We all know Heaven Hill 7 year bottled in bond and we all know Henry McKenna bottled in
bond; but do we know which is better? Well, today they’re no longer bottled in bond, now it’s battled-in-bond. We are going to be tasting both of these iconic bottles and seeing which is the best! Let’s cover the facts. Both of these bottles are 100 proof, distilled by Heaven Hill distillery, and are obviously bottled-in-bond.
The Henry McKenna is aged 10 years and the Heaven Hill 7
years is aged, well 7 years.
The mash bills:
Henry McKenna has a mash bill of 78% corn, 12% rye, and 10% malted barley.
Heaven Hill 7 year has a mash bill of 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley.
With the specifics out of the way, let’s get into the battle!
First in the glass in Henry McKenna 10 years.
Aroma: This pour offers a scent of vanilla, caramel, oak, and a touch of spices. Definitely has a scent of ethanol toward the end, but for the most part this offers a pleasant smell.
Tasting notes: So right off the first sip, there is a lot of heat in the pour; the first sip was pure heat and burn. The second sip was much more enjoyable with a taste of toasted oak, and candied cherries. There was still more burn than I would have liked on the following sips, but it did start to mellow out after each sip.
Finish: The finish was a longer finish with flavors of honeycomb, almonds, and oak; but it still had a high amount of heat.
Overall: The Henry McKenna 10-year BIB is best described as an “okay” pour. I’ve had
significantly worse experiences than this, but I’ve definitely had better. And for a bottle that cost me $70, I expect better than “okay” with a lot less heat.
Moving on to the Heaven Hill 7-year bottled-in bond.
Aroma: This pour has scent of vanilla, honeycomb with a hint of cherry. To me, the smells were more bland but offered no smell of ethanol.
Taste: The taste of this bottle is like no other! After the smell, I had low expectations, but the flavor notes put those thoughts to sleep! There was absolutely no burn, and the drink was smoother than butter. Flavor notes of baking spice, freshly baked cookies, and oak dancing on the tongue just were something else!
Finish: The finish was long and crisp. The flavors of chocolate-covered cherries and oak
lingered, and I’m personally glad it did!
Overall: For a $70 bottle, this is great! I think it rivals some of the bigger names in bourbon, and this is definitely one I will be buying again!
Who wins? Well if you read anything above, there is an obvious winner. The Heaven Hill 7-year offered a much more enjoyable drinking experience. Overall it was smoother, sweeter, and offered better flavor. For both of these bottles to cost the exact same, I know which one I would be buying again. But let me know, have you tried these? If so what do you prefer?
Logan Huddleston
Hello, my name is Logan Huddleston. I own and operate To Cigar, which provides cigar and alcohol content on all major social media platforms. My goal is to connect with and engage other GenZers to help them fall in love with cigars and cigar culture. I do reviews, memes, recipes, pairings, pretty much anything that connects with my audience. Most nights, I can be found with a cigar in one hand and a good drink in the other. Life brings us many questions, but I’m fond of saying, the answer is always To Cigar!