Parker’s Heritage Collection 9 Malt Whiskey

Thanks to /u/devoz for this sample.

So contrary to the flack I’ve been handing out to some Bourbon’s lately, I do enjoy them. Really. Sure, I enjoy other whiskies more, but that’s neither here nor there.

So I’ve decided I haven’t angered enough people, and thus have continued reviewing them. Yay me.

Today we have the newest yearly special (unless you’re reading this after October 2016… then PEER INTO THE PAST, TIME TRAVELER!), Parker’s Heritage Collection 9 Malt Whiskey.

But really, what does that mean? Reviewing? Time traveling? You’re already confused, and I haven’t even mentioned dick eating yet.

I guess I have now. Now you’re more confused but slightly turned on. Unless you’re not into dicks. I wish I could show you a video of me messily eating a peach to make up for that.

But I can’t.

Stay on topic TOMODERA!

Okay, so, let’s get through this together then.

Heaven Hill releases a yearly special, ‘limited’ edition of whiskey named after Parker Beam. He is a 5th generation Master Distiller who has worked distilling for more than 5 decades. He’s joined by his son, Craig Beam at Heaven Hill.

That’s a fucking legacy to live up to. Goddamn.

The reason I say this is “limited” is this release was “limited” like your Tahoe is “limited”. There was 141 barrels used and over 14,000 bottles. Sure, it won’t be made again, but some previous batches were a lot more limited.

Note the lack of quotes.

Okay, so each year is different. This year’s is a Malt Whiskey. What, pray tell oh reviewer of annoyance, is a Malt Whiskey? Well I’ll tell you.

The US defines a Malt Whiskey as:

a whisky produced at an alcohol by volume (abv) level not exceeding 80% from a fermented mash of not less than 51% malted barley grain and stored for aging in charred new oak containers at less than 62.5% abv.

So the majority of this whiskey is malt. Note it’s not a single malt, and thus has a mixture of malted mash in it.

And all the other stuff? That’s my sad attempt to write and add levity to reviews so that they aren’t as boring as dishwater.

But enough of that. You came here for peach eating videos and a review, and I clearly don’t have a peach eating video, so let’s see how this one tastes, shall we!

Price: N/A in Ontario

Age: 8 years

Region: Kentucky

Abv: 54%

Mashbill: 65% malt, 35% corn

Colour: 10Y 5/6

Nose: Caramel, mini wheats, pear, celeriac, charred chicken, wood, peach cobbler

There’s a lot going on in the nose, which I’m impressed by. This was aged in new oak, it’s 8 years old, and yet it rivals some Single Malt noses. Nicely done.

At first I wrote “cheap sugar, cereal” and then realized that’s Mini Wheats to a tea. Well, to a cereal, rather. None the less, felt right to say that here. And the earthy aspect is sweeter, so that’s where the celeriac came from.

The rest is just me tripping on life man.

Taste: Peach drink, maple sugar, wood, fruity pebbles, milk

Sweet. Quite sweet. Note overly sweet, but pretty sweet. Probably too sweet if you don’t like really sweet.

What I’m saying is this is sweet. There’s some of the complexity from the nose, however the wood, cream, and sweet aspects pretty much take over. The age is shown here. Or maybe it isn’t. Maybe they wanted Peach Sweet Tea and to blow stuff up.

Who am I to judge? But seriously, it’s nice to sip on a warm day.

Finish: Wheat, lime zest, wood, chocolate, cinnamon, orange

Yes, I know there’s no wheat in the mashbill. Yes I still tasted wheat. You can click away from my review at any time.

Again, sweet, however this time it’s tempered with some citrus and takes the taste to a next level. Not too strong or anything, just nice finish to end it all.

Conclusion: The nose is the star of this one, and the finish is where I like my drams. That all said, if you’re not into sweeter drams, skip this one. It’s just not for you.

All in all, this is a good end to an experiment. The amount of quality they can get out of it is impressive, to say the least. An oddity to be sure. I’d say try a dram before you buy, as there’s a lot of places that just hit the right combo for me, and I understand others may not feel the same way.

But for me, this was tasty, and I’d consider a bottle. Oh well, probably going to have to hunt down the 10th edition.

83/100

Bourbon review #135, Kentucky review #93, Whiskey Network review #769