This is a comparison I stumbled upon because I happened to pick these up on the same day! They are both wheated, barrel proof, and fairly young. Let’s dive in!

Old Elk) @houseofbourbonky selection, $75, 114.6 proof. Aged 5yrs. 51% corn, 45% wheat, 4% barley. Sourced and blended.
-The Nose has some initial ethanol, then lots of fresh baked bread, along with a little barrel-spice and orange citrus, and a hint of bubblegum.
-The Palate is like a glazed cinnamon roll with those fresh bread, cinnamon, and sweet vanilla notes. As it moves to the back of your tongue a little oak, orange peel, corn-syrup, and that bubblegum note appear.
-The finish is medium, and has notes of baked bread, oak-spice, and leather.
Overall this is a very enjoyable, full-flavored pour that is definitely on the sweet side.

Old Monroe) @schnuckmarketsselection, $55, 123 proof. Aged 3yrs. 60% corn, 30% wheat, 10% barley. True “grain to glass” distillery. @stumpysspirits grows all their own grains.
-The Nose is full, and has that young sweet-corn note, along with freshly-ground wheat, sweet caramel, vanilla, and a hint of orange peel.
-The Palate is very full-flavored and smooth. There are notes of vanilla, baked sweet-rolls, and cinnamon, then lots of caramel, and finally notes of orange citrus and oak char.
-The Finish is medium and smooth, with oak char, caramel, and baked bread.
Overall this is a very impressive dram considering it’s young age, and high proof. I was shocked by this one.

VERDICT) These are both very good wheated options, although significantly different!
The only downside of the Old Elk is a little too much corn-syrup sweetness, and the only downside of the Old Monroe is the amount of oak-char. Considering price I guess I would have to crown Old Monroe the winner. Add in the fact that they are truly creating this product from scratch without any sourced ingredients at all. That’s seriously impressive!!

Has anyone else been able to experience these wheated, barrel proof options?