprises 150 barrels, which hail from the third, fourth, and fifth floors of warehouse W3—and the most expensive, at $150. The mashbill harkens back to the very first release of Grain to Glass, as it uses the same varietal of Beck’s corn (Beck’s 6158). The lead time for Extra Aged is the longest: You’ll have to wait until December to get your hands on this whiskey.

Heaven Hill remains partnered with Farm Rescue, a nonprofit that supports farmers and ranchers, and is donating a portion of each sale of its Grain to Glass releases to the organization, up to $100,000 annually, and a goal of up to $300,000 by 2028.

Why is Heaven Hill celebrating a “Year of Wheat” now? It’s the 20^th anniversary of its Bernheim Original, a wheat whiskey that helped introduce the style when whiskey drinkers knew only wheated bourbons, and not 100% wheat whiskeys. As part of its celebration of wheat, the distillery debuted a couple of new Bernheim expressions earlier this year.