The distillery out of Owensboro, Kentucky is not slowing down. Green River Distilling, which turned heads across the spirits world when its Wheated Bourbon took home the title of World's Best Bourbon at the 2025 New York World Spirits Competition, has already followed up that win with a new release that a lot of bourbon drinkers have been waiting for.
Green River Wheated Full Proof hit shelves nationwide on February 13th, and it represents something pretty straightforward — the same bourbon that won that top honor, but bottled at barrel strength instead of being cut down with water. It clocks in at 109.3 proof, or 54.65 percent alcohol by volume, though the distillery says that number will shift a little from batch to batch depending on which barrels end up in the blend.
Image credit: Green River
That kind of variation is normal for full proof and barrel strength releases, and for a lot of experienced bourbon drinkers, it is actually part of the appeal. Each batch carries its own fingerprint based on the specific barrels selected and how they aged. No two are going to be exactly alike.
The backstory on this one is pretty simple. After the original Wheated Bourbon started racking up praise and that competition title, Green River says the same question kept popping up from fans and whiskey enthusiasts alike — what does it taste like at full proof? Rather than sitting on the idea or turning it into some drawn-out marketing event, the distillery went ahead and put together a release that answers the question directly.
What sits inside the bottle is a small batch blend of select barrels that were aged up to seven years. That is older than the standard Wheated Bourbon offering, which gives the liquid more time to pull flavor from the charred oak. Full proof bottling means nothing is added and nothing is taken away after the barrels are dumped. What came out of the wood is what went into the glass.
The mash bill stays the same across both expressions. It is built on 70 percent Kentucky-grown corn, 21 percent wheat, and 9 percent malted barley. That high wheat content in place of the rye grain you find in a lot of other bourbons is what gives the Wheated line its signature character — a softer, rounder profile without the spicy bite that rye-heavy recipes tend to deliver.
On the tasting notes side, Green River describes the Full Proof as offering rich caramel and tangerine up front, layered with cinnamon and vanilla crème. The appearance is a deep golden amber, which tracks with the extended aging time those barrels spent in the rickhouse. The finish, according to the distillery, is a soft wheat finish paired with the kind of rich, concentrated flavor you only get when a bourbon has not been diluted before bottling.
For anyone who has spent time exploring the wheated bourbon category — a space historically dominated by names like Maker's Mark, Weller, and Pappy Van Winkle — this release from Green River is noteworthy for a few reasons. First, the distillery is not playing the limited edition game with this one. There is no allocated lottery, no inflated secondary market price baked into the strategy. Green River has made it clear that this is meant to be a widely available product that people can actually find and buy without jumping through hoops.
"No tweaks. No inflated price. No limited-edition theater," the Green River team said in announcing the release. "Just more of what people already loved, aged longer, and bottled the way it comes out of the barrel."
That kind of messaging stands out in a bourbon market that has become increasingly defined by hype, scarcity, and price inflation over the past decade. While plenty of distilleries have leaned hard into the collectibility angle — releasing small quantities at premium prices and watching the secondary market do the rest — Green River appears to be taking a different path. The pitch here is quality and accessibility over exclusivity.
Green River Distilling itself operates out of a facility at 10 Distillery Road in Owensboro, Kentucky, with a second location at 714 West Main Street in Louisville. The distillery is a member of the Official Kentucky Bourbon Trail, which puts it in the company of some of the most storied names in American whiskey. Owensboro sits along the Ohio River in Daviess County, and the region has a deep history in bourbon production that stretches back well over a century.
The Wheated Full Proof is available for purchase online and can also be found through the distillery's store locator for anyone looking to track down a bottle at a retailer nearby.
For bourbon drinkers who already had the standard Wheated Bourbon in their rotation and enjoyed it, the Full Proof version offers a chance to experience that same recipe with more intensity and depth. The extra aging and barrel-strength bottling amplify the flavors that were already there, and the wheat-forward mash bill keeps things smooth enough that the higher proof does not become punishing.
It is a release that does not try to reinvent anything. It just takes a proven winner and lets the barrel do the talking.
