Big Things Are Happening in the Small World of Wheat Whiskey
Wheat whiskey is having a moment. Or perhaps it’s on the verge of one. Depending on whom you ask, it’s tough to tell. But after a humble — and near happenstance — modern rebirth, one of America’s smallest whiskey categories seems to be (slowly, steadily) growing in popularity. Distillers big and small are taking notice, using wheat whiskey as a distinction to stand out amidst a continuing deluge of bourbon and rye.
According to federal guidelines, American wheat whiskey follows the same rules as bourbon, with the dominant grains swapped. Instead of corn, the whiskey must contain at least 51 percent wheat in the mash bill. It can be distilled no higher than 160 proof and can’t enter the barrel above 125 proof. And just like bourbon and straight rye, wheat whiskey must be aged in a new charred oak container.
Of course, wheat is hardly a novel grain in American spirits. The bourbon boom catapulted wheated bourbon to stratospheric heights, thanks to brands like Weller, Pappy Van Winkle, and Old Fitzgerald crossing into the mainstream.
But for wheat whiskey itself, growth has been more grassroots. It’s the type of spirit that’s converted fans and distillers one sip at a time, especially among those looking for an entirely new flavor profile. Compared to corn’s sweetness and rye’s herbal spice, wheat can bring multifaceted flavors to a grain bill, ranging from cherry-forward fruit to decadent desserts, citrus, and honey — profiles especially popular among some American whiskey drinkers.
“Some wheat whiskeys can be perceived as plain or lacking complexity,” says Colby Frey, co-founder at Frey Ranch Distillery, which makes a 100 percent wheat whiskey. “But there’s actually tremendous flavor in wheat whiskey. Wheat’s flavor profile often includes honey, berries, butterscotch, and toffee. We’ve had a few barrels that when tasted, had a flavor profile of vanilla cream or Funfetti frosting.”
Today, more and more producers are investing in wheat whiskey’s continued growth. At the same time, they’re wary of overextending into a category with a tiny track record, especially amidst a softening American whiskey market. For distillers and drinkers alike, wheat whiskey’s immediate future may prove to be a microcosmic lesson in innovation — and cautious optimism.
A Brief History of Modern Wheat Whiskey
Wheat’s history in American whiskey traces its origins to the 1800s, primarily as a secondary flavoring grain for bourbon. According to whiskey reviewer, historian, and author Michael Veach, wheat’s inclusion was largely economic.
“The use of wheat in Bourbon dates back to the early 19th century when distillers used whatever grain they had on hand to make their whiskey,” writes Veach on his website.
A handful of wheat whiskeys were produced, but the category remained small, largely due to the relative costs of grain.
“Wheat was the less popular grain because it was more expensive than rye and more popular for making bread,” writes Veach. “That is the main reason you don’t find any major brands of wheat whiskey in the 19th century.”
Post-Prohibition, wheat continued to pop up in now-famous bourbon brands, including whiskey produced at Stitzel-Weller and (perhaps even more famously) Maker’s Mark, which has used wheat as a component of its mash bill for the entirety of its distilling history.
Modern wheat whiskey originated at Louisville’s Bernheim Distillery, shortly after Heaven Hill purchased it in 1999. Prior owners United Distillers had long produced wheated bourbon, a category Heaven Hill was new to. Under then master distiller Parker Beam, the company inherited silos of a grain they had little experience distilling and planning around, ultimately leading to a surplus.
“The impetus for Woodford Reserve to start producing wheat whiskey was simply because our now master distiller emeritus Chris Morris wanted to make all types of American Whiskey.”
“We acquired Bernheim in ‘99, and with that we got [wheated bourbon brand] Old Fitzgerald. [Our team] had never made wheated bourbons before, so they’re tiptoeing through it, trying to figure it out,” says Conor O’Driscoll, Heaven Hill’s current master distiller. “They made some whiskey, and they had wheat left over. I can imagine Parker saying, ‘Well, make some f*cking whiskey with it.’” So with the distillery’s experience of making a 51 percent rye rye whiskey in mind, it started producing a 51 percent wheat whiskey.
In 2005, Heaven Hill introduced some of that aged distillate as Bernheim Wheat Whiskey, the name a nod to the recipe’s development. In the two decades since, Heaven Hill has continued releasing wheat whiskeys under the Bernheim brand, generally aged between seven and nine years. (That includes a barrel proof version introduced nationwide in 2023.) It has also included wheat whiskey (at 11 and 13 years old) under two annual Parker’s Heritage bottlings. In early 2025, the company released a 19-year wheat whiskey as part of the Heaven Hill Heritage Collection, likely the oldest American wheat whiskey ever brought to market.
That initial recipe — 51 percent wheat, 37 percent corn, 12 percent malted barley — has remained the basis for the distillery’s wheat whiskeys ever since.
“It’s practicality that leads to innovation,” says O’Driscoll. “It’s innovation that leads to practicality, however you want to phrase it. We’ve got grain. Let’s make whiskey from it.”
In the years following Bernheim, distilleries big and small began experimenting with wheat whiskey. Some, like Woodford Reserve, were looking to capitalize on expanding interest in a variety of spirits categories.
“The impetus for Woodford Reserve to start producing wheat whiskey was simply because our now master distiller emeritus Chris Morris wanted to make all types of American Whiskey,” says Elizabeth McCall, master distiller at Woodford Reserve. “[The goal was] not only to produce them, but make them the most flavorful to be produced. We first began producing our wheat whiskey in 2012 in very small quantities, taking open production opportunities where we could.”
“The question the team sought to answer was: How much flavor complexity actually comes from the wheat itself, and how can we showcase that exclusively?”
Other large producers likely saw wheat whiskey as a growth area, especially when it came to contract production and sales to other brands. MGP’s behemoth Ross & Squibb distillery was among them. According to current master distiller Ian Stirsman, the facility began producing wheat whiskey around 2013.
“The main wheat whiskey mash bill we produce here in Lawrenceburg is our LFSV, which is our 95 percent wheat, 5 percent malted barley mash bill,” says Stirsman. Astute drinkers may note the 95/5 recipe mirrors the distillery’s famed rye mash bill. Today, Ross & Squibb also produces a 100 percent malted wheat whiskey.
In 2025, Maker’s Mark finally unveiled a long-rumored project: Star Hill Farm Whisky, a wheat whiskey that featured the distillery’s first new mash bills since 1953. It’s also the distillery’s first non-bourbon whiskey. The whiskey is a combination of two mash bills aged between seven and eight years: a mash made from 70 percent wheat and 30 percent malted barley, and another distilled from 100 percent malted wheat.
“Maker’s Mark has always differentiated itself as a wheated bourbon, using soft red winter wheat as its flavoring grain rather than the more common rye,” Blake Layfield, master distiller at Maker’s Mark, says. “The question the team sought to answer was: How much flavor complexity actually comes from the wheat itself, and how can we showcase that exclusively?”
Beyond some of America’s biggest distillers, wheat whiskey has also become a popular (and differentiating) product for a number of craft producers. Michigan’s Journeyman Distillery produces several expressions of the spirits. Colorado’s Laws Whiskey House has been distilling wheat for more than a decade.
“Because wheated spirits are often more delicate, they can be easily overpowered by harsh tannins if aged too long or incorrectly, leading to an unbalanced product.”
For Spokane, Wash.’s Dry Fly Distilling, proximity to high-quality grain made wheat whiskey a natural inclusion when it began operations in 2007. (The brand even produces a compelling wheat vodka.)
“We’re surrounded by some of the best wheat in the world,” says Patrick Donovan, lead distiller at Dry Fly. “We committed to using local ingredients from day one and use grain grown within 40 miles of our distillery. Best we can tell, we were the first distillery in the USA post-Prohibition to make a 100 percent wheat whiskey.”
Wheat Whiskey Production and Challenges
For most distillers we interviewed, producing wheat whiskey is fairly straightforward, presenting fewer challenges than notoriously tricky distillates involving a high percentage of rye or (more rarely) oat.
“Wheat is very easy to work with, much more than rye, triticale, or corn,” Donovan of Dry Fly says. “Less protein, less gummy. It mashes well, converts well, and distills very clean.”
Heaven Hill’s O’Driscoll agrees, and says production rarely presents him with more challenges than other whiskey types. But that doesn’t mean the grain isn’t without its own eccentricities.
Frey Ranch’s use of 100 percent malted wheat creates a few additional complications the production team has to watch out for. “Wheat does not have a hull, so it absorbs water faster,” Frey Ranch master distiller Russell Wedlake notes. “Because of that, it can swell up, get soft, and cause malting issues. The fermentation process is mild, with the only issue being the wheat mills. The mills produce a lot of fine flour, so during fermentation, it forms a seal on the cap and when the CO2 pushes through, it volcanoes and can create a mess outside of the fermenter.”
“Bourbon is everywhere, it’s easy to source, it’s easier to mimic, but wheat whiskey is like making a good pilsner. There’s no hiding behind poor distillation or process.”
Ross & Squibb’s Stirsman also cites the fine nature of wheat flour and warns his distilling team of “dough balling,” which can lead to clumps of unwetted grain. For Stirsman, there’s one particular batch of wheat whiskey that has stuck with him for nearly a dozen years.
“I remember early in my career at the distillery, when I was working as the night shift manager, we had just mashed what I believe was our second batch of wheat whiskey. As fermentation reached peak activity, several fermenters began foaming over, sending thousands of gallons of foam cascading into the basement of the fermenter room. If memory serves, that was the first time I had to wake our master distiller in the middle of the night, which was a pretty nerve-wracking experience.”
Beyond fermentation and distillation, wheat whiskey makers must pay special attention to barrel aging, which can differ significantly from corn-heavy distillates. At Maker’s Mark, Layfield says, wheat whiskey production involves the same yeast, fermentation techniques, and distilling cuts as bourbon. But maturation itself can play out very differently.
“Because wheated spirits are often more delicate, they can be easily overpowered by harsh tannins if aged too long or incorrectly, leading to an unbalanced product that favors the wood over the grain and yeast character.”
Selling on Flavor
Producing wheat whiskey is one thing; marketing it is another challenge entirely. The category remains enigmatic to many consumers, many of whom aren’t aware it exists separately from wheated bourbon. Distillers tend to rely on wheat’s accessible flavors to woo potential buyers. As with many emerging categories, it’s often about getting liquid to lips.
“In some regards, wheat whiskey is a good ‘beginner whiskey.’ It’s very light, mellow, [with] great vanillin flavor,” Donovan says. “Wheat whiskey is incredibly smooth, it is not as grassy or robust as a bourbon, but it’s a great everyday drinker.”
“Bourbon is everywhere, it’s easy to source, it’s easier to mimic, but wheat whiskey is like making a good pilsner. There’s no hiding behind poor distillation or process. You are exposed and it’s really fun to execute on this whiskey really well.”
“Wheat whiskey has certainly seen a rise in popularity among whiskey connoisseurs, which is why more whiskey brands are experimenting with a wheat-forward mash bill.”
Stirsmans echoes the sentiment, emphasizing wheat’s approachability as a selling point. “To me wheat whiskey can be really sweet, bready and approachable when done well,” he says. “Wheat whiskey also shows off the soluble wood sugars extracted from the barrel better than whiskeys like rye where the grains dominate more of the flavor profile.”
Yet distillers are quick to emphasize that while wheat boasts accessible flavors, that doesn’t mean it lacks intricacy. Far from it.
“I wish more consumers understood how complex and versatile wheat whiskey is,” says McCall. “Wheat whiskey is perceived as being a softer, more approachable flavor profile, which some ‘true’ whiskey drinkers may find to be below their standards of good pour, needing the rye spice. However, the complexity of the fruit character takes your palate on a wonderful flavor journey from orchard fruits, cooked fruit, warm baking spice, and toasted oak.”
To get even more folks hooked on wheat, some makers leverage crossover among beer fans. The value proposition is straightforward: a classic grain profile, with the added depth of oak aging.
“I always enjoyed brewing wheat beers in a previous life, so I was very familiar with wheat flavor profiles,” says New Riff master distiller Brian Sprance. The distillery recently unveiled its first wheat whiskey in collaboration with Chattanooga Whiskey.
Sprance notes the lightly honeyed, citrusy, cereal-y flavors often found in wheat beer and thought they would do well under the magnifying glass of the distillation process. “But really,” he admits, “I was more interested in what charred oak and age would bring to the table.”
The Future of Wheat Whiskey
Despite wheat whiskey’s beloved status among some distillers, many are prudent when it comes to increasing production. That’s due in part to the challenge of forecasting the popularity of a spirit that may take a decade to mature.
“Wheat whiskey typically needs more time in the barrel compared to some other styles of whiskey, so anticipating demand further out can be difficult,” Stirsman says.
For smaller operations like Frey Ranch, even a small uptick can necessitate multiplying production volume — a move that comes with capital risks if projections are off.
“Wheat whiskey has certainly seen a rise in popularity among whiskey connoisseurs, which is why more whiskey brands are experimenting with a wheat-forward mash bill,” says Colby Frey. “In our first few years, we made one or two batches annually, but this year we’re making eight batches — quadrupling our production.”
Larger producers like Heaven Hill can take a more incremental approach to increasing supply.
“Wheat whiskey is the smallest volume that we make in a given year,” says O’Driscoll. “We’ll either do a day or half a day in the first half of the year, and another in the second half of the year. That’s all we need for current projections.”
Still, for a massive producer, even fractional production can have market-shifting consequences. A half-day’s production at Bernheim can approach 800 full barrels of whiskey. But for O’Driscoll, focusing on volume itself obscures a primary reason for making different whiskeys in the first place: giving each consumer what they want.
“We make whiskey to be enjoyed across the board. And if 99 percent of the people want to drink Elijah Craig bourbon, Evan Williams bourbon, I love those people,” he says. “But if there’s one out of 100 who enjoy [wheat whiskey], lean in. We got it. We got that, too.”
The article Big Things Are Happening in the Small World of Wheat Whiskey appeared first on VinePair.