Weller 12 Year Old Review

Brian’s Weller 12 Year Old Review

updated review 23-September-2023
(originally posted in Apri 2018)

WELLER 12 YEAR OLD REVIEW:

Weller 12 Year, my first bottle of “Rare Bourbon”, was purchased in November 2017 as a result of my entry being drawn from the Idaho State Liquor Lottery. The following is an update of my original review.

Weller 12 Year Old (Weller 12) offers balanced aromas and flavors of warm wheat, cherries, plums, and blueberry treats while delighting the senses with cinnamon, nutmeg, and white pepper. The pour has a buttery, viscous, and rich mouthfeel, which help prepare it for the medium-long and warming finish. The sensations deepen as dark molasses and heavily toasted oak, becomes more pronounced as I progress through the glass. Once emptied, the Glencairn presents with residual alcohol notes and the scent of freshly milled oak sawdust.

WELLER 12 YEAR OLD VITAL STATS:
Weller 12 Year Old

Category: Allocated, Wheated Bourbon
Region: Kentucky, USA
Distillery: Buffalo Trace
Mash Bill: undisclosed, but believed to be approximately: about 70% Corn; 14-16% Wheat; 16-14% Malted Barley:
Barrel Char: #4
Barrel entry proof: 114
Age: 12 years old
ABV: 45% (90 Proof)
NABCA CSC #:
Fair Price: $159.58 (BoozApp, September 2023)
Paid: $39.95 (Idaho, September 2023)

Learn more at Buffalo Trace.

ENJOYMENT METHOD:

On Day 23 of the 2023 30 Bourbons in 30 Days Challenge, by alternating the pours, eight onces were split between a Glencairn and a Weck. After posting updates to social media, my daughter and I enjoyed the bourbon neat as I prepared this review. About 30 minutes had gone by before my first sip.

NOSE:

My first waft of Weller 12 brings sweet fruit tree blossoms and warm summer wheat. Deeper draws bring sweet cherries, plums and the unexpected aroma of blueberry filling blended with faint cinnamon, nutmeg, and white pepper in a fresh baked pie. Additional baking notes of graham cracker, chocolate cream, and vanilla find their way to my nose as well. Then come sweets of caramel corn, brown and maple sugar, with a drizzle of maple syrup over pecans. Also in each breath I find freshness in light sweet oak.

PALATE:

Each sip of Weller 12 I take, is warm and wheaty. Like I found on the nose, maraschino cherries and plum yield to blueberries, now in the form of syrup, and cheesecake on a baked chocolate graham cracker base. Spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper along with rich vanilla serve to enhance the confection. The sweetness builds as simple syrup, brown sugar, maple sugar and pecan supports light and toasted oak.

Weller 12 Year Old

Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
I find the fruit and sugar flavors in Weller 12 to be in perfect harmony with one another while its spice and woody notes play a fine supporting roll. The blend is incredibly easy to hold as salivary glands flood to make mouthfuls feel buttery, viscous and rich. In the glass, a thick, solid crown forms. And after each sip, the liquid veil breaks into irregularly spaced clinging legs to drain the extra back to the flame-colored pool.

FINISH:

The finish I get from Weller 12 Year Old is long on the palate while it warms the throat. It offers a soft wheaty punch while dark berries, cherry, and plum trade with sensations of cinnamon, black pepper, and vanilla. Then the finish deepens, as dark molasses and dry, heavily toasted oak mix with tanned leather. The pour becomes more earthy the further into the glass I venture. Once the final drops are gone, the empty Glencairn has notes of residual alcohol ans smells of freshly milled oak sawdust.

MY RATING: 90/100

Will I seek out this whiskey in the future? Yes
Click to read Brian’s scoring process.

Click 90/100 to access other whiskies with this score.
To access other whiskies under this banner, click Weller.

WHISKEY TRAITS AND FLAVOR WHEEL AND GRAPH
Weller 12 Year Old
Weller 12 Year Old

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Weller Antique 107 Review

Brian’s Weller Antique 107 Review

written on 19-December-2017

WELLER ANTIQUE 107 REVIEW:

Weller Antique’s New screw-top bottle style for 2017 is “every-man’s wheated bourbon” and for good reason. While a bit hard to find it should be bunkered and brought out when a benchmark wheated bourbon is needed for comparison. Full of caramel with lots of banana at the pour; the banana persists but fades to be taken over by the sweetness of the corn and wheat. Is it possible? Could it be too sweet?

WELLER ANTIQUE 107 VITAL STATS:
Weller Antique 107 Review

– Category: Wheated Bourbon
– Region: Kentucky, USA
– Distillery : Buffalo Trace
– Mash Bill: unknown, but likely similar to other Weller releases: Corn: 70%; Wheat: 14-16%; Malted Barley: 16-14%
– Cask: New Charred Oak
– Age: unpublished
– Barrel Entry Proof: unpublished
– ABV: 53.5% (107 Proof)
– Purchase Price: $49.95 USD in Idaho (2019)

https://buffalotracedistillery.com/

ENJOYMENT METHOD:

For the evaluation, I shared the juice neat from Glencairn glasses with my daughter and fellow Whiskey for the Ages reviewer Hannah.

Check out her review for this bourbon here!

NOSE:

As the bottle opens, banana wafts into the air. When brought to the nose, the caramel comes through. Even though Weller Antique is 107 proof, the alcohol is not in the forefront. This is a bourbon for the senses.

PALATE:

Even though the the smell of banana is there, it is not in the taste. There is plenty of caramel and lots of vanilla to entertain the mouth and a little cherry sneaks in for time to time as well.

Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
Weller Antique is well balanced and offers up a nice soothing mouthful owing to the wheated mash bill. Its 107 proof does not overwhelm and in the Glencairn the mahogany and henna juice coats the glass quite nicely.

FINISH:

Weller Antique’s finish is long and caramely. The longer it sits in the glass the sweeter it gets, but there is a little leather and oak in glass as well. I love the smell of the empty Glencairn; it makes one beg for another dram (or two).

MY RATING: 88/100

Will I seek out this whiskey in the future? Yes
Click to read Brian’s scoring process.

Click 88/100 to access other whiskies with this score.
To access other whiskies under this banner, click Weller.

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Weller CYPB Review

Brian’s Weller CYPB Review:

written on 23-September-2018

WELLER CYPB REVIEW:

Weller C.Y.P.B. (Create Your Private Barrel) is a fine bourbon; not overly complex, but one that most anyone could easily enjoy. A little sweet candy, some floral notes and nice bourbon warmth.

WELLER C.Y.P.B. VITAL STATS:
Weller C.Y.P.B. Review

– Category: Wheated Bourbon
– Region: Kentucky, USA
– Distillery: Buffalo Trace
– Mash Bill: unknown, but likely similar to other Weller releases: Corn: 70%; Wheat: 14-16%; Malted Barley: 16-14%
– Cask: New Charred Oak
– Age: unpublished
– Barrel Proof: unpublished
– ABV: 47.5% (95 Proof)
– Purchase Price: $39.95 USD in Idaho

https://buffalotracedistillery.com/

BACK STORY:

Back in 2015, Buffalo Trace launched their “Craft Your Perfect Bourbon” website (probably in jest) as a way to educate consumers about their whiskey. Bourbon drinkers would get to try their hand (at least, theoretically) at “crafting” their own bourbon. Once on the site, people would be able to determine the grain recipe, watch that recipe go through the distilling process, determine where in the warehouse it would be aged, how long it would age, and the ultimate proof of the bourbon when it would be ready to bottle.

In total, 100,239 people made recipe suggestions. According to Buffalo Trace, an overwhelming number of eager crafters “made” a wheated bourbon, aged on the top floor of the warehouse to be bottled between 90 and 99 proof. In theory, Weller C.Y.P.B. is the culmination of “the peoples efforts” (not withstanding any fuzzy math … how does one cram eight years of aging between inception in 2015 to its release in 2018!?!)

ENJOYMENT METHOD:

I drank this spirit neat, from a Glencairn glass.

NOSE:

Sweet butterscotch candy gives way to rich toffee and brown sugar coupled with a hint of sweet ripe berries. The alcohol is there but does not overwhelm.

PALATE:

Bright floral fruit notes greet the tongue, followed by the rich toffee sensed on the nose.

Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
The 2018 C.Y.P.B. has a nice mahogany and henna coloration, a pleasant oily mouth feel and is nicely blended.

FINISH:

The finish is not overly long and the flavors fade fairly quick, but bourbon warmth lingers.

MY RATING: 87/100

Will I seek out this whiskey in the future? Yes
Click to read Brian’s scoring process.

Click 87/100 to access other whiskies with this score.
To access other whiskies under this banner, click Weller.

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