Heaven Hill adds whiskey age statement as ‘point of difference’

As the whisky industry moves away from age statements, Heaven Hill Distilleries has published an age on its Bernheim Original Whiskey in “an effort to be unique”.

Heaven Hill has released Bernheim Original 7 Year Old in a bid to “be unique”

The straight wheat whiskey, which has been made at the Bernheim Distillery in Louisville, Kentucky since 2001, will now carry a 7 Years Old age statement on the front of the bottle.

Having previously featured whiskey as young as five-years-old, Bernheim Original has undergone a makeover to give it more shelf presence amid a rapidly-growing market.

Josh Hafer, communications manager for Heaven Hill, said: “Putting an age statement on Bernheim gives us a point of difference against the other American whiskeys out there. While they are all removing their age statements, we are really championing it.”

The 45% abv whiskey, made from around 51% wheat, will continue to carry the same RRP (US$36) as its previously younger form.

Hafer added that wheat whiskey will continue to be a niche area of American whiskey, but grow in tandem with the likes of the craft distilling sector.

“Bernheim will sit in with the trend of innovation in the industry,” he said.

Bernheim Original Straight Wheat Whiskey was launched in the US in 2005, and is now available in several markets worldwide on limited allocation.