W.L. Weller Antique Collection 2007
About a year ago I was fortunate enough to be offered a tasting of a W.L. Weller cask-strength bourbon from Buffalo Trace’s Antique Collection. I’d had Weller before, but only in their no-age-statement basic bottling (notably a great bargain at $14) and had found it be pretty good for a low-end bourbon. And while I’ve been intrigued by bourbon for quite awhile now, I hadn’t yet been excited enough to pursue it with much emphasis.
So I wasn’t prepared for how incredible that tasting of the Weller cask-strength was going to be. So much flavor literally exploding in your mouth, the aroma just jumping out of the glass. Classic bourbon flavors of butterscotch, vanilla, and caramel, but amplified many times over.
Since then I’ve kept my eyes open for a bottle of Weller from the Antique Collection. The thing is, all of the bottlings in the Antique Collection are very rare and hard to find. So when I recently happened across one, I didn’t hesitate to take a chance on it. And now, having tasted it a couple of times since opening it, it’s clear that it was worth the wait.
This bottle is from the 2007 Antique Collection. It’s a 10-year old bourbon bottled at cask-strength (although I don’t believe it is a single-cask) at 58.95%, and is unfiltered. Weller is unusual from most bourbons in that it is what is referred to as a wheated bourbon. All bourbons must contain a minimum of 51% corn, but the remainder is often a blend of differing amounts of rye, barley, and wheat, and additional corn. In the case of the Weller, wheat makes up the largest component of that additional 49%. The result is a bourbon that lacks the spicy character that rye provides, but amply makes up for it by creating a voluptuous backdrop against which the bourbon’s flavors play out.
The Weller is the color of lustrous, deep gold. The nose speaks volumes: browned butter, caramel, vanilla, butterscotch, and a hint of raspberries. The palate is amazingly rich with layers of sweet vanillas and caramels, and a slight smokiness. The wheat character provides a great canvas for all of these flavors with a mouth-coating butteriness that is the foundation for the finish that just drags on and on. The layers of flavor give way to a distinct vanilla and smoke character on the finish that is really quite spellbinding. Interestingly, for a 58% bourbon, this needs no water at all. It is incredibly smooth.
The most amazing thing to me about this bourbon is that the three separate components, the nose, palate, and finish are all spellbinding in their own right. Each step is a great experience, making the Weller just a fabulous bourbon start to finish. You could even add the beautiful color of the bourbon to that matrix if you wanted to.
In sum, this is one helluva bourbon. The 2008 Antique Collection just came out, so it must be time to start keeping my eyes peeled once again.
A note about the Antique Collection: Each Fall Buffalo Trace Distillery releases the Antique Collection, their collection of special one-off bottlings of rare whiskies. Each year this includes the W.L. Weller Cask Strength, George T. Stagg (also cask strength, and often in the 17 year range), Eagle Rare (usually in the 18 year range), Sazerac Rye (usually in the 18 year range), and Sazerac Thomas Handy (a young, cask strength rye). The bottles are always quite limited, very hard to find, and very good. The Malt Advocate reviews of them rarely go much below an 88, and that is rare. Most usually get a score in the 90s.
I’ve tried the Stagg, which was a 17 year bourbon bottled at 72%. It was, needless to say, staggering in many respects. I enjoyed the Weller more on account of its greater smoothness and drinkability, but the Stagg was quite remarkable. I’ve also tried the Eagle Rare 18 year, which was quite good, but I was not overly impressed. Realistically though, this was in a tasting scenario that I don’t believe did the bourbon justice.
Oh, and they are all incredible values, usually priced by Buffalo Trace in the $60 range.
Basically, these are all reliably great whiskies, and well worth the trouble of making some effort to find.
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