Review: Preservation Estate Pot Distilled Wheated Bourbon

Bardstown’s Preservation Distillery was officially launched around 2015, but the brand has roots dating back to the 1980s. That’s when founder Marci Palatella began bottling sourced bourbon under a wide variety of labels — including Pure Antique, Very Olde St. Nick, and Rare Perfection, among others — often specifically targeted at export markets. Some of those stocks came from producers like the original Stitzel-Weller, and today, many of Palatella’s “glut era” bottlings are among the most sought-after vintage American whiskeys.

Preservation still releases sourced whiskey from Palatella’s highly aged stocks, including Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee bourbon and Canadian whisky. In recent years, they’ve also begun blending sourced whiskey with their own distillate produced in Bardstown.

In 2024, Preservation released their first-ever product containing whiskey distilled entirely on site. Preservation Estate Pot Distilled Wheated Bourbon is produced in very small batches; the distillery is capable of filling just a handful of barrels a day with their current distillation setup. This wheated bourbon is made up of no more than three barrels per batch, so there’s likely to be some variation from one bottling to the next.

The whiskey has no official age statement, but according to the distillery, the barrels in these “micro” batches are between 6 and 7 years old. The batches are then bottled at cask strength.

What we’re reviewing today was among the first batches released and clocks in at 57.3% abv. Let’s dive in.

Aromas kick off with cinnamon sticks, spiced blackcurrant jam, burnt coconut chips, toasted oak, and perhaps the darkest amaro-soaked cherries I’ve ever smelled. Fruit opens up with more time in the glass, including dried apricots and baked pears. A tinge of hot porridge evokes the underlying grain but doesn’t overpower more mature notes; as such, the bourbon never risks smelling overly young or unrefined, and the years aging in and out across a charred oak filter have been kind. It’s ultimately inviting, with a series of funky, overripe fruit undertones. Whether or not it’s a direct result of the still type, it has a number of commonalities with many well-aged Irish single pot still whiskeys.

Dark cherry syrup leads on the first sip, backed by a semi-oily viscosity that slides slowly from the front to the back of the tongue. Sugar-sweetened dried cranberries follow. Next up is Big Red soda, a Southern delicacy heavy on lemon and orange peels as well as vanilla, similar to a citrusy cream soda. The fruit brightens by the midpalate to bright red maraschino cherry. Oak accumulates slowly here, and a light astringency complements an otherwise very sweet palate.

The finish doesn’t quite have the same composure as the palate, with sweet elements and tannins — close to drying tobacco — dissipating at slightly different rates. This last act feels like a faint tug of war before finally settling into more cherry and sultanas. It’s lengthy and welcomes a long pause between sips. There’s flavor enough to parse over a minute or two.

Preservation waited until the time was right for their first estate release, and don’t let the extremely small batch nature of the product fool anyone: This is mature, exuberant whiskey — and an especially fun riff on the more typical wheated profile.

I’m excited to see what the distillate does with even more age. Not that this batch wasn’t ready to go as-is.

114.6 proof. Reviewed: Lot 1.

A- / $129 / preservationdistillery.com

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