WFE moving away from numbered bottles and wax seal?

[CaskStrength77]

Picked up some WFE Single Barrel 6-year rye, and noticed that the bottles do not have the X/Y hand-numbering on them that my 4-year ryes do. Also missing are the wax seals. I found some info online about the small batch WFE moving away from this, but nothing about the single barrel. Kinda disappointing...the wax seal was pretty iconic. And the hand-numbered bottle X of Y was a very nice touch as well. They still have a barrell number (now printed, no longer hand-written) on them, which I guess is the most important part.

Anyone have any info on this?

Well, most important part is the taste, and the stuff is amazing...

[nd2005]

Picked up some WFE Single Barrel 6-year rye, and noticed that the bottles do not have the X/Y hand-numbering on them that my 4-year ryes do. Also missing are the wax seals. I found some info online about the small batch WFE moving away from this, but nothing about the single barrel. Kinda disappointing...the wax seal was pretty iconic. And the hand-numbered bottle X of Y was a very nice touch as well. They still have a barrell number (now printed, no longer hand-written) on them, which I guess is the most important part.

Anyone have any info on this?

Well, most important part is the taste, and the stuff is amazing...

The wax seal is gone. Everything will be foil now - green for rye, purple for bourbon.

The hand written numbers have been gone for a while.

[amg]

I knew they were moving away from the wax seals across the board, but didn't know about the bottle numbering. Might still see that on the high end older offerings.

[flahute]

My understanding is that the hand numbering could be altered and faked too easily so they switched to the printed numbers.

Wax seals were too confusing because of all the different colors. People would call asking for "the one with the (insert color here) top" instead of barrel/age info.

[nd2005]

My understanding is that the hand numbering could be altered and faked too easily so they switched to the printed numbers.

Wax seals were too confusing because of all the different colors. People would call asking for "the one with the (insert color here) top" instead of barrel/age info.

[Nillion]

Also I have to imagine the foil is cheaper and easier for them

[amg]

I also seem to remember hearing some problems with the new synthetic corks blowing out with the wax seals. Maybe the foil is somehow better in that regard?

[flahute]

Just another cost savings measure while they charge $125 for an 11-year old bourbon.

And yet they still sell out same day as they show up. At least Willet gets that cash instead of the flippers.

[MyOldKyDram]

Willett are the ultimate flippers!

[CaskStrength77]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I knew they switched to printed labels for barrel number & proof, but they used to number the bottles as well. So, you'd know you had one of 189 bottles that came out of barrel number 40.

[VAGentleman]

I for one am glad they are not using the wax anymore. Those could be a pain in the ass to open and I've cut my hand more than once trying to open a bottle

[soonami]

Willett are the ultimate flippers!

+1

I think the wax was a very cool touch, but foil is easier to get off and it's really what's in the barrel that matters anyway

[nd2005]

I for one am glad they are not using the wax anymore. Those could be a pain in the ass to open and I've cut my hand more than once trying to open a bottle

I thought the wax looked nice, but yeah I've had to take a knife to it more than a few times

[ThirstyinOhio]

I thought the wax looked nice, but yeah I've had to take a knife to it more than a few times

I agree. I did like the look of the wax and their label too, but that wax did make it difficult to get into the bottle.

[No_Reception]

I got 1 wax top this year and it also had no handwriting. Quite a contradiction to the above info.

[nd2005]

I got 1 wax top this year and it also had no handwriting. Quite a contradiction to the above info.

Not really.

The switch to printed #s happened well before the switch to foil. So there are a lot of printed # wax top bottles out there.

[Restaurant man]

I have enjoyed bourbon for all these years. Not mad at willett but I pretty much ignored them. All is well. They've sold a lot of really epic bottlings. And a lot of other stuff. Not bashing