Review #627 - Old Fitzgerald Decanter Series 9 Year Bourbon (2025)
Heaven Hill's line of Old Fitzgerald wheated bourbon releases began back in 2018 with an 11 year old release; this is a limited edition whisky with relatively small batch sizes, and each release carries a different age statement. Heaven Hill generally release two of these each year, in line with the bottled-in-bond ideology: there's a Spring release, as well as an Autumn release.
This wheated bourbon is presented in a decanter-style bottle, one with some history: this bottle harkens back to the 'diamond' decanters used for the Old Fitzgerald brand in the 1950s. Heaven Hill didn't own the brand back then - they bought it in 1999 from Diageo.
This current bottling, which arrived in the Spring of 2025, was aged for 9 years. In line with those bottled-in-bond requirements, this is bottled at a strength of 50% ABV (100 proof), and all of the bourbon in the batch was distilled in one season.
Old Fitzgerald Decanter Series 9 Year Bourbon (2025)
USA - Bourbon
MSRP: USD 130 (2025)
Available Price: USD 300 (2025, based on recent auction results)
Age Statement: 9 Years
Strength: 50% ABV
Details: Bottled 2025
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 1 time; bottle 20% fill level at time of review. Tasted in a nosing glass, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Quite muted - soft brown sugar and a little hint of red fruit, and some leathery oak comes in. A light hay note and hints of grape juice grows stronger with time.
Palate: The mouthfeel is medium-thick; it's much more flavorful than the nose, with cherry and blackberry compote, brown sugar, and leathery oak, which adds some tannins. Overall, it leans sweet, but we get subtle tobacco at the end.
Finish: Aromatic cocktail bitters, cocktails cherries - the red fruit note is prominent, and it's accented by lighter notes of vanilla and dried grass. Tannins build, but generally, it's a mellow finish with medium-long length.
Final Note: This is a good bourbon - not worth the hype and the $300 secondary price tag, but a solid wheated bourbon. There's a nice range of fruit across the tasting, especially in the palate, but we found the nose to be quite lacking overall; texture is decent with the strength, but there isn't a ton of complexity yet at this age.
Value is a little below average, even at MSRP, due to the high price tag; at secondary, it's poor value. The fancy decanter-style bottle may add value in the eyes of some, but in terms of the tasting experience and the quality of the whisky, this can be matched by some wheated bourbons in the $50 to $75 range (Holladay Soft Red Wheat Rickhouse Proof and Weller Antique 107 come to mind).
Our Average Rating: 7.5 / 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 (MSRP): 5.92
Value Rating (Available Price): 4.48
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 wheated Heaven Hill bourbon reviews:
Review #522 - Larceny Barrel Proof Batch A125
