Old Weller Antique NAS 107 vs. Old Rip Van Winkle 10/107

[JayMonster]

OK, this is my planned "showdown" tasting this week. OWA107 vs ORVW107

Since trumpstylz already started with the Weller 12 vs. ORVW battle for the 90 proofs, I am curious to see what you think about how the 107 proofers stack up. Is there much of a difference from the 90 proof? Or do you prefer one at one proof and the other at the higher (or lower) proof?

[clingman71]

I've had about 3 bottles if the spring '11 ORVW 10/107 vs one bottle of OWA(I now blend all of my OWA with W12). While I love them both, there is no comparison to me, the Old Rip is better. More of everything that I like. I'm not the best at putting it into words on the screen, it's just better. Now, we are talking flavor here, if you include value, then the $ of the VW comes into play. The playing field gets leveled so to speak.

[dridge11]

I have to agree, even though i'm just a few pours into each bottle. I think the ORVW is a LITTLE tastier, but OWA is a better buy. But there isn't a bad decision to be made between the two. They sit side by side at the front of my bourbon collection.

[Beer&Bourbon]

I think these are both spectacular pours. The OWA is a go-to for me; it's readily available and priced right. I've only seen one bottle of 10/107 (when I wasn't forced to choose between that and other Pappy bottlings) and am glad I picked it up. It's a bit less harsh than the OWA with more integrated flavors. I like it a lot and would buy it all the time at the 30ish price point.

[Brisko]

I agree with pretty much everybody else: ORVW is clearly better than OWA. Better integrated, better balanced, etc. Is it worth double the price? I don't know. I've gone back and forth on that question a lot over the last year or so.

For what it's worth, I don't go searching for ORVW. I buy it when I see it but I certainly don't go looking for it when there's OWA to be had at half the price (and year-round).

Regarding proof I always buy at the highest proof available. I can (and often do) add my own water when I want.

[clingman71]

I've had about 3 bottles if the spring '11 ORVW 10/107 vs one bottle of OWA(I now blend all of my OWA with W12). While I love them both, there is no comparison to me, the Old Rip is better. More of everything that I like. I'm not the best at putting it into words on the screen, it's just better. Now, we are talking flavor here, if you include value, then the $ of the VW comes into play. The playing field gets leveled so to speak.

[JayMonster]

OK, I am not going to bog this down with (complete) tasting notes (I'll do that in the tasting forum), but I can say this... I think the "winner" in this showdown was... me.

I was initially expecting these two to very similar, and while they certainly had some traits in common, they were certainly different enough that I don't feel a "which is better" can really be done. At least not in my initial impressions.

The ORVW was far more bold, far more oak and, I guess as Beer&Bourbon put it, more "integrated" tasting. There are some subtle sweet tastes, but they seem to lose out to the oak. This is not necessarily bad, it just makes the ORVW far more, I guess... aggressive, than what I have come to expect out of a wheater.

OWA has a more, "classic" (??) wheater taste. Less oak, more sweet almost brown sugar-ish, the vanilla comes through more clear, and while it has less of an oak taste, it also has more of an alcohol burn on the finish and is slightly rougher around the edges.

You can definitely see what a difference a couple of years in the wood can do here when trying to compare them.

I can't say that I can pick a winner. ORVW is a tough find so far in NJ, otherwise I would say there is a spot on my bar for both of these, and for as long as I have them both around, my mouth winds up the winner.

[ILLfarmboy]

I love both.

Comparing them head to head is unfair. I've tried thinking of an analogy to describe what I mean. Nothing seems to fit. The best can come up with is 'imagine a favorite way to prepare a less than ripe fruit verses a perfictly ripe peice of the same fruit'.....and that dosn't really ,either.

OWA is what I reach for when I want a simple yet bold drink. ORVW 10 107 is what I reach for when I want the same basic thing amped up, made more complex and with more oak.

[trumpstylz]

Yeah, its no contest- I think mainly b/c while the weller decreases age as it goes up in proof (12 year-antique), the van winkle stays the same (90-107). But the vw 107 is about 2x as much.

[Parkersback]

I can understand why this comparison/showdown is happening, and it's interesting to read, but it's also such a moot point for so many people that it makes the natural inclination to compare these two basically pointless, IMHO. I'm not knocking your thread JayMonster, truly. I'm interested to hear people's feedback on these two. But what should be two whiskeys that are kissing cousins are actually Hatfields and McCoys: one of them a "people's" bourbon that can be had just about anywhere for under $25, and the other, an impossibly hard to find, once a year offering that struts and frets in its exclusivity ike it is God's gift to bourbon.

I have seen ORVW--either proof--on the shelf exactly twice in the last two years. The last time I saw it, it was $69.99 (and I am pretty sure that was the 90 proof). Both times I saw it, it was gone within a few days.

Why this is in such short supply, I cannot understand.

I can't really embrace a 10 year old product that has to be hunted like the Lord God Bird and costs three times as much as other similarly aged/positioned bourbons (EC12, RR10, and of course W12 or OWA).

And if you're a Dark Side fan, you can get Highland Park 12 (or 15!) for about the same price, and without having to hire a private investigator. ORVW, are you kidding me?

When I can walk in to a store anytime I want and grab an ORVW for $40, I'll be back. Otherwise, I'm not feeling it anymore.