It’s that time of year again: a magical time of pumpkin spiced lattes, dollar store skeletons, and reruns of Boris Karloff’s 1932 version of The Mummy. Here at Thirty-One Whiskey, we usually celebrate this spooky season by taking a frightening trip along the bottom shelf of the liquor store and trying to scare our taste buds, so today is the first installment of that terrifying experience with some help from a bottle suspiciously named “Quality House” that I’ve never heard of before.
History
Established in 1935, shortly after the end of prohibition, Old Heavenhill Springs Distillery was founded by a group of investors in Bardstown, Kentucky. They were gambling on the idea that alcohol production would become a booming business post-prohibition and so invested heavily in being one of the first companies to stand up and service that market. One of those investors was well known distiller Joseph L. Beam, first cousin to Jim Beam, and would become the first master distiller of the facility.
As the years went on, the Shapira family bought out all of the other investors (including the Beams) to become the sole owner of the business and changed the name to “Heaven Hill Distillery”. Despite being bought out, though, the descendants of Joseph Beam remain the master distillers of the facility to this day.
Their primary distilling facility burned down in 1996, destroying 90,000 barrels of whiskey and lighting the creek that feeds the distillery on fire for nearly two miles downstream. But the business survived and in 1999 they purchased from Diageo a new distillery in Bernheim, where production now takes place (but all aging still takes place at the original Bardstown facility).
That 1935 bet has paid off big. Heaven Hill Distillery is currently the largest family-owned distillery in the United States and the second largest holder of bourbon whiskey inventory in the world. Their flagship brands include Deep Eddy vodka and Elijah Craig, and their facility hosts the annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival.
Quality House is an in-house brand from Heaven Hill. Previously Heaven Hill had released a Bottled-in-Bond version of their bourbon dubbed their “Old Style Bourbon” that was well received, but that line was discontinued in 2018. The following year they launched a new line of bourbon under the new “Quality House” brand with the same “Old Style Bourbon” name, but without the Bottled-in-Bond designation. Generally the branding on the bottle remains the same as the original version, just with the new “Quality House” brand name slapped where it used to say “Heaven Hill”.
Product
- Learn More: What Is Bourbon Whiskey?
From what we can gather, this seems to be a re-bottling of Heaven Hill Distillery’s standard bourbon — just at a lower price point than normal.
As a Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey, this is required to start with a mash bill that contains a minimum of 51% corn. Reportedly, the whiskey we’re dealing with is Heaven Hill’s standard mash bill, which should be 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley. Those grains are cooked and fermented to create a mildly alcoholic liquid that is then distilled to create the newly made whiskey.
You might notice the term “sour mash” on the bottle, which is a reference to the practice of using the leftover from previous distillation runs to supercharge next vats of fermentation. It’s a traditional technique in Kentucky distilling, and one that tends to make for a more flavorful and consistent spirit.
After distillation, that newly made whiskey is placed into new charred oak barrels for a period of time to mature. The previous versions of this brand had a “Bottled-in-Bond” label that placed some strict requirements around how long the whiskey needs to be matured and other quality improving restrictions — but instead, this is just a “straight bourbon” which only needs four years in the barrel before bottling (and it doesn’t otherwise specify a time on the label).
Prior to being placed in the barrel, one additional feature is that this whiskey seems to have been “charcoal filtered”. This is a process in which the raw spirit is filtered through heaps of charcoal, which removes impurities and generally improves the taste. It’s something you’d see as a requirement with a Tennessee whiskey like Jack Daniels, but typically not something common to Kentucky bourbon.
Packaging
This bottle instantly reminds me of Evan Williams, another Heaven Hill product. And frankly, that might not be the worst thing.
The bottle is a carbon copy of Evan Williams, except done a little bit more cheaply. There’s still the rectangular body, rounded shoulder, and long neck, but the embossing of the brand name into the bottle that we saw with Evan Williams is missing here.
Moving on to the label, this is the exact same label that Heaven Hill had for their previous “Old Style Bourbon” that they discontinued in 2018, with the exception of some minor tweaks. Generally speaking, it feels like something straight out of the 1950’s that hasn’t changed at all, just like their J.W. Dant label or Kentucky Deluxe. Big bold letters on a white background, and a faux heraldic crest in the middle of the label. The only changes are the name (swapped to the “Quality House” brand), and the initials in the crest which are now “QH” instead of “HH”.
Most worryingly for me, the tag line of this bourbon seems to be “Best of the Great”. Which sounds like something you tell your kid that just got a C+ in math class.
Neat
On first glance, things are looking pretty good. The liquid is a nice light amber color in the glass, not quite the rusty orange I prefer but still darker than a Scottish malt whisky. The aromas coming off that glass are simple and sweet: intense caramel, with some vanilla and banana hints thrown in for good measure.
Those same components are pretty much the same in the flavor profile as well. There’s an intensely sweet caramel that turns into something closer to brown sugar, followed by some vanilla and then a hint of apple and banana for added fruitiness. There are also some baking spices that make an appearance near the finish — specifically cinnamon, black pepper, and allspice.
It’s a simple mix of flavors, and one that won’t necessarily cook your noodle trying to tease out all the complexities. While I don’t think I’d voluntarily waste the calories on a glass of this neat, I also wouldn’t be offended if someone offered me a glass.
On Ice
I’m honestly surprised — with a little bit of ice, I’d expect the flavor profile to become simpler and flatter, but instead this seems to have awakened some of the oak flavors within the spirit.
I’m getting much more of the black pepper spice and baking spices, with some hints of cedar chips. These are supported by some nice brown sugar, and on the finish the vanilla comes in a touch too hot and actually makes it taste slightly like a bit of that burnt brown sugar you can find on the top of a creme brulee. It makes for just a hint of bitter flavor on the finish now, but there’s some actual complexity to work with for future cocktails.
What was flat and boring when taken neat is surprisingly deeper and richer on the rocks.
Cocktail (Old Fashioned)
I think the best word to describe this is “passable”. It’s not great, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t drinkable.
What’s really saving this cocktail’s bacon is that darker note that we saw come out with the added ice. That vanilla note is what the bitters needed to balance out properly and add some depth to the cocktail rather than just being a light and fruity forgettable experience with some herbal notes. Throw in the baking spices and the brown sugar and the resulting cocktail is something that I wouldn’t object to being served at a party.
If I were to improve this, I think some additional rich fruity notes would be what I wanted. That might be something you can add with some maraschino cherries, or — crazy thought here — you could just start with a better whiskey.
Fizz (Mule)
There’s something strange going on here, and I had to re-make this cocktail to make sure it wasn’t one of the other ingredients.
On its face, this is fine. There’s a good balance between the bourbon, the ginger beer, and the lime juice that makes for a drinkable and refreshing cocktail. The bourbon also brings some of those dark chocolate and brown sugar notes out to play, and adds some distinctive flavors that are much more than you’d find in a vodka based version of this cocktail.
What’s strange is the finish and aftertaste. There a plastic-y flavor in here that is keeping this from being as refreshing as I’d like and is throwing off the vibe. If I had to get more specific, I’d say that the cedar chips and the lime juice are combining to make a flavor that I’m not quite happy with, and that’s unfortunate.
Overall Rating
It’s pretty transparent that this branding change happened so that Heaven Hill could reduce the quality of spirits that they are putting in the bottle here. Instead of a “Bottled-in-Bond” bourbon with a six-year age statement (as this used to be) this is now simply a “straight bourbon” with less strict requirements.
The proof, as they say, is in the pudding — or the bottle, in this case. This seems to be performing like a version of Jack Daniels that went a little lighter on the banana and a little heavier on the baking spices. It isn’t quite as good sipping neat, but on the rocks some interesting depth and richness appears that makes this useful for some good cheap cocktails.
And there’s the real value proposition here. This bottle is dirt cheap — I paid a whopping $8.75 for it at my local liquor store. The only thing I’ve ever tried that was cheaper was a bottle of Kentucky Tavern. And for that price, I really can’t fault it. There’s enough flavor to make passable cocktails, it isn’t offensive taken neat, and I would voluntarily drink this again — all of which is high praise for a bottom shelf bourbon.
| Quality House Old Style Bourbon Production Location: Kentucky, United States Classification: Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aging: No Age Statement (NAS) Proof: 40% ABV Price: $8.75 / 750 ml   |
Overall Rating: 4/5
A simple bourbon with some simple flavors that’s most remarkable for it’s extremely affordable price point.
I agree, it can not be beat for the price
There is a 36 months age statement on the label on the neck of the bottle.
In a blind taste test, on 6 of the bottom shelf bourbons, Quality House Bourbon came out on top with my Bourbon buddies. In a second test, with 2nd shelf Bourbons, we included Quality House, it continued to to be a hit!