This Week's Bourbon Edition - Cheap Bourbon and Rye

[SapperDawg]

The Weller story and review.

Pappy Van Winkle is the most sought after bourbon on the market. The 23 yo version is the only one I have not had, and is the only one that remains from the famous Stitzel Weller distillery. The Pappy brand was purchased by Buffalo Trace years ago, along with the SW juice, and has been on the market ever since. Pappy is a wheated bourbon, and BT has their own wheated recipie....W.L. Weller.

As the SW juice ran out, the younger Van Winkle vintages were filled with the BT wheated juice. As the word spread, W.L Weler 12 year old went from a $24 readily available purchase to non available and hundreds of $$ on the aftermarket. Part of this was the "poor man's pappy" recipe that has floated around the web for years. It is a mix of Weller 12 and Weller Antique to approximate the Pappy 10 year or Van Winkle Lot B mix---NOT PAPPY 23, 20, 15 OR 12.

This pretty much put a run on all Weller products that has continued to this day. All (Weller 12, Anitquie and Special Reserve) are sub $30 bottles. Matter of fact, the only one I would come close to $30 on is 12, the others are low 20's or high teens.

Weller SR (90 proof) and Antique (107 proof) are young, mass market wheated bourbons. I think the SR is much more drinkable than the Antique, as it just burns of alchohol and youth. I find neither especially flavorful. I got caught up in the everything Buffalo Trace and Weller in my early bourbon discovery days. It was a learning process, and please learn from my experiences. Try these in a bar. Do not purchase thinking you are getting something close to Van Winkle.

If you want to have something you enjoy drinking, get Larceny at $25 a bottle. It is a much more complex wheated bourbon, and is very smooth at 92 proof. They don't sell it here, so I buy it by the case in TN.