A while ago I popped in to my local liquor store to take part in a whiskey tasting. They had some bourbons and whiskeys from the good folks at Heritage Distilling Co. Having never heard of them before I was excited, hoping to find something novel and unique. Sadly, I was a little underwhelmed.
Batch No. 12 Bourbon Whiskey: So called because it took 12 attempts to get the recipe right. I say they should move on to batch no. 13. This has bite, but little of the sweetness I’d expect from a bourbon. Very strong up-front and an overly aggressive finish. Apparently aged for less than two years. The flavor profile wasn’t horrible, so I think this could be good if aged a bit longer. 2 out of 5 Old Fashioned glasses.
Brown Sugar Bourbon “BSB”: Emphasis on the “brown sugar” part. The person running the tasting said there were “hints of caramel, quite subtle.” I say this was more like a simple syrup made from a 1-to-1 mix of demerara sugar and bourbon. Though if they used actual sugar rather than artificial sweetener (or “natural flavors”) it could be bearable. Move along. 0 out of 5 Old Fashioned Glasses. 
Elk Rider Bourbon: Not gonna lie. At this point, I had lost faith in Heritage Distilling. Batch 12 was underwhelming and BSB was just bad. Elk Rider though was decent. Good, even! Definite notes of honey and caramel, and the oak comes through quite clearly. But not in a bad way. Would I buy this? No. Would I be pleased if someone left this bottle at my apartment? Sure. Would do well in an Old Fashioned. 2.5 out of 5 Old Fashioned glasses.
Elk Rider Blended Whiskey: First things first. I don’t get the hoopla over blended goods. Can’t for the life of me figure out why some purists think it’s bad. Ok, moving on. This “proprietary blend” is pretty grainy. But not bad. Some smokiness came through. Similar to the Elk Rider Bourbon, this would be a good drink to make cocktails with. 2.5 out of 5 Old Fashioned glasses.
The Miksologist 