A Little Help! WT 12 year

[hollywood]

A little help, please. I was unboxing some of my bourbon collection looking for a bottle of EWSB for one of the members here, and I found a bottle that I thought (and might be) one of the "gold foil" WT 12 year. I am not sure now if this is my "gold foil" bottle or not now. The only information I have really is that is a WT 12 year..it has a gold label, but in the upper left hand corner of the label it reads LIMITED EDITION in a circular pattern. A few questions are 1)Does the Limited Edition in this case have any significance? 2)Being a limited edition..How many bottles of this was produced? 3)The bottle is unopened(at this point!)..How much value, or what is this bottle worth? And lastly, 4)Is this my "gold foil" bottle? These may be some silly questions, but I would appreciate a little help! Thanks in advance, H'wood

[Sijan]

yup, that's the WT 12 gold foil. I don't think Limited Edition really means anything other than the fact that it's 12 year - says limited edition on the back of the WT 12 split labels as well.

Aprrox. value = $50-60+

[hollywood]

Sijan, Thanks for reconfirming that it was my gold foil bottle...I am still wondering however, what the "definition" or "significance" of the statement Limited Edition?! I mean, unless I missing something (I'll have to examine the bottle more closely), their is no statement of "single barrel"/"small batch" etc..I am wondering if Limited Edition is synonomous(sp?) with these? Why would being 12 year WT only make it Limited Edition?

[Sijan]

just a marketing thing - it's on every bottle of WT12 I've seen. I assume it's limited in the sense that WT12 was somewhat limited, even when it was produced for sale in the US.

[jsgorman]

All the old 12 YOs were limited editions because there was a limited number of barrels held to 12 Yrs. Jimmy preferred to bottle at around 8yo -- so he had to put extra care to keep the 12yo from being overly woody. Currently WT distributes 12YO into duty free -- but most folks who have tasted both prefer the gold foil from the late 80/early 90s and split labels from the late 90s.

Regarding value -- I'd say the bottle is worth closer to $100 than $60. The bottle sold for between $45-50 at release and is prized by many WT fans. eBay values for vintage WT bottles have been high recently - somebody has been unloading 8YO from the 70s-80s for about $80 -- and the WT12 Gold was a better and more expensive bottle.

[NorCalBoozer]

just a marketing thing - it's on every bottle of WT12 I've seen. I assume it's limited in the sense that WT12 was somewhat limited, even when it was produced for sale in the US.

Yes, I remember even the Russell's Reserve 101 having some statement that is was a limited release.

[hollywood]

Jsgorman, Thanks for the insight. Hey, if you think about it...if that is how they are going to define "Limited Edition" to the market, than "almost all" booze being aged longer would be some type of Limited Edition. I am not sure I agree with their rationale here...it doesn't matter anyway, I love their stuff and will continue to drink it!!

[jsgorman]

I just don't know how you could not consider the gold-foil WT12s not a limited edition. When the WT12 first came out, they didn't have any of the Rare Breed, Kentucky Spirit, Kentucky Heritage... They bottled the WT 8YO, Rye and I believe 80 proof. The WT12 was a limited run, bottled only once each year.

Compared to the rest of WT production, WT12 was limited in available quantity and duration of bottling run...