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This week on the Bourbon Bytes podcast, we’re talking about a packed week of whiskey news, including two new America 250 anniversary releases, the return of two E.H. Taylor classics, and one of the strangest international whiskey collaborations I’ve seen in a while. Heaven Hill is releasing the Rittenhouse U.S. 250th Anniversary Commemorative Edition Rye, a 10-year-old bottled-in-bond rye priced at $99.99. Barrell Bourbon is also joining the celebration with Batch 38, a cask-strength blend of bourbons from Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Maryland. Then, Buffalo Trace is reviving two historic E.H. Taylor releases: Four Grain Bourbon and Cured Oak Bourbon. One may be easier to find than the other, but both are exciting returns for fans of the Colonel E.H. Taylor lineup. We also dive into Bardstown Bourbon Company’s new collaboration with Mars Distilleries, blending Japanese single malt whisky with Kentucky bourbon in a first-of-its-kind release that might be brilliant… or way too complicated. Then it’s time for a Byte-Sized Review of Green River Honey Finished Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This new release blends real Kentucky bourbon with local honey and rests them together in a barrel. At 4 years old, 92 proof, and only $25, it might be one of the most approachable summer whiskey releases of the year. But the big question is: Is this truly a finished bourbon, or is it basically a flavored whiskey? Topics covered: 00:00 Intro - America 250 Whiskey, E.H. Taylor & Green River Honey 00:28 Welcome + Memorial Day Recap 01:24 Rittenhouse 250th Anniversary Rye 02:55 Barrell Bourbon Batch 38 04:14 Buffalo Trace Revives E.H. Taylor Classics 06:23 Bardstown Bourbon Company Distillery Reserve Mars Single Malt Japanese Blend 13:12 Byte-Sized Review: Green River Honey Finished Bourbon 18:49 Byte Club + Outro
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0:00
Today on the Bourbon Bites Podcast, Heaven Hill and Barrel Bourbon are releasing whiskeys to celebrate America's 250th anniversary
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Buffalo Trace is reviving two E.H. Taylor classics. Then I have a bite-sized review of the new Green River Honey Finished Bourbon
0:16
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 28th 2026 i hope you all had a great memorial day weekend i spent it down in
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Albuquerque, like I mentioned last week, celebrating Patrick Starkey's military retirement and drinking a lot of whiskey with you guys. So for those of you that I met for the first time
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there and those of you that I saw after however many years, it was so great hanging with you and
0:56
I will remember our time together fondly as much as I can remember anyways. But today we are back
1:03
with some news in the world of American and some international whiskey. So we have some fun topics
1:09
to talk about today. I'll start off right off the bat with two new releases to celebrate this year's
1:14
250th anniversary of the United States. This one I actually mentioned on the podcast a while back
1:20
ago when the TTB label came out, but now we have an official announcement from Heaven Hill. This is
1:25
the new Rittenhouse U.S. 250th anniversary commemorative edition rye whiskey. It's a 10-year-old
1:32
bottled and bond expression of Rittenhouse rye, and it's meant to celebrate Rittenhouse's
1:37
Pennsylvania Heritage with a commemorative Liberty Bell packaging and will be allocated
1:42
across select US markets. I remember being really excited about this when it first popped up
1:48
Older Heaven Hill rye whiskey has been incredible in my experience. I've had some Parker's Heritage
1:53
that had some of it in there, plus a few of their other releases. This one is coming in at 10 years
1:58
old and 100 proof, and it's going to be priced at $99.99. So right at 100 bucks. I think 100 bucks
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for a 10-year-old rye whiskey is in line with what I've seen other distilleries do. It's not
2:12
too unheard of, maybe a little bit on the high side, but as someone that really enjoys the flavor
2:17
profile of Heaven Hill's rye, I think this is going to be a really good release. It's kind of
2:22
funny because Sazerac, which I think is Buffalo Trace's direct competitor, I guess, of Rittenhouse
2:27
rye, you know, they've been coming out with this 100 proof version and then the foolproof version
2:32
So it's interesting to see Rittenhouse or Heaven Hill do the age versus proof approach to this
2:39
So hopefully this is relatively available. It does say it's allocated. You know, these companies are getting pretty crazy with their 250th Celebration whiskeys
2:48
I'm seeing it all across the board, but some of them are more available than others. So I will hopefully get a chance to try this and let you guys know how it is
2:56
Well, in a very similar story, Beryl Bourbon is releasing their batch number 38
3:01
And they're celebrating specifically this milestone in U.S. history. This one comes with a really cool label
3:07
It has the red, white, and blue. And then it has some stars over the blue
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Very American. But this is a cast strength blend of straight bourbon whiskeys
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This time being made up of a 12-year-old Kentucky bourbon, a 9- and 10-year-old Indiana bourbon
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a 12- and 15-year-old Tennessee bourbon, and an 8-year-old Maryland bourbon. I think a blend celebrating all these different states and styles of bourbon just makes sense to be an America edition
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I've tried some of these batches in the past. It's been a few years, but I've typically really enjoyed them
3:41
They do a really great job with blending over there at Barrel Craft Spirits
3:45
Now, I believe this one's already available to purchase. I see it on their website for $85, and the proof comes in at $116.96
3:54
I've seen a lot of people do $117.76 for $17.76, but it looks like they missed the mark just a little bit with that
4:01
I don't know if that's what they were going for, but it's relatively close. That makes me think maybe they were
4:06
But yeah, I really enjoy seeing these special bottles and labels come out to celebrate this year in America's history
4:12
Well, speaking of history, Buffalo Trace is reviving two E.H. Taylor bourbon labels
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that we haven't seen in a long time. So I saw this announcement. I was kind of surprised because within a day of this coming out
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I saw people at the Buffalo Trace distillery buying bottles of these so they're serious about it. So they're going to bring back the four grain
4:32
bourbon from E.H. Taylor. This first came out in 2017 but this new release is a 100 proof 10 year
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old bourbon. Of course the four grains being corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley. They say this
4:45
combination creates a layered and complex flavor profile I looking forward to trying this This is definitely one that not been on my radar before just because I never thought I have a chance to get it But E Taylor has kind of been showing up quite a bit at least here in Southern California Mostly the small batch but occasionally the single barrel and barrel proof pop
5:02
So hopefully this one will make its way out here as well. Now the next up is another 10-year-old version of E.H. Taylor
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This is the Cured Oak Bourbon, and this one was released back in 2015
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I actually hadn't heard of this one at all. It's a 100 proof bottled and bond release, same with the last one
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But it's constructed from white oak staves that were air dried for 13 months, more than twice the standard curing time
5:26
Basically, this process allows the whiskey to extract deeper, more complex flavors from the oak during maturation
5:32
We've been seeing this a lot in the past couple years with the extra cured oak
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It seems to have a really big impact on the whiskey, especially the finish. You know, it gives it a longer, toastier, drier finish, and I'm all here for that
5:44
So the retail of both of these bottles is going to be $79.99
5:48
since. The four grain is going to be available for purchase at the Buffalo Trace Distillery and
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Sazerac House in New Orleans, as well as select retailers in Kentucky and Louisiana, while the E.H
5:58
Taylor Cured Oak is going to be available across different retailers, bars, and restaurants in the
6:04
U.S. So that was going to hopefully be a little more available, and I'm pretty excited about that
6:08
A little disappointed that the four grain may not ever show up in my hands, but I can still hold out
6:12
hope for that cured oak. We'll see if the four grain eventually catches up to demand and makes
6:17
its way out here but I'm just excited to see new expressions hitting the market that we can hopefully
6:21
get our hands on. Fingers crossed. Alright last piece of news is an interesting one. So this one
6:28
hit my inbox earlier today and I didn't really know how to feel about it. So this is from Bardstown
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Bourbon Company. They're actually collaborating with Japan's Mars distilleries and they're making
6:39
a distillery reserve Mars single malt Japanese blend and if you're curious why that name is so
6:45
complicated. It's because this is a complicated whiskey. So what they're actually doing is they're
6:50
combining Japanese whiskey with Kentucky bourbon in the same bottle. They say it's a first of its
6:56
kind co-aging experience. So the Japanese components of this are both crafted from 100
7:02
malted barley. I'm probably going to butcher the names of these distilleries, but it looks like
7:06
Komagatake and Sunuki are the single malts that are going into this. But the Komagatake single
7:12
malt is actually aged in umeshoe barrels which is a plum liqueur with a very very unique flavor
7:18
profile and on the other side the sanuki ones are aged in sakura or cherry wood barrels so both
7:25
really unique casks being used to age this whiskey and then both of these are going to be blended with
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kentucky bourbons aged 10 years old and 16 year old and they set for 12 months mingling together
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to make this special blend dan callaway who's the master blender at bardstone bourbon company says
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this project is about more than blending. It's about true integration. By aging Japanese single
7:46
malt whiskeys together with Kentucky bourbon in the same barrel, we've created something entirely
7:51
new. And then Mr. Kazudo Honbo, which again, apologies if I'm mispronouncing that, who is the
7:56
president of Honbo Shuzu Company, the makers of Mars Whiskey, says that we are hopeful that this
8:02
collaboration will open up new possibilities in the art of whiskey making, which is really fun
8:07
because like I said, this is something that I've never seen done before. I've seen a world whiskeys
8:11
blend that's kind of taken whiskey from all over the world, but I think that's mostly a single
8:16
malt. I don't even think there's any bourbon in that one. That came out several years ago. I did a review on YouTube when that came out. This is the first time I've ever seen a single malt from
8:23
another country being blended with a bourbon. Retail on it is going to be $100 for a 375
8:28
milliliter bottle. It's going to come in at 109.8 proof, so that's really interesting. I would have
8:33
thought something that has Japanese whiskey in it would probably be bottled a little bit lower, so that's interesting to see. But it's going to be exclusively available at the Bardstown Bourbon
8:40
company distillery gift shop and tasting room. So before I give my thoughts on this blend I did
8:46
want to open up the floor to one of our Bite Club members who had some really strong feelings about
8:52
this and I love when you guys give me your opinions on this whether you're sharing them on discord
8:56
or you're calling into the Bourbon Bites hotline to give your thoughts. So take a listen to what
9:00
Fred had to say about this upcoming release. Fred here. I want to say up front that I am generally a
9:07
fan of both producers. This is, so far as we know, an unprecedented style of spirit. So I am inferring
9:16
my thoughts from other experiences. I'm just not confident that it's going to produce a good result
9:24
For me personally, the malt is really not going to bring anything to the table, I believe. It's
9:30
aged in casks that are going to dominate it. They're going to cover any distillery character
9:36
any malt character. So we're basically going to be getting a moderately aged bourbon
9:42
with some flavor from umeshu liqueur and maybe a bit of floral from sakura As for the bourbon drinkers that they really trying to cater towards that where it gets really iffy because umeshu is a
9:59
very funky liqueur. What I've tasted, I believe your average bourbon drinker would think it is
10:05
absolutely disgusting. So hopefully they found sweeter, fruitier casks that will work better
10:13
Nonetheless, we'll just have to see how it turns out. I'm certainly not going to chance the price and effort that it takes to get it
10:23
but maybe I'll be able to mooch a pour and see what it tastes like
10:27
Fingers crossed. All right. Well, thank you again, Fred, for calling in
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If you guys ever want to leave a comment, feel free to reach me. You can call my Google voice number and leave a voicemail
10:36
That number is 916-642-9837 or 916-64-bytes. But yeah, I'm kind of in alignment with what Fred is saying here
10:47
Now, I haven't had those casks that he's had experience with, but it does feel like a very complicated blend that doesn't sound like something that would work very well for the bourbon lover's palate
10:58
I mean, cherry wood and plum liqueur barrels are just so distinct with their flavors
11:04
and then combining them with straight Kentucky bourbon whiskey, it feels a little bit like a
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mishmash. Now, I'm not doubting their blending abilities at all. I'm sure this is a very unique
11:13
whiskey, but I'm just curious who the market for this is, right? Like, Kentucky bourbon drinkers
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tend to be traditionalist in some ways. You know, some people don't even like a finished whiskey
11:23
so imagine their mind when you blend in a single malt from Japan, not one but two, and not only that
11:29
really unique single malts. Now, I want to be a little bit of an optimist here because I love
11:34
experimenting. I love seeing new releases like this. I love people bending the boundaries of
11:38
what we know as whiskey today. So for that, I give them credit. But yeah, I'm kind of in agreement
11:44
with Fred here. Who is this for? What is this flavor profile? And why is something so unique
11:49
so limited to people that visit the distillery? Maybe that's why. Maybe they weren't super
11:54
confident in it or it was just a very small amount of this experiment. Maybe they'll see
11:58
how it does and do a larger batch. They do say there's something coming in the future, by the way
12:02
They just teased that there is another blend going underway at Mars Sunuki Distillery in the southern
12:08
region of Japan, which is also combining Bardstone Bourbon Whiskey with their own stock. So we'll see
12:14
more of this in the future, but this is the first official release of this collaboration
12:18
Hey, future Cliffy here. I just wanted to stop in to say I actually received a bottle of this
12:23
new Bardstone Bourbon Company release just after recording this episode. So while I'm not going to
12:28
have a chance to try it this week stay tuned until next week or I will give this a full review
12:32
and share all my thoughts on this special release but that is it for the news segment of this week's
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podcast if you guys want the latest breaking news make sure to check out our discord server
12:42
there's a link to it at bourbonbytes.com we have a bot there that pulls in breaking news the moment
12:47
it breaks including some of the stories featured here today so if you want to be the first to know
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about whiskey news you don't have to wait around till Thursday for this podcast you can get it live
12:56
and comment on it in person. So check it out bourbonbites.com. But with that
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let's get into this very sweet bite-sized review. All right, well, this is a fun one. Listen, I love trying all types of whiskey from a straight
13:18
bourbon to a single malt to a good finished whiskey. So when this one hit my inbox, I was
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very, very excited. So this is the new Green River Honey Finished Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
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But this is a different approach to honey whiskey than I've seen done before. So what they're doing
13:36
is they're actually blending real Kentucky bourbon with local honey, combining them together inside
13:42
a barrel and letting them age together. So while on the label legally, they do say it's a straight
13:47
bourbon whiskey with natural flavors, they do consider this a finished bourbon whiskey. You know
13:52
I think finish is something we see a lot of distilleries kind of, you know, stretch the
13:56
legalities of, probably including this one, because I think adding something into a barrel
14:01
with bourbon to me feels more of a blend than a finish. But whatever the approach, this is a
14:07
really fun release because it's only coming in at $25. It's a very approachable entry into the
14:12
honey whiskey market. And with it being just real honey and real bourbon, I'm pretty excited for how
14:18
good this is going to taste as someone that is a huge fan of both of those flavors. By the way
14:23
I do want to say that Green River sent me this bottle for review. So I want to say thank you to
14:27
them. Really great PR package. It came with some local honey as well. So really excited to dig into
14:31
that later this week. Now, in terms of stats, this is a four-year-old bourbon whiskey. It's coming in
14:37
at 92 proof And what interesting is the bottle has a statement that I never seen on a whiskey before it says shake well So this is because this is actually bourbon and honey blended together So the honey is likely going
14:50
to start settling a little more at the bottom. Again, this is a unique product. So I shook it
14:54
well. I've got some of my glass here and I'm excited to give this a first taste. By the way
14:59
I kind of hinted at this, but there's no artificial colors, no artificial flavors. it's just literally bourbon and honey. Let's go ahead and give this one a nose
15:09
Oh nice, okay. Not crazy sweet like I kind of expected. I was a little worried that this was
15:14
going to be too overpoweringly sweet from that honey, but there's a lot of bourbon characteristic
15:19
on the nose and that makes me really excited for the palate. The first thing I get is sweet corn
15:24
It's really enhancing that corn character. This is the standard mash spill from Green River
15:28
70% corn, 21% rye, and 9% malted barley, but it's definitely taking on a lot more sweetness that I
15:34
wouldn't normally get from that mash bill. It's not spicy at all on the nose, and the sweetness
15:38
itself, I wouldn't immediately say honey on the nose at least. It's definitely floral and bright
15:43
and vanilla-y, but it just smells like a really good corn-forward bourbon on the nose. It's sweet
15:49
it's candied, but yeah, not really thinking honey. Let's go for the palate. Cheers
15:53
oh yes okay okay honestly listen I was a little worried I thought this was going to be one of
16:01
those really sweet things like gin beam honey or even wild turkey american honey this is nothing
16:07
like that this is clearly a bourbon first the honey's there I definitely get way more honey on
16:13
the palate than I got on the nose especially on the finish but it's not sticky it's not syrupy
16:18
it definitely drinks more like what I would expect a finished bourbon to drink like and you guys
16:23
already know I'm a fan of Green River. I usually give their whiskeys high ratings. I just love the
16:27
flavor profile. What this does is this takes it into a whole nother dimension. It's very approachable
16:34
almost a little too approachable, right? Like I could probably see myself drinking this over ice
16:38
and guzzling it down. Don't recommend doing that, but this is really a great summertime sipper. I
16:46
love that it's not overly sweet. I love that the honey is there enough to let you know that it's
16:51
there, but it's not overtaking the palate. Again, bourbon first, honey second. You know, if anything
16:56
I could compare it to, I think a sweet tea, maybe with a little bit of lemon, is definitely the
17:01
flavor profile I'm getting here. It's like the honey has brought this extra layer to the whiskey
17:05
itself that it feels like it's complimenting. It's not competing with it. And I think the finish
17:09
is incredibly good for a $25 whiskey. It still goes down like a bourbon, a little bit lingering
17:15
in the back of the palate, but it finishes with that nice honeycomb natural sweetness that you
17:20
only get from really good honey. But overall, I am pretty darn impressed for a new honey whiskey
17:27
that goes with a different approach than I've ever seen done before. So when I give my score on this
17:31
channel, I consider all things, right? Price, availability, nose, palate, finish, novelty
17:37
I guess I would say for this one. I think, you know, with this being a $25 bourbon, with it being
17:43
a different approach than flavored whiskey, it's actually being considered a finished whiskey
17:48
I'm gonna give this a solid 7 out of 10. I could drink this pretty darn easily. I mean maybe mix
17:55
with some lemonade or some iced tea. This could be the summer drink of choice. I'm really a big
18:00
fan of the flavor profile. I have to knock at some points because I don't know if this is teetering
18:04
the lines too much with it being considered a finished bourbon. You know they do say it is a
18:09
bourbon with natural flavors so they are transparent on the label but I feel like this is a little bit
18:14
you know, stretching the limits of what a finished bourbon can be. So with that, I'm going to have to
18:19
knock it a few points. Also, it's not a flavor profile that's going to appeal to everybody
18:23
Traditionalists aren't going to like this. But if you are someone that's open to other honey
18:27
whiskeys, this is probably one of the best honey whiskeys I've ever tried. So do without what you
18:32
will. I do want to hear from you guys, though. Do you think this counts as a finished bourbon? Or
18:37
would you consider this a flavored whiskey if the honey has been added to it? Let me know your
18:41
thoughts, leave a comment on this podcast episode or join us on our discord server and debate it out
18:47
there. Would love to know what you guys think. In addition to the discord server, you can join the
18:51
bite club at bourbon bites.com and support the channel for as little as $2 a month. By the way
18:55
I want to shout out our newest bite club member, Matthew. Matthew just joined our discord server as
19:00
well. He is our newest bourbon bit. So cheers, Matt. Thank you so much for joining the bite club
19:06
But that does it for this week's episode. Thank you all so much for listening. This has been a fun
19:10
one and I can't wait to see what you guys say about this honey whiskey. So thank you again Green
19:15
River for sending this bottle over for review. Cheers until next time this has been the Bourbon
19:19
Bites podcast. I'll talk to you guys next episode
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