I have limited experience with wheated bourbon, but have recently enjoyed a bottle of Woodford Reserve Wheat that I bought on a whim. I’d like to do some more exploring. What are your recommendations for the best wheated bourbons to try under $100?
The Weller line-up is great if you can find it for a reasonable price, specifically the Antique 107, which I believe is better than the 12 yr. The Special Reserve is good, but you’re not going to confuse it with the 107 or 12 yr.
Larceny BP can be great, depending on release, and is a solid buy at the price point.
I have not been a fan of the Bernheim, which was super hyped out of the gates. Also not a fan of the 1792 Sweet Wheat, which gives off too much of a banana nose for my liking.
Penelope Toasted, Barrel Strength. It has 3 mash bills, one of which is 45% wheat. One of the others is 99% corn, so it hits a little sweeter. But at 110 proof, it’s a nice pour at $70
Wilderness Trail Bottled in Bond $50
I like the regular Larceny pour. On the mild side but only $30
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To add to above…Makers barrel selections can be excellent, as Andrew says Weller 107, FP and 12 are all solid at MSRP, Special Reseeve isn’t worth MSRP IMO. Larceny BP is solid as is Garrison Brothers and Wyoming Whiskey. Best sleeper out there is David Nicholson.
I honestly think Labrot and Graham Distillery (Woodford) is making some of the best stuff out there. Looks like a mash bill of 52% wheat, 20% malted barley, 20% corn, and 8% rye. No age stated and if you aren’t calling it Bourbon–no need to use new charred oak barrels–so a bit of an unknown there.
Looks like Heaven Hill has the closest mash bill is Bernheim Original. In Ohio, we can still get all the Weller pretty reliably for state controlled minimum prices, so I haven’t explored much from there.
Josh brings out a good point below.
The Woodford Reserve Wheat is not a bourbon, so barrel treatment may be different. Anything that doesn’t include 51% corn in the mash can’t be called bourbon and once it’s not bourbon, they don’t have to use new charred oak ( but they may). So wheat whiskey may be quite different both with a higher % of wheat and barrel treatment. Also, most of the wheated bourbons fully replace the rye content in the mash with wheat. Woodford Reserve Wheat is a four grain, so it has both wheat and rye.
Wheat Whiskey aged in new charred barrels at least 2 years would be labeled “Straight”. Woodford Reserve is Straight, Bernheim is not
Pretty sure this is the case with Bernheim
Thanks for the recs and the info, all.
Weller is pretty expensive around here, so unlikely I’ll have a chance to try either the 107 or 12 year, both of which sound interesting to me.
Hey Andrew, Id offer you a Weller special Reserve and 107 (@cost of course) from my bunker if you would like. The SR is not in fact “special” but it does well for $25 whiskey defender. When 107 is available (getting tough to find reliably) it’s always the answer @$50 of course. 12yr is unobtainium everywhere at this point, but imo not worth the secondary tariff. For that you have to come over for a pour 
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That’s a great offer, Robert, and very much appreciated. I’ll pm you. Thank you!