Review #691 - Star Hill Farm American Wheat Whisky (2025)
During 2025, we've seen a bit of a resurgence (or initial emergence?) of wheat whisky as a category in the United States. A number of brands seem to have invested in this style over the past decade or two, as we're seeing well-aged releases from heritage distilleries in the wheat category with some regularity now. Here's one from Maker's Mark: Star Hill Farm, which saw its inaugural release land in April/May 2025.
Maker's Mark uses two distinct mashbills during the production of this whisky:
Roughly 73% of this batch is made from wheat whisky with a mashbill of 70% soft red winter wheat and 30% malted barley
The other 27% of the batch is wheat whisky made with a mashbill of 100% malted soft red winter wheat
Overall, we get a final derived mashbill of 51% wheat, 27% malted wheat, and 22% malted barley. While there's no age statement present on the bottle, we do know that the whisky used was barreled in the Autumn of 2016 and Autumn of 2017, meaning that this is probably 7 to 8 year old whisky. We also get a great bottling strength: 57.35% ABV, or 114.7 proof, which means there should be plenty of flavor and texture.
Star Hill Farm American Wheat Whisky (2025)
USA - Wheat
MSRP: USD 100 (2025)
Available Price: USD 167 (2025, based on recent auction results)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 57.35% ABV
Details: Bottled 2025
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 2 months from a sample. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Nice and sweet - caramel, cinnamon, some strawberry and vanilla. Tart cherry adds more fruit, but baking spices begin to dominate: light brown sugar, Wheaties cereal, a bit of powdered sugar. Time brings more old dusty oak flavors, as well as an interesting combination of leather and creamy notes.
Palate: Warming, with a bit more oak and some spice like cinnamon. More oaky than expected from the nose, actually, and we get leather and some tannins; then the fruits build, especially orange soda, strawberry bubblegum, orange peel, even some banana peel. It grows more creamy with time, and we get accents of vanilla and tart cherry; the mouthfeel is medium-thick.
Finish: Vanilla, soft leathery oak, and red fruit like cherry continue to mingle. There's a bit of sharpness from white pepper and oak tannins, and we get a light cotton note on the back end; it's a medium-long finish.
Final Note: Each time we tasted this wheat whisky from Maker's Mark, we liked it a little bit more. It did take time to open up - at first, it was a bit more one-dimensional, but time brought a plethora of baking spices and fruit, especially red fruits like strawberry and cherry. While the oak influence was more reserved at first, it builds in the palate and later into the finish - it doesn't taste too 'old,' but there's a warm, leathery oak that grows over time and adds nice drying notes to balance the sweet fruit.
Value here is decent at the suggested retail price from the distillery; however, this quickly sold out, and secondary/auction prices are hovering a bit higher than that, around $150 to $175 from what we've seen. It's an okay value at that point, but we think there are other whiskies at the $150 price point that offer more nuanced and well-aged flavors.
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): 6.46
Value Rating (Available Price): 5.45
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.
