Review #608 - Green River Wheated Bourbon
Using a mashbill of 70% corn (all grown in Kentucky), 21% wheat, and 9% malted barley, Green River produces this Kentucky Straight Wheated Bourbon. This is one of the distillery's entry level bottles, as it comes with a middling proof point of 90 (45% ABV) and a price of $30 to $35.
There's no age statement on the bottle, and we don't get much information about the bourbon on their website, either; still, with this price, this has the potential to be a good value wheater if the flavors are good.
Green River Wheated Bourbon
USA - Bourbon
Price: USD 34 (2025)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 45% ABV
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 9 months; bottles at 100%, 80%, and 70% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Softer, with light, sweet notes: butterscotch, vanilla, cotton, some light grain flavor. There's a little bit of licorice candy, as well as some orange adding just a hint of fruit; later, we get graham crackers.
Palate: The mouthfeel has a medium thickness; overall it's soft and rounded, quite mellow. Most of the flavors are sweet: vanilla, caramel, butterscotch, lots of baking notes. There's a subtle cherry note in the background, and time brings cinnamon spice, sweet corn, licorice, and subtle floral flavors.
Finish: Pleasantly warming, but still mellow. Caramel, candy corn, linen, and flower petals combine with cinnamon toast and a hint of strawberry; oak grows a little stronger over time, but it's never too oaky. It's a medium length finish.
Final Note: A classic wheated bourbon profile - soft, sweet, with lots of baking notes and a hint of red fruit. This is a mellow bourbon, easy sipping and not overly complex, but it's quite solid and tasty. It doesn't offer too much of an old oak profile - more focused on those lighter, sweet grain notes.
Value here is excellent - probably a top 10 value for us, at least in the category of bourbon. In our area, this is much easier to find compared to a competitor like Weller Special Reserve, and we think this is a better bourbon, too.
Our Average Rating: 6.5 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 8.08
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
Check out our other budget wheated bourbon reviews:
Review #515 - Weller Special Reserve
Review #336 - Rebel Kentucky Straight Bourbon
