Ben Holladay Soft Red Wheat Rickhouse Proof, 750ml

NOSE: Caramel, vanilla, and toasted oak with brown sugar, dried fruit, and a touch of baking spice.

PALATE: Big and rounded. Deep caramel, vanilla, and oak up front, followed by brown sugar, dark fruit, and soft spice. The soft wheat keeps it smooth underneath while the higher proof brings real depth.

FINISH Long and warming. Oak, soft sweetness, and gentle spice hang around with a clean, dry close.

Ben Holladay Soft Red Wheat Rickhouse Proof is the bigger, bolder cousin of the standard Ben Holladay range. It's a wheated Missouri straight bourbon made with soft red winter wheat as the secondary grain, then bottled at proper rickhouse strength rather than diluted down.

At 59.9% ABV, this one carries serious weight. The soft wheat keeps things rounded and sweet underneath while the higher proof brings out deep caramel, vanilla, oak, and a touch of dark fruit. A real upgrade for anyone after a wheated bourbon with backbone.

Holladay Distillery sits in Weston, Missouri, on a site that's been making whiskey since 1856. It's one of the oldest distilleries west of the Mississippi and the oldest in Missouri. The Ben Holladay range is named after the founder, a 19th-century stagecoach magnate who set the whole place up.

The Rickhouse Proof series sits at the top end of the Ben Holladay range. Where the standard bottlings are proofed down to 100, the Rickhouse Proof releases are bottled at the strength they come out of the barrel at. The Soft Red Wheat version uses a wheated mash bill, swapping rye for soft red winter wheat to give a softer, sweeter profile under the higher proof.

• Bourbon drinkers ready to step into cask strength territory
• Fans of wheated bourbon after something bigger than the usual 90 to 100 proof options
• Drinkers who like a soft, sweet bourbon with proper weight behind it
• Anyone exploring craft distilleries doing things their own way
• Old Fashioned fans after a wheated pour with real backbone
• Allocated bottle hunters looking outside the usual Kentucky names

Pour it neat and give it a minute in the glass. At rickhouse proof, a few drops of water will soften the heat and bring out more of the depth without losing the flavour. Works on a single rock too if you want to take a bit of edge off. Easy drinking for the proof, no overthinking required.

Ben Holladay Soft Red Wheat Rickhouse Proof is one of those bottles that delivers proper craft bourbon character without the silly price tag. Real depth, the softness of a wheated mash bill, and full rickhouse strength behind it. A solid step up from your usual shelf bottle and one worth having on hand when you find it.