Green River Honey Finished Bourbon Review: A $25 Honey Whiskey Worth Trying?

Updated: June 2026

The short answer: Green River Honey Finished Bourbon is a 92-proof, 4-year Kentucky straight bourbon with real honey added directly to the barrel during finishing. At $25 MSRP, it delivers a clean, honey-forward sip without the syrupy sweetness of most flavored whiskeys. We give it a combined 36.75/50 and an easy recommend.

Introduction

First, a quick note on the category, because "honey-finished bourbon" sits in a legal gray zone that Green River is navigating carefully. Under TTB rules, anything labeled "Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey" cannot have flavoring, coloring, or sweeteners added after distillation and aging. That's the rule that makes bourbon, bourbon. But in Green River's own words: "We start with real 4-year Kentucky straight bourbon and then add real locally sourced honey directly into the barrel. Then we let time do what it does best, and that's it."

You may be wondering, as we still are, how this constitutes "finishing" if it happens in the same primary aging barrel. Unless we're understanding the process wrong, it seems that the product is being declared "done aging" and having honey added to it, and then sitting to marry the ingredients as a "finishing period".

The "Honey-Finished, Not Honey-Flavored" marketing angle is doing real work. Green River is distinguishing itself from products like Wild Turkey American Honey or Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, which are whiskey liqueurs: honey (or artificial honey flavoring) added post-production, lower proof, often below 35% ABV, and legally required to be labeled differently. Green River is bottled at 46% ABV / 92 proof, firmly in bourbon territory.

We've had plenty of flavored, honey-type whiskeys, and most are not good. When something is honey-finished, it's usually a liqueur or it's been heavily sweetened to mask a cheaper underlying spirit. To Green River's credit, this one stays clear of that category. The more interesting question, then, is the one we're here to answer: does this taste like bourbon with honey character, or like a honey product with bourbon in it? Let's find out.

Nose

Brad: Obviously, I can smell honey on this whiskey, right there on the nose. For me, it smells like actual honey versus honey sweetener, which is a big difference. It has a nice clover honey vibe, with a palette of vanilla underneath that's pleasant. If we're judging this as a whiskey and not a liqueur, I'll give it a 6/10.

Bob: I think it's more pleasant than a six, but I'm with you that it's not complex. The other note I'd be getting on this: when you go out in the country in the middle of summer, there's an overwhelmingly powdery sweet smell from some weed that grows somewhere. I don't think it's honeysuckle, but no one's ever been able to identify what plant makes the country smell sweet like that in the summertime. It's the same note I always get when we try amburana-finished bourbons. That's here a bit, and I'll chalk it up to the honey finish. It's nice. The bourbon itself isn't complex. I'm at a 7/10 on the nose.

Taste

Brad: When you get into the taste, the honey is there. It infuses everything you're going to get here. You get almonds, bourbony caramel, and vanilla. It's a pleasant palette that I was impressed with. I'll give it a 7.5/10.

Bob: I'll give it a 7.5/10 too, except I don't have a lot of notes to support that score. It's a honey-forward bourbon. We've always been bigger fans of Green River's higher-proof releases than the entry-level bourbon they have here. This is a standard 4-year bourbon with quite a bit of honey on top of it. Honey syrups in cocktails are not always my favorite because they get lost easily, barely distinguishable from a demerara sugar syrup if you're dumping hot brown liquor on top. So it's subtle. I like it. If you'd put it in front of me without the branding and marketing telling me it was honey-finished, I don't know if I'd immediately know, which is a good thing. It doesn't taste like a liqueur. It tastes like a honey-forward bourbon.

Finish

Bob: On the finish, pleasant. I don't know if it's my taste buds or whiskey has changed in the last couple of years, but I've noticed more and more that sour and bitter notes linger on the back of my palate when I've been tasting whiskey lately. They added honey to this, so I'm glad it's not doing that. It's refreshing to have a whiskey that finishes sweet, and the lingering notes afterwards stay pleasant. I get a touch of mineral water here, not quite salt, but almost an iron note that complements the sweetness. I'm at a 7/10.

Brad: I'm also at a 7/10. For me, it gets a mint-grassy vibe at the back end. But you're right, that honey sweetness sticks around.

Balance

Brad: I'll give it a 7/10. There's nothing complex here. It's a honey-forward experience with vanilla, nuttiness, and a bit of grass. It's pleasant.

Bob: I'd love to see what a full-proof version of this tasted like. I think this is destined for cocktails. Not because it can't stand on its own, but if you go to the Green River website, right below the description they've got six or seven recipes for making cocktails with it. One is the classic gold rush, which we've talked about here before. I like the variant of the gold rush called the brown derby, which uses grapefruit juice and honey syrup. This would make a phenomenal gold rush, because you'd get the honey syrup in addition to the honey finish, and it might stand up better to that ruby red grapefruit juice. Well balanced. 7/10.

Value

Brad: Where it has to earn its keep is value, because you can get cheap flavored whiskey for half the price. MSRP is $25, and on OHLQ it's $24.99. At 25 bucks, this is a 9/10. If this cost $35, I'd be at a 5 or a 6. For $25, this is better than any other honey whiskey on the market. Easy recommend.

Bob: You've talked me up to an 8.5/10. At $25, you can do a hell of a lot worse.

Final Scores

Bob: My final score is 37/50. I'm not going to say this is a contender for whiskey of the year, but it's an interesting product expansion for Green River. If they're going to start making flavored expressions, I'd prefer this finished approach over "we're adding syrup to a bourbon."

Brad: I'm at 36.5/50. This would be a good "you've never had bourbon before but you like honey, try this" whiskey. There are enough bourbon characteristics here, and it doesn't have any syrupy sweetness. It could be a good intro whiskey for newcomers.

Conclusion

We're coming out to a combined score of 36.75/50, comfortably above the 35/50 mark where we'd typically start recommending you seek out a pour at a bar or pick up a bottle. For reference, a 40/50 is great territory and a 45/50 is excellent. Green River Honey Finished Bourbon isn't going to topple our whiskey-of-the-year contenders, but at $25 it's a hell of a deal: a honey-finished bourbon that drinks like a bourbon, not a liqueur. At 92 proof, it'll stand up in a cocktail (we'd point you toward a gold rush) and it's fun to drink neat. If you're a Green River fan or a honey-whiskey skeptic looking for a redemption arc, this one earns its place on the shelf.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Green River Honey Finished Bourbon worth the price? Yes. At $25 MSRP, it's significantly better than most flavored whiskeys on the market. We scored it 8.75/10 on value combined. At $35, the calculus would change.

What does Green River Honey Finished Bourbon taste like? Clover honey on the nose with vanilla underneath. The palate is honey-forward with notes of almond, caramel, and vanilla. The finish stays sweet with a mineral edge. It's not complex, but it's clean and pleasant. It tastes like a honey-forward bourbon, not a sweetened liqueur.

How is Green River Honey Finished Bourbon made? Green River starts with a 4-year Kentucky straight bourbon and adds real locally sourced honey directly into the barrel after the bourbon has finished aging. The final product is bottled at 92 proof, keeping it in bourbon territory rather than crossing into liqueur classification.