Review: Wheel Horse Double Oak Bourbon 5 Years Old

By Jacob Kiper | December 27, 2024 |

Non-distilling producers are extremely common in the current American whiskey landscape. Only a few years ago, it was relatively easy to use deductive reasoning to determine the origin of sourced whiskey. But with the bloom of contract distillation programs, copycat mashbills, and distillers producing whiskey with unique mashbills for brokers, it’s suddenly much more difficult or even impossible for most consumers to figure out where a bottle was distilled. Simply providing the state of distillation and mashbill is no longer a clear indicator of the point of origin. Some distillers who sell barrels to the sourcing market have no issue with customers telling consumers where the whiskey was distilled, while many others hide their involvement with non-disclosure agreements. Green River Distilling is one distiller that does not mind sourced brands proudly proclaiming their Owensboro origin. And so, enter Wheel Horse Whiskey. Wheel Horse was one of the earliest NDPs to openly bottle quality Green River and they’re back at it again with Wheel Horse Double Oak Kentucky Straight Bourbon 5 Years Old.

The newest Wheel Horse Double Oak comes with just over 5 years of total maturation and serves as the most well-aged whiskey in its portfolio yet. Double Oak begins with standard Green River bourbon sporting a mashbill built from 70% corn, 21% winter rye, and 9% malted 6-row barley that has been aged for 4.5 years in barrels with a #4 char. After a respectable initial maturation, the bourbon is transferred to new oak casks with extended open-air seasoned staves and a #1 char for a bit over 6 months, taking the total time in new charred barrels to just over 5 years. Wheel Horse produced 2100 bottles of Double Oak Bourbon bottled at its signature 101 proof without chill-filtration.

I spoke with Bardstown Bourbon Company’s Dan Callaway at the 2024 Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown and was told that the current vision for Green River Distilling does not involve secondary maturation. The itinerary for Green River is simply to produce as much high-quality straight whiskey with good age as possible. Seeing as Green River isn’t going to be releasing finishing-cask whiskey any time soon, Wheel Horse is filling that void. Wheel Horse’s most recent Cigar Blend definitely worked, but how did Double Oaked turn out? Let’s dig in!

Double Oak’s nose debuts with milk chocolate and warm vanilla. Subdued lemon zest quickly adds balance to the sweetness as toasted almonds tie it all together. Overall, this is an inviting and well-rounded bouquet. The balanced sweetness found on the nose is equally present on the palate as molasses and Boston cream jump to the forefront. Raisinettes and toasted coconut notes nicely add earthiness to the richness. The finishing cask adds increased sweetness without taking it to excess. The finish brings the return of molasses, but the sweetness quickly passes as the spice of German-roasted pecans and tannins of book leather add a memorable contrast.-

As an Owensboro resident, I’m thankful for brands like Wheel Horse that offer new takes on my local distillery. I fully support Green River’s focus on cranking out fantastic straight whiskey with good age, but I’m also curious to experience it with various finishes. Wheel Horse releases Owensboro whiskey with quality finishes, an excellent proof point that Green River currently doesn’t offer, and at very fair prices.

101 proof.

B+ / $38 / wheelhorsewhiskey.com