Premier Drams Single Barrel Wheated PLDC 2 Bourbon Whiskey 750ml

Premier Drams is the whiskey label from Bill Thomas, longtime owner of Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Washington, D.C. and a fixture in the American whiskey world for more than two decades. Rather than distilling in-house, Thomas works as an independent bottler, hand-selecting single barrels from established Kentucky producers and bringing them to market under his own name. This particular release, PLDC 2, comes from cask 19493, one of a small handful of wheated bourbon barrels chosen for the label's early lineup.

This wheated bourbon was distilled in Bardstown, Kentucky and aged for seven years before being dumped and bottled at Castle & Key Distillery in Frankfort. Because it uses wheat rather than rye as the secondary grain, the mashbill leans toward a softer, rounder sweetness than a typical rye-forward bourbon. The barrel was bottled at cask strength, roughly 101.4 proof, and left non-chill filtered, preserving the full body and texture the wood imparted over its years in the warehouse.

The nose offers rosemary, spearmint, vanilla bean, toffee, tobacco, dark chocolate powder, and caramel syrup. On the palate, plum skin and raw vanilla give way to white chocolate-covered pretzel, leather, barrel char, and a touch of smoke, with ground pepper and cinnamon layered through lingering oak. The finish is long and leathery, closing on baking spice and pepper.