Heaven Hill's 22 Year Old Heritage Collection Among Its Oldest Whiskeys Yet

“There's a lot of very expensive whiskey with big fat age statements that taste like a dirty old stick,” says Heaven Hill master distiller Conor O'Driscoll. “Hopefully this does not fall into that category.”

O’Driscoll’s talking about the new Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 22 Year Old, the oldest expression yet under its Heritage Collection umbrella. Launched in 2022, and not to be confused with Heaven Hill’s Parker’s Heritage Collection, it’s an annual series that has become one of bourbon's most compelling showcases of ultra-mature bourbons. “We’re showing that aging whiskey long past where most people believe it can be done well is possible,” he adds.

The whiskey was distilled across three separate runs in February, July, and August of 2003, then aged on the fifth and sixth floors of Warehouse Y on Heaven Hill's main Bardstown campus. The 275 barrels selected for this release were bottled in December 2025 at barrel proof—a robust 64.6% ABV—and non-chill filtered. With an SRP of $319, the 22 year old will be available nationally in limited quantities—along with a small international allocation.

The nose is deep and balanced, with buttered pancakes, Corn Pops, cinnamon streusel, a tiny hint of mint, and straw notes. It’s more floral than you’d expect for a 22 year old whiskey; there’s a definite brightness to the dark copper liquid. With a delicious palate, it’s one of those pours where you reflexively close your eyes to savor the experience more. The whiskey sits on the tip of your tongue for a moment, with a lovely heft. Orange marmalade, butterscotch, black tea, and leather show up. White and black pepper arrive next, as the palate crescendos. There’s definitely barrel spice here and, while it’s grippy and chewy, it flirts with the overly tannic line but never crosses it. It also drinks below its 129.2 proof, closer to a 107. A splash of water coaxes out additional citrus oil flavors, intensifies the butterscotch into a syrupy note, and brings a bit of maraschino cherry out in the finish—and the finish is immensely long.

That flavor profile is the product of Heaven Hill’s traditional 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley mashbill, its sprawling inventory—what O’Driscoll calls “2.1 million honey holes”—and a selection process that borders on obsessive. Every barrel in a batch is tasted individually by the quality control team to determine if it earns a spot in the final blend. It takes only one off barrel to throw the whole thing, O'Driscoll notes. "It's a precision process."

The decision to release at 22 years wasn't made on a schedule, nor was increasing age statements on Heritage Collection bottles a requisite. Heaven Hill's innovation team checks in on aging whiskey repeatedly, waiting for it to peak. "We let the whiskey tell us," O'Driscoll says. The team has old barrels that they won't put in the Heritage Collection because the wood has taken over. Those barrels will find a home elsewhere, just not here.

An earlier Heritage Collection release, a 20 year old corn whiskey that O’Driscoll jokes is “Mellow Corn’s grandfather,” illustrated the team’s philosophy. It was first tasted at 15 years, where everyone loved what they saw, then watched it improve steadily through 17, 18, 19, and 20 years. Collectively, O’Driscoll and crew decided it had arrived at something sublime. "We should quit riding this and cash out right now," O'Driscoll recalls thinking.

Lastly, a unanimous decision is required, among 10 or more people in the room, before a whiskey earns the Heritage Collection designation. It's a passionate discussion, he says, not a rubber stamp.

Warehouse Y holds a particular place in the distillery's history. It used to be the main stop on the Bardstown tour; visitors would walk across the street and step inside for their tastings. O'Driscoll knows the building well, and speaks about it with the reverence of someone who's pulled enough great barrels from those upper floors to understand what they're capable of. "I've had sublime whiskey from Y," he says. "This 22 year old is the latest great example."

Although it’s the oldest whiskey yet in the Heritage Collection, this one is not quite as old as the Heaven Hill 27 year old launched in 2018, which remains the company’s oldest whiskey.