BOTM 1/10 Weller 12 Year Old

[fishnbowljoe]

Since Weller 12 hasn't been the BOTM before, I thought I'd make it this months BOTM. A lot of folks seem to have acquired some (or a lot) recently. :grin: (myself included) So, give us your thoughts. Be it a regular bottling, Binny's bottling, or other specialty bottling. Let us know what you think. Thanks. Joe

[Vange]

The Binnys bottling is 14 year Bernheim if I am not mistaken and beautiful bourbon at that! MY house pour to those that will drink it neat. Best bang for the buck out there IMO.

[jburlowski]

One of my favorites (particularly since the demise of Centennial). A great pour and a great value.

I hope BT can get the shortages behind them and get production and demand in sync.

[Joshua]

I love me some Weller 12, too bad NO WHERE here has it... ever. But it's a great excuse to go to Chicago!

[jeff]

Same here, it might appear on the store shelves once or twice a year, only to disappear shortly thereafter. One of my all time favorites!

[George]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one having a tough time finding this. I've actually never seen a bottle of it.

[BBQ+Bourbon]

Excellent choice, Joe! I've been meaning to pick up a bottle of current Weller 12 Year and you inspired me to get by the local grocery store tonight. In the handle, it came to $16.74/750 which is a crazy deal for this stuff! Does anybody know where the current bottles were produced? I assume it's BT juice.

In Kansas City, there are plenty of bottles to be found if you know where they are. However, it's slow moving and the stores that have it do not reorder when the shelf is empty. The store where I picked up this bottle has had the same shelf of OWA and Weller 12 since they opened, around 2007. Works out well for me!

I'm going to try the Binnys, the current, and some 1988/2000 Weller 12 I found a while back. Can't wait!

[DeanSheen]

The Binnys Weller 12 is horrible. Best to stick with the regular juice just to stay on the safe side. :cool:

[Ruby K]

One friend picked me up the Binny's iteration over thanksgiving. and Matt sent me a taste of the S-W edition. Last, I've finally seen the regular version in NYC. I can't freaking believe it! I haven't had it in a good while, so i think i'm going to snag the nyc bottle and do a side by side by side. you know, it is the bourbon of the month and all. :-)

[funknik]

I've only had one bottle of Weller 12, but it was fantastic . . . I have another regular bottle and two Binny's bottles in the bunker.

I thought it was very close to on par with either the Lot 'B' or Centennial, though not quite as good as either of those. Still with Lot 'B' over $50 just about everywhere and difficult to find, Weller 12 looks like a pretty reasonable replacement, although it seems to be equally hard-to-find.

[fogfrog]

We have Weller 12YO and its evidently a barrel that Mcscrooges picked .... when I had a taste of it I thought it was way better than the 4Roses single barrel which is double the price. I really like this stuff and wanted to maybe get more of it... like bunker a bunch.. They also have some of the Antique107 for a buck less a bottle... that stuff is good too... so its twenty for the 12YO and 19 for the antique here in Knoxville at McScrooge's... I could stick with this bourbon and forsake the rest. I am not into spending tons of money on Bourbon and this is only five bucks a bottle more than I was paying for the Ezra Brooks and to me it is top notch. I thought i tasted Maraschino cherries in it lol.

[CorvallisCracker]

I used to buy Weller 12 all the time in Florida. When I moved to Oregon three years ago, I couldn't find it anywhere. Two years ago I encountered five very dusty bottles in a Springfield store, markd "OLCC discontinued" and priced at $22.75 each. I bought all five. I'm currently half way through bottle number three.

I've had this side-by-side with VW Lot B, and consider the latter only slightly better. My wife, who has very expensive tastes, feels the VW is a lot better.

[independant]

Very lucky for me I have a contact that is willing to pick up the Binny's bottling of this and get them to me.

I love the stuff. It is not only a great deal but also a great bourbon.

[nblair]

Does anyone know of a good liquor store in Louisville to pick up some Weller 12? I've only seen it at one store and it was $29.99. I currently have a bottle of OWA that I thoroughly enjoy, and would love to check out some 12 year Weller. Thought that $29.99 was a little high though...

[docbible]

Love the weller 12. I am a wheater at heart and this one is well balanced. Getting harder to find in TN as it is not always in stock. Mcscrooges has a good supply. I have orders to pick up a few for some friends. Its well liked by many and has a good price locally. tim

[BBQ+Bourbon]

Wanna see a total novice's take on three Weller 12 botttles?

On Sunday I tried the three Wellers I have against one another. The results were not what I expected.

The current handle had a nose that was bright fresh fruit, candied yams, ripe plums. This one has a velvety mouthfeel, very dense yet soft. The entry was of ripe dark fruit, with a pleasant oak note. This bottle has a lingering oily mouthfeel. This is amazing for a sub $17 bottle.

The second I tried was the Binny's Weller 12. This one has a lot more rye-like spice in the initial taste as well as a bit of acetone in the nose. While it's more layered, the taste is more muted.

The SW juice was very similar to the Binny's. I didn't take good notes on this one, and I need to compare the two back to back to make a better observation. The sample of Binny's that Hectic1 sent me is gone so until I get a bottle of this one, a closer comparison will have to wait.

So far, my surprises are 1) the current is so different from the SW and Binnys 2) Binny's and SW are so similar, and 3) I like the current the best right now, followed by the SW, and by a hair, the Binny's in 3rd. Considering only provenance, I expected to enjoy the SW most, followed by Binnys, and trailed by current Weller 12.

When I get a bottle of Binny's here I'll spend some time with the three. Keep in mind, I'm a novice so my observations are just that.

[Old Lamplighter]

Very good one to have.....and bunker, if you can find them in the plural form. Only got one at present and it remains unopened until I can find a backup.....few and far between nowadays but as the norm....the search continues....

[NYtaster]

This is one of the best values on the market, luckely there is one store in the area that seems to have a pretty good supply of it so far.

[docbible]

Great bourbon. Had a friend in from out of town and had to make a trip to the store so he could stock up. $20 a bottle, its a great price for an awsome palate. tim

[kickert]

Back when I was keeping more detailed (obsessive) notes about bourbons, I would assign ratings to every pour I tasted. Weller 12 was the first to break the 9.0 mark on my scale. As I got more nerdy I started evaluating bourbons not only on taste, but on ratio between quality and price. Even though other bourbons surpassed Weller 12, there has yet to be a currently produced pour to even come close on the quality/price ratio.

Weller 12 is rich with deep vanillas and caramels. The barrel has added character without stripping away the notes from the original spirit. There are great oak notes on the nose, which perfectly complement the sweet palate.

I first bought this in Lexington at Liquor Barn and then picked up every bottle they had in Bowling Green. It has been reordered at some stores, but it does not last long.

Great stuff. Grab it if you can find it.

[nor02lei]

I did have a side by side a couple of moths ago with a relatively new Weller 12 and a lot B that had been in the bunker a couple of years. I did think that the Weller was slightly better and had more life and vitality.

Leif

[keng]

Does anyone know of a good liquor store in Louisville to pick up some Weller 12?

[Tucker]

The Weller 12 quickly became my daily pour. Now that my last bottle is empty it seems that only the Antique 107 and the Special Reserve are available in my area. Still looking, although the 107 is not a bad replacement in the meantime.

[PAspirit1]

I've never seen Weller 12.

[IronHead]

I've never seen Weller 12.

I had never seen it until this year, maybe early summer. Then it just showed up on the shelves. I bought one bottle, tried it then promptly went back and bought a couple more. And then I got ahold of the Binny's version. It is a different character than the standard bottling. Both are excellent IMO. I get lots of vanilla and caramel with hints of dried cherries in the Binny's bottling. The standard is more vanilla, nutty with just a hint of something that reminds me of SW juice. Either is an excellent pour and at around 20 bucks you can't beat it.