Wheel Horse Double Oak Bourbon Review

 

 

Green River Distilling Company has a storied history. In its 130-plus years of existence, it has changed hands many times. One of its more well-known names was the Old Medley Distilling Company.

 

In its heyday, Green River’s whiskeys won prestigious awards such as the Medal of Excellence at the 1893 World’s Fair, the First Prize and Gold Medal in Paris in 1900, the Grand Prize Over All Competitors at the 1904 World’s Fair, and, in 1905, the Grand Prize at the Exposition Universelle de Liege. There were plenty of other awards earned. But all that came to a screeching halt when a fire broke out and reduced everything to rubble and ashes.

 

The distillery was rebuilt, and then Prohibition raised its ugly head, forcing it to shutter. The distillery fell into disrepair and was abandoned until it was acquired in 2014 by the Terressentia Corp. of South Carolina, who named it O.Z. Tyler Distillery. Two years later, the distillery was producing its first whiskeys, which embraced a rapid-aging process called TerrePURE (if you’re unfamiliar with TerrePURE and you see it anywhere on the bottle’s label, just set that bottle back on the shelf and back away slowly).

 

Then, in 2019, Terressentia purchased the rights to the Green River name, and in 2020, O.Z. Tyler once again became the Green River Distilling Company. Green River was purchased by Bardstown Bourbon Company in 2022.

 

Green River produces some rather excellent whiskeys at shockingly affordable prices. I reviewed Wheel Horse’s flagship Bourbon in 2020 and its Cigar Blend in 2023. Wheel Horse was one of the first Bourbons out of the new distillery.

 

Double Oak Bourbon is Wheel Horse’s newest limited-edition whiskey. Its mashbill is undisclosed; it is aged 4.5 years in new, #4-charred oak barrels, then finished an additional six months in new, #1-charred oak barrels. There are 2100 bottles nationwide; each 750ml has a suggested price of $34.99. It is non-chill filtered.

 

Wheel Horse was kind enough to send me a sample of Double Oak Bourbon in exchange for my no-strings-attached, honest review. Let’s #DrinkCurious and discover what this whiskey has to offer.

 

Appearance: I poured this Bourbon into my Glencairn glass to sip neat. The liquid was a deep, dark brown with an orange hue. The medium rim generated pencil-thin, slow tears.

 

Nose: Holding my glass a few inches beneath my nostrils allowed me to smell brown sugar, milk chocolate, vanilla, and toffee. Inhaling the vapor into my mouth brought more toffee.

 

Palate: Double Oak’s texture was viscous as it coated the entirety of my mouth. The front of my palate encountered cotton candy, toffee, and cocoa. Midway through, I tasted black cherries, vanilla, and milk chocolate. The back featured clove, charred oak, and tobacco leaf.

 

Finish: The oak, tobacco, clove, and cotton candy held firm during the very long 2:48 finish. There was nothing wavy about it; it began and ended pretty level.

 

Bottle, Bar, or Bust: First of all, the price of this Bourbon is stupidly low. A five-year, 101° Bourbon could easily cost more. As I said earlier, Green River is pretty awesome at producing quality whiskeys at attractive prices. And, to be blunt, Wheel Horse Double Oak is a quality Bourbon. There are layers of flavors; it is properly proofed and well-balanced, and there is more going on here than you’ll find in many similarly-priced whiskeys. I have zero qualms about giving this Bourbon my Bottle rating. Remember, 2100 bottles isn’t a significant allocation – if you see this on the shelf, grab one. Cheers!

 

My Simple, Easy-to-Understand Rating System

• Bottle = Buy It
• Bar = Try It
• Bust = Leave It

 

Whiskeyfellow encourages you to enjoy your whiskey as you see fit but begs you to do so responsibly.