Parker’s Heritage Double Barreled Blend Review
“Parker’s Heritage Annual Release”
The 2022 Parker’s Heritage Double Barreled Blend is batch #16 of their annual releases. Each year features a different concept and flavor profile for the release. The Parker’s Heritage series is Heaven Hill’s opportunity to play with different whiskeys and techniques. Sometimes it is bourbon, but other times it may be a rye or wheat whiskey, or perhaps an American whiskey. Some batches feature a heavy char influence, other times it may be a blend or a finished whiskey. Regardless of the year’s theme, they are generally revered as high-quality, heavily sought after bottles to add to a connoisseur’s collection…if you can get one!
Spoiler alert: I’ve had this bottle for several years. It is one of my favorite pours, easily in the top 15 out of 850 whiskeys I’ve tasted. I’ve been slowly nursing it, not wanting to get to the bottom of the bottle. And I’m finally getting around to actually writing a review.
The bottle has a lengthy description from Heaven Hill about this release so I’ll post it verbatim for you to read:
“This edition consists of 67% 13-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey that has been double barreled for four weeks and then blended post aging with 33% 15-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. The 13-year-old Bourbon, from barrels produced in December 2008, was aged on the 5th-7th floors of Rickhouse Q and then re-barreled into new American white oak barrels with a level three char for four weeks. Then, it was later blended with 15-year-old Bourbon from barrels produced in January 2007 aged on the 2nd and 5th floors of Rickhouse II. The unique, bold flavor profile is balanced by the double barreled 13-year-old Bourbon, bringing out even more oak and spice notes from the barrel, with the 15-year-old Bourbon rounding out the older aged mouthfeel. At bottling, the liquid was uncut and non-chill filtered to preserve the complex flavors. This edition leads with an oak forward nose and hints of butterscotch and caramel, and once tasted is followed by a balance of spice notes, sweetness and slight oak tannins. The finish is long and warm with elements of dark chocolate, baking spices and white pepper. The mashbill for this edition is comprised of Heaven Hill Distillery’s traditional Bourbon mashbill 78% corn, 10% rye and 12% malted barley and ultimately bottled at barrel proof 132.2 or 66.1% alcohol by volume.”
– Heaven Hill
Series: Parker’s Heritage Annual Release Batch 16
Classification: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Age: Blend of 67% 13 years & 33% 15 years
Proof: 132.2
Proof Designation: Barrel Proof
Filtered Status: Non-Chill Filtered
Mash bill: 78% Corn, 10% Rye, 12% Malted Barley
Barrel Char Level: 3
Barrel Entry Proof: 125
Still Type: Continuous Column Stills
Distillate Source: Heaven Hill
Distillery: Old Heaven Hill Springs Distillery
Company: Heaven Hill
Bottled By: Old Heaven Hill Springs Distillery
Distilled/Aging Location: Bardstown, Kentucky
Master Distiller: Conor O’Driscoll
Release Date: December 2022
Batch Notes: batch size is approximately 150 barrels
MSRP: $175 (2023)
Secondary Market: $400 – $900
Availability: Low/Rare
Parker’s Heritage Double Barreled Blend Review
February 27, 2026
My tasting reviews are unique in that I include the notes of several well-known whiskey critics. The hope is that this format will help me and others to explore and expand their tasting experience. After you have taken your own tasting notes, read the reviews and see if there is a flavor note that others discerned that now you can detect as well.
For this tasting: Opened Bottle (about 2 years), Glencairn Glass, Neat, Room Temp, Breathe: 5 minutes
Legs
Beads formed on the crown at about 10 seconds, the first legs began to fall at 28 seconds, and the first legs reached the bowl at about 48 seconds.
Nose
The nose is lovely! Very complex with dark caramel, toffee, brandy-soaked vanilla, marshmallow, butterscotch, custard, a hint of graham cracker, chocolate, molasses, old oak, brown sugar, mild cinnamon, toasted oak, a hint of pecans, grape, fig, luxardo cherry, leather.
Other Reviewer’s Perceptions
Mash & Drum: It is fantastic on the nose. I am getting a ton of roasted marshmallows, thick rich caramel, sweet baking spice, a tad bit oaky, you do get the oak spice on the nose. But you don’t get an over-oaked presence on the nose. Vanilla extract. It has this molasses, pecan pie, brown sugar thing going on. It does not smell like its 132.2 proof.
Breaking Bourbon: Cherry | Rich mature oak | Caramelized sugar | Toasted marshmallow | Honey | Barrel aged maple syrup | Excellent
Amongst the Whiskey: Bountiful barrel funk emanates powerfully from the glass. Caramel, molasses, worn leather and aromas of a well-stocked woodshed. Soft hints of peanut brittle can be found behind subtle vanilla cupcake. Every evolution of oak can be perceived here from leaf to bark to grain to earth. Sugar cookie and buttery fried breading can be found later in the resting glass. Thus far solid, but unexceptional to my nose before jumping into a sip. Let’s do that now!
Returning to the nose I find the barrel funk has returned but with a lot of great company. Confectioners sugar, vanilla, browned toasted marshmallow and exceptionally sweet cherry skins. This has all the hallmarks of well-aged bourbon as leather seeps into my nostrils on a long inhale. A softness creeps into the glass as the remaining volume draws low; thick butterscotch sauce trails off before materializing too clearly. The empty glass smells of honeysuckle, smoke, leather, old linens, and a hint of sweet licorice.
Palate
The palate is equally amazing and complex with dark caramel, toffee, chocolate, baking spices, cinnamon, white pepper, fig, sweet cherry, grape, molasses, a hint of licorice, toasted oak, barrel char, leather, tobacco, and a mild note of pecans.
Other Reviewer’s Perceptions
Mash & Drum: Oh, there’s the proof! The proof is on the palate. It is sweet. A lot of molasses, a lot of caramel, deep rich brown sugars. There is a very nice rich spice to it that I really dig. Rich dark flavors. A little pop or dark fruit hit the front of the palate. Maybe like a cherry or raspberry. Chocolate Cadbury Egg. The surprising thing about this bourbon is how un-oaky it is.
Breaking Bourbon: Pecan pie | Dark cherry | Robust vanilla | Leather | Nutmeg | Thick & potent
Amongst the Whiskey: This certainly doesn’t try to hide the fact it is sitting up at 132.2 proof. Cask strength lovers are in for a rich wave of dark fruit and spice like a well made mulled wine on first sip. Raspberry, plum, clove and allspice meet in a pretty lovely concoction. The mouthfeel is thick and jammy which leaves a sticky, long, tart-sweet linger sitting heavy on the tongue. Another sip is again fruit forward with cherry skins, tannic red grape and fig undulating softly. A sharper spice swings in after the fruit and tingles the tongue with a shimmer of tarragon, cardamom and nutmeg. A touch of salted cashew gives an interesting complexity that undulates between a thick, oily mouthfeel and the shock of a sprinkle of salinity. There are great meanderings between bakery sweets and the fruit concoctions all throughout this glass.
A larger sip and swish certainly turns up the heat to a point where this would likely not be approachable to all, but it should be well in hand for an experienced whiskey drinker. Triangulating between the three pillars of this pour I taste through the backbone of this pour: solid, funky oak, typical Heaven Hill vanilla and the mulled wine fruit notes all culminate in a very tasty dram. My last sip has the big wave of raspberry again, nuanced slightly with blackberry and fig. It’s big, bold and delicious.
Finish
The finish is exceptionally long and pleasant with vanilla, baking spices, chocolate, grape, leather, cherry, and mild barrel char.
Other Reviewer’s Perceptions
Mash & Drum: What I’m loving on this is the finish. You know that I love a good finish. The finish is really impressive. It’s not heat, its a lot of flavor, a lot of baking spice. This is cinnamon, nutmeg, a little more molasses on the back end.
Breaking Bourbon: Spicy mature oak | Barrel char | Cinnamon | Black peppercorn | Long & full of heat
Amongst the Whiskey: The linger is dark and moody with plum pudding, sticky honey and slightly savory baking spices.
Mouthfeel
The mouthfeel is Silken. The alcohol heat and the baking spices break-through the mouthfeel. I wish that it coated the tongue just a little bit better to fight off the heat of the pour. But it is still good!
Mouthfeel Rating Guide: Thin = Watery | Silken = smooth & slippery, but not mouth coating | Creamy = coats the tongue like heavy cream does. | Rich or Unctuous = coats the entire palate like quality olive oil
The Burn
Average. This means that the burn from the alcohol is about what I would expect it to be. I would guess this to be around 125 -130 proof.
The Burn Rating Guide:
Very Low = it drinks like it is a much lower proof
Low = it drinks like it is a little lower proof
Average = the heat is about what I would expect
Hot = it is hotter than what I would expect
Scorching! = it drinks much hotter than what I would expect
Tasting Summary
Sweet flavors of dark caramel, toffee and dark chocolate hit the palate first, quickly followed by baking spices with cinnamon, anise, and black pepper which transitions into old leather, some tobacco, toasted oak. There is also some fruit in the form of grape and cherry as well as a hint of pecans.
My Rating – 9.6
The higher the score the better the whiskey is in my opinion. For reference, my best rated bottle so far is the George T. Stagg 2022 (138.7p) with a score of 9.7.
| Score Type | Score | Examples |
| Likability Score | 9.6 | 1.0 – 10.0 |
My Tasting Notes
A blank version of this tasting notes wheel is available in both a color and a black & white version in the member’s area.
Notes and History
The Parker’s Heritage Collection was launched in 2007 as a premium, annual limited-edition whiskey release from Heaven Hill Distillery honoring late Master Distiller Parker Beam. The series was created to showcase premium, rare, innovative, high-aged, and uniquely finished bourbons, ryes, and wheated whiskeys, the series has raised over $1 million for ALS research.
Following Parker Beam’s 2010 ALS diagnosis and his 2017 passing, the series became a key fundraiser for ALS research (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), particularly the “Promise of Hope” (7th edition).
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