Whiskey Review: Holladay Soft Red Wheat Bottled-In-Bond Missouri Straight Bourbon Whiskey

As we’re moving into the colder and darker months of the year, it’s about the right time to start grabbing for the darker and richer spirits. That’s what makes this time of year perfect for a good bottled-in-bond bourbon, something that not only has had nearly half a decade in a charred oak barrel but also is guaranteed to have not been proofed down and diluted to oblivion. And today we’re going to look at a relatively new offering in that category: Holladay Bottled-In-Bond Missouri Straight Bourbon Whiskey

History

Born in 1819 in Kentucky, Ben Holladay built a career in the transportation business and eventually became known as the “Stagecoach King”, founding and operating many of the famous stagecoach routes including the Pony Express and many of his routes would eventually become the route network for Wells Fargo.

One of his earliest business ventures was the establishment of a hotel and tavern which he opened in Weston, Missouri in 1840. Almost two decades later in 1857, he and his brother David established a distillery on the site after noticing the remarkable limestone structures and clear waters available on the property, calling it the Blue Springs Distillery. They even repurposed some limestone caves on the property that had once been used to age meat and instead used them for maturing their new whiskey.

The distillery would change hands over the years, staying within the Holladay family until 1900 when it was purchased by George Shawhan and renamed the Shawhan distillery (after a distillery of his that he previously owned that had since burned down). It changed hands a number of times in the intervening years, with the original distillery building burning down in 1957 during a distillery fire, before being placed on the national register of historic places in 1974. Bourbon production ceased at the distillery in 1985, instead deciding to focus on cheaper spirits.

In 1995, a group of investors led by Michael Griesser and Edward Pechar purchased the facility and started focusing on building the business. They closed the doors to the public in the 1990’s and renovated the facility, culminating in the reopening of the doors in 2016 as the re-branded and refreshed Holladay Distillery, and once again began producing bourbon on site.

Product

• Learn More: What Is Bourbon Whiskey?

This bottle is technically a Missouri Straight Bourbon Whiskey, which is one of the newest protected appellations for spirits. Enacted in 2019 by the Missouri legislature, the label designation requires that all of the corn used in this bourbon comes from the state of Missouri and all of the manufacturing processes have to take place in the state.

As a bourbon, this is required to have at least 51% of the source materials be corn and the rest from some kind of grain. In this case, the distillery tells us that the actual mash bill is 73% corn, 15% wheat, and 12% barley. Those grains are milled, cooked, and fermented to create a mildly alcoholic liquid that is then distilled to create the raw white whiskey.

The fact that this is labeled as a “bottled-in-bond” spirit adds some additional hefty restrictions to the manufacturing process, all intended to create a higher quality product. First, all of the spirit in the bottle needs to come from a single six month “distilling season”. That spirit is then placed into new charred oak barrels and aged in a warehouse for a period of at least four years before being bottled at no less than 50% ABV at the same facility where it was distilled.

Notably Holladay deviates from this formula in one important way: the spirit is actually aged for six years instead of four.

Packaging

Generally speaking, the bottle here isn’t breaking any boundaries when it comes to design features. The overall design is a common whiskey bottle shape, with the only notable difference being the fact that the name of the distillery is embossed into the glass at the bottom of the bottle. Otherwise, this is a standard, roughly cylindrical shape with curved shoulders, a medium length neck, and capped with a plastic screw-on top.

What I do like is the labeling. The design of this label seems to be reminiscent of the 1950’s with simple bold colors and an illustrative style. Alongside the main label is a sticker slapped on (slightly askew) which details the production particulars of the spirit inside — which year it’s from, how long it was matured, and even which floor of the rickhouse the barrels were stationed. It’s a nice touch that makes the bottle feel a little bit more hand-crafted.

Neat

This whiskey has a beautiful rusty brown color to it, like well oxidized steel. After pouring a glass, I start to get some interesting aromas: cedar chips, peanuts, slightly charred brown sugar, vanilla, and a touch of dark chocolate. It’s all presented with this velvety texture to the aroma, something that I usually see with wheated whiskies.

Taking a sip, I initially only get the darker and richer flavors. The combination of brown sugar and dark chocolate seems to add a bit of a bitter charring to the sweetness, but that does get balanced out with some nice vanilla near the finish. After repeated sips, I start to get some additional sourdough bread notes, and those cedar chips do add a touch of aromatics to an otherwise darker flavor profile.

On reflection, I think the dark chocolate is slightly overpowering the other flavors here. That, plus the cedar chips, almost give this a cherry-medicine taste in my opinion, and I find it a bit much.

On Ice

There can be a lot of very powerful flavors in a bottled-in-bond whiskey, and usually a bit of ice helps mellow things out. In this case, I do think the ice helps, but the flavors are still almost overpowering.

After adding some ice, the two flavors that stand out the most are the dark chocolate and the brown sugar. Everything else seems to have melted into the background, with the possible exception of a tiny bit of the cedar chips sticking around. The good news is that the medicinal aspects are completely gone, but these flavors are still not exactly what I would call enjoyable.

They exist, and they are well saturated, but there’s not much balance. Unfortunately, the dark chocolate still has some bitterness to it — but hopefully that’s something that can be addressed in a cocktail.

Cocktail (Old Fashioned)

I’m a fan of a darker, richer bourbon in my old fashioned. COmpared to some of the lighter, easier sipping whiskeys, I think this flavor profile lends itself much better to this cocktail and makes for a more interesting and well balanced presentation — and that’s exactly what I’m getting here.

On the positive side, there’s a good balance between the dark chocolate, brown sugar, and the aromatics in the bitters in this cocktail. There’s enough on each end of that spectrum to keep it interesting and also to keep each other in check, which is ideal. Add a touch of sugar (as you should) and it’s a fine cocktail.

What I’m not super jazzed about is that there isn’t much complexity to the cocktail. Other than the surface flavors, I’m not getting anything new or interesting. It’s a fine cocktail, but it isn’t knocking my socks off.

Fizz (Mule)

The same things that make for a great old fashioned don’t necessarily make for a great mule. In this case, we’re typically looking for a lighter and more refreshing drink — less of a seedy smoke-filled room vibe and more of a beachy vibe. That said, while there are some issues here, this version isn’t a total write-off.

We’ve definitely got some good balance to the flavors, with the deeper and richer elements from the bourbon nicely counteracting the bright and cheerful ginger beer and lime juice. They also provide some interesting flavors above and beyond what’s already there, with the dark chocolate especially being a new addition to the family. But there’s nothing interesting in terms of any spice or texture on the finish, and the darker flavors do have the effect of dragging this down a bit and putting a damper on the fun.

It’s acting more like a sour cocktail and less like a fizzy party drink.

Overall Rating

It’s probably best to compare this to a “good” bottled-in-bond whiskey around this same price point, and the best comparison I have is Still Austin’s version from a few years ago. We rated it as a middle-of-the-road three star offering, and I can’t honestly say that this is better.

What we have here is a bourbon that really has two flavors: dark chocolate and brown sugar. There are some other elements around the edges, but really those two flavors are the stars of the show. Everything else is just dressing to the salad. And that’s fine — those flavors make for some good cocktails, and can be very useful if you’re looking for a specific flavor profile.

My complaint is that there’s nothing really interesting or unique. The two main flavors are just duking it out in center stage without any room around the edges for anything else, and I know that this category of whiskey could (and should) be more complex and tasty.

If you just need something for a good old fashioned, this will work. But I’d suggest you check out some of the other options as well.

All reviews are evaluated within the context of their specific spirit classification as specified above. Click here to check out similar spirits we have reviewed.

Overall Rating: 2/5
Brown sugar and dark chocolate, with some hints of other flavors scattered around.