Parker's Heritage Turns 20: A 14-Year-Old Bourbon Built on Rye Backset at 118 Proof

Heaven Hill Distillery is marking a milestone for one of its most coveted annual releases: the 20th edition of the Parker's Heritage Collection, a 14-year-old Kentucky straight bourbon made using rye backset and bottled at 118 proof. The series honors the legacy of the late Parker Beam, Heaven Hill's longtime master distiller emeritus.

This year's release is drawn from just 100 barrels distilled between October 2011 and January 2012, built on Heaven Hill's traditional bourbon mashbill of 78 percent corn, 10 percent rye, and 12 percent malted barley, aged 14 years. The rye-backset fermentation technique is closely associated with Beam himself. It is bottled barrel proof at 118 proof (59 percent ABV), non-chill filtered, at a suggested retail of $199.99 for a 750-milliliter bottle — reaching retailers nationwide in limited quantities in September, with select bottles bound for international markets.

As with previous editions, Heaven Hill will donate a portion of every bottle's proceeds to the ALS Association; the program has generated more than $1.4 million to date. Twenty editions in, Parker's Heritage remains the bottle that lets Heaven Hill show its work — and this year's work is pure Parker Beam.