W.L. Weller Special Reserve (7 yr old)

[cowdery]

On a recent visit to Liquor Barn in Louisville, I was pleasantly surprised to see Weller Centennial priced at $22.99 while its former stablemate in the Bourbon Heritage Collection, Very Special Old Fitzgerald, is still priced at $30+. I bought the Centennial and a bottle of Old Fitzgerald 1849 for $14.29.

The Weller line consists of:
W.L. Weller Special Reserve (7 years, 90 proof)
W.L. Weller Aged 12 Years (90 proof, $14.99)
W.L. Weller Centennial (10 years, 100 proof, $22.99)
W.L. Weller Antique (7 years, 107 proof, $17.99)

The prices given are actual prices I've paid within the past year in Chicago or Kentucky. I don't have a recent price for Special Reserve, but it would be at the low end of the above range.

[Bourbaki_Bourbon]

Thanks, Chuck. That squares with what I found on greatbourbon.com.

I'd be interested in how people familiar with all four rate them relative to each other.

[TNbourbon]

What are all the bottlings of the Weller line?

W.L. Weller Special Reserve 7yo, 90 proof
W.L. Weller Antique 7yo, 107 proof
Weller Centennial 10yo, 100 proof
W.L. Weller 12yo, 90 proof
W.L. Weller 19yo, 90 proof (one-time bottling first year of Antique Collection)

Rebel Yell (no age statement, so probably 4yo, 80 proof) is a one-time sibling orginated by Stitzel-Weller, but now bottled by David Sherman Corp. in St. Louis from purchased whiskey. It remains a 'wheater' according to the brand's website, which even still invokes the W.L. Weller connection.

[wrbriggs]

I've only had one bottle of the Weller 12, and I found it to be more harsh than the Weller 7. To me, the harshness of the Weller 7 is strange because it only becomes bothersome when the bottle is about half empty. When first opened the Weller 7 is mellow. But when the bottle is half empty I add one teaspoon of water to a a 50ml drink to deal with the harshness.

Thanks for the advice. I had another pour tonight with some water added, and it smoothed it out a bit. The funny thing is that I almost prefer the little bit of "bite" or rawness that I get from the Weller to the smoothness of Maker's Mark.

[greenbob]

I had another pour tonight with some water added, and it smoothed it out a bit.

Come to think of it, the label on the back of the bottle mentions taking the Weller with water.

As I said in another post, you and I have been at this for about the same length of time. There's a lot of bourbon I have not yet tried. But so far the Weller is the only bourbon I add water to (and like I said only when the bottle is half empty). I add water to some single malts, but no other bourbons so far.