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This week on the Bourbon Bytes podcast, it’s my birthday episode, and whiskey news got weird in the best way. Stitzel-Weller just announced a 31-year-old bourbon bottled at a wild 163.2 proof with a $3,000 price tag. Jack Daniel’s is teaming up with McLaren for the limited-edition Halo MK1 Tennessee Whiskey, and in gaming news, the new Steam Controller is already selling out while Halo 2 and Halo 3 remake rumors are heating up. Then I dive into a Byte-Sized Review of Bernheim 20th Anniversary Wheat Whiskey from Heaven Hill. This limited-edition Bernheim is 10 years old, bottled at 115 proof, and celebrates 20 years of one of the most unique American whiskey styles. I went in curious, but this one seriously surprised me with rich caramel, Halloween candy sweetness, balanced spice, and a finish that made me wonder why Bernheim doesn’t get more love. Topics covered: • Stitzel Reserve 31 Year Bourbon at 163.2 proof • Jack Daniel’s x McLaren Halo MK1 Tennessee Whiskey • New Steam Controller selling out • Halo 2 and Halo 3 remake rumors • Bernheim 20th Anniversary Wheat Whiskey review • Final score and whether it’s worth hunting Would you pay $3,000 for a 31-year-old bourbon, or would you rather hunt down this Bernheim? YouTube Chapter Markers 00:00 Intro – Stitzel Reserve, Jack Daniel’s & Bernheim 00:28 Welcome to the Bourbon Bytes Podcast 01:17 Stitzel Reserve 31 Year Bourbon at 163.2 Proof 03:33 Jack Daniel’s x McLaren Halo MK1 Whiskey 05:38 New Steam Controller Sells Out 07:25 Halo 2 & Halo 3 Remake Rumors 08:49 Byte-Sized Review: Bernheim 20th Anniversary Wheat Whiskey 16:37 Byte Club Shoutout + Outro
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Today on the Bourbon Bites Podcast, I'm talking about the $3,000 bottle of Stitzel Weller 31
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Year, the new Jack Daniels McLaren release. Plus, I have a bite-sized review of the new Bernheim 20th Anniversary Wheat Whiskey
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hello everyone and welcome to the bourbon bites podcast i'm your host clifton and this is the week
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of thursday may 7th 2026 yes this is coming out on my birthday it's also the day i'm going to do a
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live birthday stream which is always fun to do i think this year i'm going to open it up to a pub
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style stream where i invite you guys on with a stream yard link to come join me for a pour or two
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and uh see where we end up so check that out tonight on youtube youtube.com slash bourbon
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bites or catch the replay if you didn't make it but i'm celebrating my birthday week with lots of
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new news in the world of whiskey and video games that's right we got some video game news this time
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as well so it should be a fun episode so get you a glass poured or a cup of coffee depending on when
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you're listening to this and let's get into the hottest topics of this week. The first of which
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is one that I would love to receive as a birthday gift if any of you are feeling generous. Stitzel
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Weller has announced the release of their 31 year old bourbon whiskey. This is going to be sold
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exclusively at their distillery in Louisville for $3,000 per bottle with a limit of one per person
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Now, they had an inaugural 24-year-old release that came out about a year ago, so this is a further extension of their rare and collectible whiskeys from Stitzelweller
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This bourbon was actually distilled one year before I was in 1992
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It's by a historic Kentucky bourbon producer and aged on-site at the Stitzelweller Distillery for more than three decades
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It comes from just 13 barrels and offers a singular example of what extended time an
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oak can achieve. So they don't name exactly where this is from, but I'm sure people can make some guesses
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based on the whiskey that was available at the time. But here's the crazy part, okay
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Here's the part that I think is not getting enough attention because everyone's talking
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about the fact that it's 31 years old, but wait until you hear the proof. This one is bottled at 163.2 proof, or for those of you that prefer ABV, 81.6% ABV
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That's the highest proof aged spirit I've ever heard of. And I've had some really high proof hazmat light whiskey
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But this blows all of that away. This is going to go on sale on April 30th, so it's probably already sold out by now
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let's be real. But they do have a tasting experience at the Garden and Gun Club on site for $350 a person
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But after 31 years of age, that water has evaporated. And it's left hardly anything except the alcohol itself
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That is pretty crazy. I can't imagine how dense and rich a whiskey like that tastes
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I almost hesitate to ask, is it even good at that point? You know, it's hyper-aged, it's extremely oaked, and it has lost a lot of its water content
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But I would absolutely love a chance to try something like that
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If any of you are near the distillery and want to do that $350 tasting, let me know how it is because I just I can't imagine how this tastes after all that time and that proof
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Wowza. Speaking of other high-end whiskey, Jack Daniels has announced a new collaboration with McLaren
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for the new Halo MK1 Tennessee Whiskey, which is a super premium limited release in partnership
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with the McLaren MasterCard Formula One team. This is a one liter bottle and it's coming in
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at just under $600, which in the scheme of things is a little more affordable than that
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Since a Weller bottle, but it's representation of the most premium and limited global release
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in Jack Daniel's history. It features a custom engineered packaging inspired by the halo
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structure of the McLaren F1 race car. Materials integrated into the design include alloy metal
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micro suede, and carbon fiber print, all drawn from those used to construct the McLaren's cars
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Each bottle features a hand cork and custom medallions And all this sounds great but you realize that it doesn actually tell you much about the whiskey itself It very much the packaging right Like this comes in a
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very cool custom designed, I guess, case box. I don't even know what you would call it because
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it's kind of open on all the sides, but it looks really, really nice. Don't get me wrong. But let's
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get into what's in the actual bottle because I think that's also what matters. This is their
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standard Jack Daniels mash bill. Of course, it goes through their charcoal mellowing process
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This one's bottled at 58.7% ABV or 117.4 proof. They do say that this has an extended stave aging process
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where the staves are aged in open air for a prolonged period. It's prior to the toasting of the barrels
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but it's supposed to produce a smoother palette and a bolder color, aroma, and flavor
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Now, if you do want to get your hands on this, it is available in select global markets in limited quantities
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So not exactly sure how to get it, but keep an eye out. I see some stores listing it online for $699, so $100 over MSRP
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So it's definitely possible to get. It's just, is that where you want to spend your money
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I don't know. It depends how much of a fan of McLaren you are. But it does look really sexy, not going to lie
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Speaking of sexy or not sexy, have you guys seen the new Steam controller that just came out
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So they just launched this controller. It's coming out for about $100, and it's already sold out in most major markets
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So this was a special release that came out this past Monday and it sold out
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The site went down. Everyone was trying to get their hands on it. And now people are actually selling it on secondary market
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So not just whiskey is sold on the secondary market. We now have controllers selling on the secondary market
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So they're selling for as much as three and a half times the cost of this release
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Now, do I think they're probably going to come out with more of these to keep up with the demand? Sure. But what I think is crazy is this controller is not the sexiest
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I know I teased it with being sexy, but if you look at it, it's very blocky. It's very reminiscent of like an Xbox controller
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but it has a bunch of custom buttons on the back that you can map to different controls on PC
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as well as these two touchpads on the center below the toggles on it
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So it's a very, very strange looking controller, but people swear by it
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I'm seeing in reviews it's actually doing much better than people anticipated. There's a review on Video Games Chronicle
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They say the Steam controller is somehow both the most and least versatile PC controller
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They gave it a 4 out of 5 stars. So it's definitely one that you're going to have to get used to
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It's probably meant for two-handed players. For those of you who don't know, I am a right-arm amputee
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so I hold my controller a little bit differently than other people. So I tend to hold it a little bit sideways
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I don't think this controller would work very well for someone like me. Let me know what you think
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Do you think this looks like a really advanced gaming controller? Or do you think it just looks strange and weird and awkward
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I don't know. I've heard mixed things, but it's selling out everywhere. So if you get your hands on it, let me know how it is
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And I do have one last piece of gaming news since we're on the topic
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Halo Studios is reportedly actively developing remakes of both Halo 2 and Halo 3
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Now, this has not been confirmed by the studios. It's actually a report based on a YouTuber, Rebs Gaming, who says he received proof from sources that the entire Halo trilogy is receiving the remake treatment
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So back in October of 2024, they did announce that they were working on multiple Halo games in the Unreal Engine 5
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And they also announced Halo Campaign Evolved, which was a remake of the campaign mode of the first Halo game
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It's set for a 2026 release, but beyond that, they've not talked about any other remakes
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Well, according to this rumor, who claims he has proof that it's actually true based on his sources
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again, this is all speculation, they're also working on remakes of Halo 2 and Halo 3
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So I figured, actually this came up when I was looking up the Halo Jack Daniels
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but then I saw this news, so I was like, I had to share that too. So we're double Halo themed here today
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Alright, well that pretty much does it for this week's news. Like I said last week, I have a new newsbot on my Discord server that pulls in news stories throughout the week
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So I've been sharing those, commenting on those. If you want to join our Discord server, hey, welcome to the community
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It's a great whiskey community of whiskey-loving friends. You can go to bourbonbytes.com
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There's a link at the top that says visit the Bourbon Bytes Discord server. There's a lot more where this one came from
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Check it out. All right well that does it for this week news stories Let get into our bite review
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Alright, well this bite-sized review is actually from a bottle that I announced on the podcast probably a couple months ago
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This is the new Bernheim Wheat Whiskey. It's their 20th anniversary limited edition release
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It was announced back in February, but this is a 10-year-old edition of Bernheim Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey from Heaven Hill Distillery
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Now, if you've been following Bernheim, they've been doing a lot of cask-strength releases
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They've got kind of mixed reviews, but what I've heard online, this 10-year version beats out all of those barrel-proof releases
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So I'm very excited to give it a try. It was about $80. I think retail on it's $85, somewhere around there
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But it's bottled at 115 proof. So while I'm a little disappointed that it's the 20th anniversary release, but just 10 years old, I'll have to settle
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At least they give us that higher proof, right? I love a high proof and high aged spirit
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I think it gives us a great opportunity to try it at its best
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So let's go and get this poured. By the way, I do want to shout out this bottle itself
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It has a really nice reflective medallion on the front that has a bit of a copper color with the Bernheim logo
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Really unique looking. I just really enjoyed the bottle presentation itself. It definitely looks like a special edition whiskey
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So like I said, this is a celebration of their 20th anniversary. It was launched back in 2005, and it was the first truly new American whiskey style introduced since Prohibition
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They said when they launched it, they took a chance on a new mash bill and a new idea. And they say the support we received in those early days helped shape not only this brand, but the expansion and popularity of different styles of American whiskey we continue to see today
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Let's go in and give this Bernheim 20th anniversary a nose. oh wow surprisingly rich i know i shouldn't feel this way but i feel like there's a bit of a
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stereotype around wheat whiskey and wheated bourbons as lacking flavor you know people think
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of the rye grain as the flavor grain and while in some cases especially in younger whiskey that's
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true the wheat doesn't really show up on the palate there have been exceptions and i think
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you know there's some of the older releases from brands like makers mark really do show that a
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Wheated Mash Bill can do some incredible things. But with this being a Wheat Whiskey, we know there's even more wheat in it than just a
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Wheated Bourbon. So the Mash Bill I'm seeing here online says that this one is 51% wheat, around 37% corn
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and 12% malted barley. Whereas in comparison, Larceny, which is another bourbon made by Heaven Hill, but they're
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Wheated Bourbon, that one comes in at 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley
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So there's a lot more wheat in the Bernheim release than a Larceny, just in case you were curious about the two
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But that being said, this is not lacking on the nose at all. It's really rich
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It's got a little bit of like a creamy caramel thing going on. It almost reminds me of like one of those sugar daddy or sugar baby candies
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You know, the ones that are really chewy and sticky caramel. It smells like that on the nose. I'm reminded of that candy quite a bit
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Really deserty, really much reminds me of Halloween candy. Just the overall smell of your candy basket or we had little jack-o'-lantern things we would bring around
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But that smell, that concentrated sugar is just permeating out of this glass
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Quite a bit sweeter than I think some of the Bernheim barrel strengths have been. I think maybe that's because maybe they're just not as old
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They're a lot more focused on the ethanol and the, you know, the higher proof, lower age
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But this is really surprisingly mellow on the nose and just really robust with the flavors
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but not anything astringer or anything off-putting at all. Unless you don't like sweet, then yeah, it might be a little off-putting
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But really interesting nose. I'm really excited to see how this holds up on the palette
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Let's go and give it a try. Cheers, guys, and happy birthday to me. Oh, wow, man, that's even better than I thought it would be based on the nose
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It's still sweet, but there's a lot of layers here and a lot of complexity
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At first, it does hit you with like a bit of a honey sweetness on the tip of the tongue. Not a crazy amount of oak, but there's like a really rich spice here that begs the question of
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why do we say that rye whiskey is the spicy whiskey when this is a wheat whiskey
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and it brings all the spice. Honestly it tastes like a really balanced spice blend
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You get a lot of cinnamon and there's some sugar to round it out. But nothing really screams like clove or you know anise or anything like that
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It very much just a really delightful spice level And finish wise I would say that a medium to long finish It lingers on the back of the palate You get a bit of that proof Like I said 115 proof is
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nothing to turn your nose up at, but it lingers in a nice delicate way that just kind of, again
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goes with the whole mellow smooth aspect I see across this whiskey. I think the lack of the oak
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is a little surprising with it being 10 years old, but I think that's just something to expect
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with wheat whiskey you know it doesn't taste like it has as much age on it as
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something like a corn forward whiskey I mean I think that's why makers mark can
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get away with some of their age statements being a little bit lower than others is because wheat whiskey or we did bourbons don't hold as much of a
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reliance on that oak backbone to me they are much more mellow much more just a I
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don't want to say one note but a little more simplistic of a note but that doesn't mean that this note is anything other than incredible I really like this
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a lot. It's probably my favorite Bernheim or wait let me say this it's probably my favorite weeded
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product out of Heaven Hill. To me this blows away any Larceny barrel proof I've ever tried
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It blows away the Bernheim barrel strength releases. Now I'm still a sucker for Elijah Craig
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barrel proof you know that's my typical go-to bourbon from Heaven Hill. I think that one still
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probably has my heart but this is a pretty strong competitor. Wow if Bernheim tasted like this more
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often, I would buy it more often because something about the age and the proof is just working so
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so well here. It's delivering a really premium experience and it matches the price tag. Again
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80 to $85 is what I'm seeing this go for. I'm not seeing it that often. It sells out pretty
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much instantly every time I see it go live on a website, but that's not without a good reason
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because it's actually seriously good and it comes in a really nice collectible bottle
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So, as we do with all Bourbon Bites bite-sized reviews, I give things just one score, you
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know, not necessarily breaking it down by price, nose, palate, anything like that. I just give it an overall score for the podcast
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So, with Bernheim 20th Anniversary Limited Edition Small Batch Wheat Whiskey, I'm going
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to give it a solid 8.5 out of 10. I mean, really, the only thing that's kind of holding this back is the availability of it
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I think this is something that would do really well, and I hope this inspires them to potentially
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release an age-stated, high-proof Bernheim product that's not just a celebration of the
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20th anniversary. And then we saw that with Wild Turkey with that special eight-year Jimmy Russell edition
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and it became part of their normal lineup. Well, I'd love to see Bernheim do that
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I think that's the one thing that kind of holds back the Bernheim barrel-proof releases
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for me. They just don't have enough age on them. And the standard Bernheim wheat whiskey, I think, is a, you know, I don't want to say
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it, but it's a bit of a forgotten part of the Heaven Hill lineup. I just don't think they're really doing too much to promote Bernheim
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But if they can make it this good and make it more available, they have a real winner on their hands here
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I mean, this is one of the best things I've tasted all year, and there's a good chance this could make my top 10 of 2026
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I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately, and we're only into May. I think this year is going to be a good one for American whiskey
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So if you do want to see my top 10 list, I always do that at the end of the year
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I usually do it over on YouTube, youtube.com slash bourbon bites. make sure to subscribe. I go live every Thursday at 7pm Pacific, 10pm Eastern. So make sure to
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check in then. But overall, super impressed with this whiskey. Thank you Todd Cooper, who is one of
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my bourbon terabytes on my Bite Club, which is my membership program. He suggested this one a while
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back ago and I had to seek it out and he's right. This is really, really good. So this is why I love
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my community. You guys are always on it with your recommendations. By the way, if you've not yet
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joined the Bite Club. That's what I call my membership program here. You can join for as
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little as $2 a month at bourbonbites.com. That goes to support the channel and fund bottle purchases
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and reviews like this one. So thank you to all my Bite Club members. This one is for you
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But that does it for this week's episode. Thank you all for tuning in on my birthday or after if
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you listen to the replay. Hope to see you guys on the live stream if you're listening here on May 7th
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7 p.m. Pacific, same time as always, or check out the replay of that if you're listening at a later
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date. I'll talk to you guys next episode. Until then, this has been the Bourbon Bites Podcast
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a whiskey podcast with a gaming twist. Cheers, and I'll talk to y'all next episode
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