What's the deal with Lot B???

[Special Reserve]

Thanks for all the comments.

The Lot B seems to be getting even better. When I did my comparison with Weller 12, it was on a bottle open for at least a month verus a freshly opened Lot B...given what I've read here and my own personal experience, that is spotting the Weller a huge advantage. In just a couple of days time, I'm sensing the Lot B is increasing what was a razor thin advantage over the Weller 12. I like the sourmash review, especially what he said about the mouthfeel. The similarities are very striking, but the Lot B seems a notch or two more refined. I would probably buy a bottle or two every year or so, but given that it is twice the price, probably not more than that.

As is characteristic of wheated bourbon, it does seem to get better after it has been opened for awhile.

[HP12]

As is characteristic of wheated bourbon, it does seem to get better after it has been opened for awhile.

Cosign that observation. No doubt those wheaters generally improve over the long haul once opened.

[cowdery]

Should we really believe that there's still Bernheim juice being used??:skep:

BT got a big stock of Bernheim juice in 1999 when they bought the Weller brand. It would have included barrels of varying ages, including some distilled in 1999. Being that's only 13 years ago and Lot B is a 12 years old, and there's probably still some Lot B in the pipeline that was bottled in 2011 and 2010, sure, you can probably buy a bottle that has some Bernheim in it, and it's not unreasonable to think there might be a little Bernheim left at BT. Why wouldn't there be?

[Josh]

Cosign that observation. No doubt those wheaters generally improve over the long haul once opened.

No math, please.

[White Dog]

BT got a big stock of Bernheim juice in 1999 when they bought the Weller brand. It would have included barrels of varying ages, including some distilled in 1999. Being that's only 13 years ago and Lot B is a 12 years old, and there's probably still some Lot B in the pipeline that was bottled in 2011 and 2010, sure, you can probably buy a bottle that has some Bernheim in it, and it's not unreasonable to think there might be a little Bernheim left at BT. Why wouldn't there be?

[mosugoji64]

Lot Bernheim

Love that!

[Smithford]

Lot Bernheim

Love that!

I have always assumed that's why it was named Lot "B".

[Josh]

I have always assumed that's why it was named Lot "B".

The first run of the product was actually called "Lot A" IIRC.

[Crowes]

Being that I only recently got into the world of bourbon earlier this year, this was my first fall trying to procure any of the Van Winkles. I managed to grab a 10 yr, 12 yr Lot B, and a 20. I have to say, the Lot "B" is my personal favorite. The 20 year is a beautiful whiskey, but there something about the intense dark fruit nature of the Lot "B" that I really love. I haven't had the pleasure of trying the Weller, but if it's anything close to the Lot "B" I'd be buying a ton of it. But I would have no problem spending $59 again if I could find any more bottles, which, I know I can't at this point. Boo.

[fricky]

Being that I only recently got into the world of bourbon earlier this year, this was my first fall trying to procure any of the Van Winkles. I managed to grab a 10 yr, 12 yr Lot B, and a 20. I have to say, the Lot "B" is my personal favorite. The 20 year is a beautiful whiskey, but there something about the intense dark fruit nature of the Lot "B" that I really love. I haven't had the pleasure of trying the Weller, but if it's anything close to the Lot "B" I'd be buying a ton of it. But I would have no problem spending $59 again if I could find any more bottles, which, I know I can't at this point. Boo.

Weller Antique is superior to Lot B. Lot B is overrated and overpriced.

[DaveOfAtl]

Weller Antique is superior to Lot B. Lot B is overrated and overpriced.

Crap! Guess I better give my bottles away. And here I was thinking that I liked it WAY better than OWA. Stupid me.

[Crowes]

lol. I will say that the I recently found a few older bottles of OWA with the age statement still on the bottle. So much better than the new bottle of OWA I initially tried. But still, no where close to Lot "B" .

[fricky]

Crap! Guess I better give my bottles away. And here I was thinking that I liked it WAY better than OWA. Stupid me.

I thought that the opinions expresed were exactly that - an opinion. I think Weller Antique is superior to Lot B. That is my opinion. You don't have to agree. We all have different tastes in bourbon. We can express our opinion and not expect a sarcastic and silly response.

[tanstaafl2]

Weller Antique is superior to Lot B. Lot B is overrated and overpriced.

I thought that the opinions expresed were exactly that - an opinion. I think Weller Antique is superior to Lot B. That is my opinion. You don't have to agree. We all have different tastes in bourbon. We can express our opinion and not expect a sarcastic and silly response.

Certainly didn't seem to come across as an expression of an opinion to me. Sounded rather more like you were making a statement of fact and that nothing more needed to be said, particularly with the second and unnecessary second sentence in your post.

Saying "I think" or "I believe" or "In my opinion" might have helped clarify the matter ever so slightly (whatever Josh might think of doing that!).

Just my opinion of course...

Edited December 4, 2012 by tanstaafl2
Forgot to add the link!

[fricky]

If anyone makes a comment concerning a product, normally it is assumed that the comment is the opinion of the individual making the comment. Stating "in my opinion" or "I believe" seems to be redundant. If I state it, I believe it and it is my opinion. This is my last off-topic comment here, since we strayed from the subject.

[DaveOfAtl]

Certainly didn't seem to come across as an expression of an opinion to me. Sounded rather more like you were making a statement of fact and that nothing more needed to be said, particularly with the second and unnecessary second sentence in your post.

Saying "I think" or "I believe" or "In my opinion" might have helped clarify the matter ever so slightly (whatever Josh might think of doing that!).

Just my opinion of course...

Well said.

wordswords

[callmeox]

We all offer opinions here and some more strongly than others.

Let's just understand that and move along.

[cowdery]

Just calling Lot B "Lot B" is an affectation, a lovely one that I endorse but an affectation nonetheless. It's a cozy little world we have here. We're not completely opposed to newcomers, but we get our backs up when they immediately start to rearrange the furniture. Also, if you can't disting

[CADMixes]

Fair enough. Maybe they're still using stocks from Bernheim. I will never know.

But would the fall 2012 Lot B release have been bottled in 2011? Maybe. Also, with Pappy 15 being all BT(We think.), and with Weller 12 being scarce, and with OWA and WSR having no age statements, would BT still be holding onto some old Bernheim stock? Maybe.

Don't get me wrong. I love both Lot B and Weller 12. Is Lot B a big step up for my palate, yes, but I would attribute that to barrel selection.

Would it be fair to say that the 2013 release of Lot Bernheim will be all BT? At some point, and that point is soon, they should change the name to Lot BT.

[White Dog]

White Dog, much love, but why do "we" think Pappy 15 is all BT? http://www.whiskyadvocateblog.com/2012/06/11/what%E2%80%99s-in-that-bottle-of-van-winkle-anyway/

[MrAtomic]

So, uh... did anyone else read the title of this thread and say it out loud in a Jerry Seinfeld voice?

And to contribute, I used to buy as much Lot B as I could find, but local stores have priced it beyond sanity. When an $65-80 bottle of Lot B is sitting near a $27 bottle of Weller 12 or a $22 bottle of Weller Antique, it's not hard to pass up. I always found lots of sweet, cherry flavors in Lot B that I don't get in most Weller bottlings (although the recent Party Source Weller Antique had plenty of it). It's a shame because I'd pay up to $45 or so for Lot B. Once it creeps towards twice the price of Weller 12, though, I'm no longer interested.

[macdeffe]

à do like Lot B a lot and its not that hard to find on the shelves here in DK. At least it was, I bought a couple so it is getting more scarce

here are de danish importers description (my translation) : A tremendous bourbon with a high rye content. There is absolutely no doubt about that"

I tried to email them and saying it was a misdescription, but they didnt answer me. Well, the danish importer always appeared very arrogant to me, both in online behaviour on forums, on fairs and tastings so no surprise there. I remember (politely actually) pointing out on a fair that Templeton Rye was not made in Iowa (as their guy on the stand kept saying). I got an answer in the catagory "Shut up, you dont have a clue"

:-)

[squire]

Regrettably mac, there are those who don't want to be bothered with the facts.