William Larue Weller (2018 Release)

A little background

Each year the venerable Buffalo Trace Distillery releases their Antique Collection with one of the five bottles being an uncut and unfiltered version of their ever-popular Weller line. While it is sometimes hard to separate hype from actual quality in such releases, I must say I am not the biggest Weller fan overall and really do not “hunt” for the once readily available line. With that out of the way let’s get into this 125.7 proof beast. Retail price of around $100.

(Tasted neat from a 11.2 ounce Teku Glass)

Color

Rosie Amber

Nose

Cherry cordial jumps out of the glass followed by the charred oak in the form of a creme brulee burnt “cap”. The nose gives the impression that this bourbon is aged well beyond the 12 years stated in the press release.

Palate

Gooey burnt marshmallow, vanilla meringue cake, cherry infused maple syrup, and a nice ethanol spice bite of nutmeg and cardamom to offset the sugary sweet confectionery notes.

Finish

The charred oak that was present on both the nose and palate really takes the wheel with vanilla tannin and smoked brisket burnt end crust rounding out the entire experience on a sweet and savory note.

In conclusion

Uh, well….this is really good whiskey. Where the 2017 release was very extremely one-note to me (cherries with more cherries) the 2018 comes out swinging with an oak influence that it wears proudly on its sleeve. The balance of sweet, spicy, and savory notes is something to be commended. With that said, if you cannot get your hands on a bottle, just know you can pick up a bottle of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof and get a similar, but not quite as refined, experience as this. *Note: Value rating based on the retail price of $100 up to a cost of $200.