Review: Parker’s Heritage Collection Kentucky Straight American Whiskey 11 Years Old (2025)
Whiskey season 2025 is upon us, and with its arrival we launch into the 19th edition of Parker’s Heritage Collection, which is a regular highlight of the fall.
This year’s release is billed as a Kentucky Straight American Whiskey — a blend of three mashbills that represent a mix of expected and unusual whiskeys from the Heaven Hill stable.
The edition is comprised of 160 barrels drawn from multiple rickhouses and floors across Heaven Hill’s rickhouse sites. That includes a 15-year-old Kentucky straight wheated bourbon, aged in Rickhouse A; an 11-year-old Kentucky straight corn whiskey aged in Rickhouses DD, GG, and BB; and a 12-year-old oddball whiskey aged in Rickhouse Y, made from only two grains — rye and malt.
These were all aged separately then blended before bottling. There’s no information on the proportions of each whiskey in the final blend.
As has long been the case, a portion of the proceeds from each bottle sold is donated to the ALS Association, which honors Parker Beam, who passed away in 2013.
Let’s get into it.
Parker’s Heritage Collection Kentucky Straight American Whiskey 11 Years Old (2025) Review
The nose of this whiskey connotes a rye-heavy bourbon, and I doubt anyone nosing it blind would expect it to be anything else. While heavy with spicy rye notes, laced with graphite and anise, the grittier elements overlay a traditional core of vanilla and caramel that aren’t far from view. The influence of barrel char is significant, though, and the whiskey has an enduring punch of well-scorched wood throughout. Time in glass helps to temper some of the obvious heat.
On the palate, these flavors all swirl in and out of focus, but the whiskey slowly coalesces around notes of dark chocolate, dried plum, and some minerally earth. Tannic and biting, the barrel char overtones continue to dominate, leaving behind a peppery, gravelly quality that clings to back of the palate. I knew from the start that water would be a definitive addition to this whiskey and it’s almost a prerequisite here. Sure enough, a healthy splash coaxes out some notes of orange peel alongside stronger flavors of vanilla, caramel, and bittersweet chocolate. The finish concludes with touches of dark roast coffee, more of a Dutch process cocoa powder element, and the lightest hint of mint.
Take a sip of Parker’s #19 at full proof, but have some water standing by to dose it as you drink. It can stand a lot of it — and it seems to improve with every drop.
122.5 proof.
A- / $180
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