Woodford Reserve Chocolate Whisper Redux 2025 the highest-proof bourbon Woodford Reserve has ever released: a 12-year-old, 139.4 proof Distillery Series expression that is the third chapter of one of American whiskey’s most unusual origin stories, and the most intense iteration of the Chocolate Whisper lineage to date.

The story begins in 2019. Woodford Reserve distilled a Masters Collection expression called Chocolate Malted Rye a bourbon with roughly 15% chocolate-malted rye in the mash bill, the grain kilned to the point of near-roasting to produce concentrated cocoa flavors. After that run, the receiving tanks of the copper pot stills weren’t fully drained before the next standard bourbon distillate was collected. The residual chocolate malted rye distillate mingled with the incoming standard bourbon run an accident that Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall discovered only when the resulting spirit showed unexpected chocolate character in sensory evaluation. Rather than discard it, Woodford set it aside to mature.

In 2021, those barrels became the Chocolate Malt Whisper Distillery Series release bottled at 90.4 proof with the standard Woodford proof. But more barrels from that original accident run kept aging. Four more years in the barrel, now at 12 years total, produced a whiskey that not only carried the chocolate character of the original accident but concentrated it dramatically: 139.4 proof, just 0.6 proof below the hazmat shipping threshold, and the highest ABV bourbon Woodford has ever sold.

Tasting Notes

• Nose: Rich dark chocolate, berry compote, and caramelized sugar with light toasted oak, faint vanilla, chocolate (naturally), toasted oak, and nutmeg full and inviting at cask strength
• Palate: Cacao nib, dark roasted coffee, dried cherry and cranberry, charred oak, dark caramel, baking spices, and chocolate cake with apples and pears threading through; rich and concentrated with a surprisingly balanced character for the proof
• Finish: Long with oak wood, dark chocolate, cinnamon, and lingering dried fruit chocolate and coffee notes persist well beyond the sip

Specs

• Distillery: Woodford Reserve Distillery, Versailles, Kentucky
• Style: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Distillery Series
• Age: 12 Years
• Distillation: Triple copper pot stills
• ABV: 69.7% (139.4 Proof)
• Size: 375ml

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Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the origin of the Chocolate Whisper? A happy accident. After distilling the 2019 Masters Collection Chocolate Malted Rye, residual distillate from the chocolate-kilned grain mingled with the next standard bourbon run in the collection tanks. The chocolate character that appeared in the resulting bourbon was discovered in sensory evaluation and the barrels were set aside. That accident run became the Chocolate Malt Whisper in 2021 and, after four more years of aging, this 2025 Redux.
• Is 139.4 proof near the hazmat threshold? Yes the hazmat shipping classification begins at 140 proof. At 139.4, Chocolate Whisper Redux is 0.6 proof below that threshold, which also means it can be transported on a commercial flight in checked luggage, an important consideration for the distillery-exclusive format.
• How does the 2025 Redux compare to the 2021 Chocolate Malt Whisper? Same original barrel run, four additional years of aging, dramatically higher proof. The 2021 release was 90.4 proof; the 2025 Redux is 139.4 a 49-proof difference that fundamentally changes the character from approachable to intensely concentrated. The chocolate and coffee notes that whispered in 2021 are shouting in 2025.

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