The more I taste bourbon, the more I’m settling into preferred flavor camps. I hadn’t really noticed this with scotch (I’ll enjoy almost any scotch without too much young grain in it), but I’m really starting to prefer straight rye and wheated bourbon. Straight rye has a lot of interesting spice notes, along with herbal spikes of menthol, mint, or eucalyptus. I drink rye when I want something to think about and analyze. Wheated bourbon, on the other hand, is full of cereals, comfort-food sweetness (think Marshmallow Fluff), and comes across the palate as soft. I drink wheated bourbon when I want to sit back and relax… the spiritous equivalent to a mug of hot cocoa on a cold night. Even the high-proof stuff (like Pappy Van Winkle) is flavorsome in a deep, fully-fledged way that is very satisfying… even as it burns the tastebuds off your tongue. All of this may be because I taste less of that “fake” corn-syrup flavor in wheated bourbons than I do in rye-flavored ones. I don’t have an explanation for that – they’re both still mostly corn.
W. L. Weller is named after the eponymous William Larue Weller. Weller is thought to be the first distiller to use wheat as the flavoring grain for Kentucky Straight Bourbon, and built a successful business on the idea. His distillery eventually merged with Pappy Van Winkle’s Stitzel distillery to form the Stitzel-Weller distillery that yielded all that craze-making Pappy juice. Of course, both W. L. Weller 12 and (now) Pappy Van Winkle are made at Buffalo Trace’s distillery since Stitzel-Weller was closed in 1992.
This is the 12 year-old expression, and not to be confused with the annual Buffalo Trace Antique Collection bottle (“William Larue Weller” with a vintage year, usually 12 years old and at cask strength), which is as nearly impossible to find as Pappy. W. L. Weller 12 is sold alongside its (younger) non-age-statement siblings W. L. Weller Special Reserve and W. L. Weller Antique, and is basically 12 year-old Pappy Van Winkle bourbon that didn’t make the barrel selection cut for Lot B. While “failed Pappy” doesn’t sound like a great selling point, it should be pointed out that although the maturation differences resulting from barrel warehouse location and barrel individuality are well-documented (and the whole basis for the “single cask” phenomenon), the differences are often slight or incremental and are averaged together during vatting. In other words, 12 year-old Pappy is statistically only slightly better than 12 year-old W.L. Weller. This suddenly starts to matter when you look at the price tag: W. L. Weller 12-year is $26 a bottle. Failed Pappy 12 for $26? Sign me up!
Note: Someone might argue, rightly, that sometimes individual barrels are WAY better than the same barrel from another part of the warehouse. This can increase the average quality of the vatting they go into, and further accounts for the popularity difference between Pappy and Weller, as is the fact that the most popular Pappy (the 15 year) is cask strength, and 3 years older.
Nose: Lovely round profile, classic wheated bourbon notes of soft caramel and sugar-dusted breakfast cereals. This one has a sour twang, like sour cherries, and a distinctly corn-oriented acetone note. A little wood is detectable as a vein of ground cinnamon.
Palate: Very soft on the palate. Silky, even. Moderate tongue burn. A little anise on the front, some nice fresh corn notes in the middle, and a continuous acetic acid throughout, like cider vinegar or vermouth.
Finish: Medium length, with vanilla and some light drying barrel tannins. Caramel reappears, with honey-flavored candy (candy corn). No bitterness. Pleasant.
With Water: Several drops of water add maybe a hint of maple syrup to the nose. Alas, the water seems to introduce a bitter note in the finish. I personally will skip the water.
Overall: There is a nice array of pleasant flavors and aromas, although just because this is a wheated recipe does not mean it bears much resemblance to Pappy Van Winkle 15. There just isn’t that much depth in the W.L. Weller. Still, for the money this is an easy-going sipper – an uncomplicated glass of bourbon, both with and without an ice cube.
I believe the William LaRue Weller BTAC release has been around 12 years old for the past couple years, maybe longer. I was able to get a hold of a 2013 release @ MSRP, and am really enjoying it. It has an interesting fruit leather and wood spice thing going on, and is surprisingly mellow for the proof. I am actually enjoying it more right now than I did the 2013 George T. Stagg that I was also able to find, but that may just be burn out from sampling a huge swath of the Buffalo Trace Mashbill #1 in the past year.
Thanks for the correction, Eric – for some reason I assumed the WLW was 18 year old to justify the price, but it appears to be just a cask-strength version of this. I still haven’t tasted it yet. 😉
No problem Nathan. For what it’s worth, the William Larue Weller is an outstanding value in my admittedly skewed assessment. It’s a bit more expensive than some other Barrel Proof Bourbons, but it is the highest proof wheater that I am aware of. I don’t think it tastes all that similar to the Weller 12, even if it is the same age.
I know you stated that you really enjoy wheaters and straight rye whiskies (BTW, if you’re interested in Thomas H. Handy Sazerac and are ever on the east coast, let me know. I can obtain a bottle or two for you at MSRP), but I have to ask if you’ve tried Four Roses Single Barrel. This is, without a doubt, my favorite regular bourbon purchase. The main reason I mention it is that the rye in the typical single barrel mash bill is fairly high, around 35% (this is for the OBSV recipe, which is the typical one available). It is really an amazing pour, and one I think you may appreciate for both its complexity vs. your typical bourbon, and its trademark creamy mouthfeel.
Cheers,
Eric
Thanks for the recommendation Eric. I’ve had the FR Small Batch, but not the Single Barrel yet. I’ll keep an eye out.
I will have to check this out. Only had the chance to try Pappy 15 once, and it was amazing. I paid $15 for a glass of that, so $26 for this sounds like a steal.
Also, since you like wheated bourbons, you should check out Bernheim Original Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey. It’s everyhting you mentioned about wheated bourbons, but taken to the next level as wheat, not corn is it’s primary grain.
Great story behind this bourbon. Will grab it (and FRSB) next time i see it.
The first thing that came to mind when I tasted this was “eggnog”. This will be the perfect whisky for mixing next holiday season. Aside from bulleit, this is my first foray into bourbon. Not bad at all.
Great post.
Good luck finding Weller 12 at the moment. Seems to be a serious shortage, perhaps because more will ‘become’ Pappy.
internetwines has it available for 59.99, a relatively high markup but still comparably cheaper than ORVW 10/12.
HAH>>check it out, they have it for the tidy sum of $199 American Dollars now.
I agree that this is a pleasant and undemanding whiskey that I can enjoy when I don’t want peat or sherry or rye. None of that “nail polish remover” nose or taste that turns me off. Nice bottle to keep around, but has recently disappeared from the shelves.
I think Weller 12 and FRSB may be the best values there are. Even in Canada they are very reasonable. Weller 12 is a MUST HAVE in any bar.
Cheers
My whisky guy was out of the Angel’s Envy bottle I was looking for & offered me a bottle of this for $21 as a consolation prize. So much in demand is W.L. Weller 12 that they dont have it on the shelves. Instead they keep it in the back and offer it only to favored customers.
Poured my first dram last night. Price-to-Value ratio is phenomenal on this one! An altogether pleasant, uncomplicated, easy sipper.