OWA Discontinued?

[Crowes]

Just curious if anyone else has heard this? While at one of stores i frequent today, buying a bottle of OWA for the weekend, the owner told me his rep said it had been discontinued, and that only supply that is still in the warehouses will be distributed, and that once that's gone... no more. Claimed that all OWA stock is going to be held and aged for Old Rip 10.

I know this isn't the first time we've heard this, with Weller 12. I'm assuming this isn't true, but since this is my favorite house bottle, I admit to breaking into a slight cold sweat thinking about it.

[Enoch]

Columbia got their new shipments in Monday. 1 case each for the four big stores in town. I rushed around and snagged 8 bottles. Now all is gone. I hope it isn't true.

Strangely for the first time they got a shipment of Weller 12. Got several of those also.

Edited January 23, 2015 by Enoch

[Ishad]

Would make no sense from an economic perspective.

[VT Mike]

OWA has been mighty scarce in Vermont. It was out of stock statewide mid-summer and I special ordered a bottled at the time so I would get one when it was available again. I never heard back on the special order (the state is kind of unreliable with those things), but I came across a bottle that was part of in in-store displace in December. There were no others on the shelf, so I snagged that one off the display.

[Crowes]

Would make no sense from an economic perspective.

See, it doesn't make any sense to me either, unless they plan on expanding the ORVW10 release, which makes even less sense considering the Van Winkles marketing strategy.

[dcbt]

Generally speaking, it's been my experience reps and owners speak inaccurately more often than not...

[smknjoe]

Generally speaking, it's been my experience reps and owners speak inaccurately more often than not...

...and that's why I'm calling BS. It's just a rumor.

Regional and sporadic, regional and sporadic. Just like W12, ETL, and whatever else you have trouble finding from time to time.

[wadewood]

Still plenty in Texas.

[kjbeggs]

Still plenty in Texas.

Yep, it's about the only one though. (W12 is pretty hard to find at the moment, and ETL has pretty much been almost impossible to find for the past year).

Which reminds me, I had several stores tell me they had been told ETL was discontinued after Mr. Lee's death. We all know that was a false rumor, but it may as well have been true where those stores were concerned, as i haven't seen any there since.

[Paddy]

OWA was restocked in central Ky this week, and I've heard no rumors of its demise. There was also a little W12 that showed up, but it didn't make it to the shelf. Stores have gotten smart here, they don't even leave space for W12 now. They just take it to the service counter and sell it until it's gone!

[dcbt]

I wish they'd just discontinue WSR and let that stock grow into W12 and OWA.

[suntour]

OWA was restocked in central Ky this week, and I've heard no rumors of its demise. There was also a little W12 that showed up, but it didn't make it to the shelf. Stores have gotten smart here, they don't even leave space for W12 now. They just take it to the service counter and sell it until it's gone!

Ive heard similar stories all around the country - interestingly, Weller 12 mania has yet to hit Oregon I guess. We got it this month for the first time since the early 00's and there are cases upon cases of it on almost every store shelf. Hard to understand. I like wheaters OK myself but haven't bunkered down, OWA is my thing, and I do truly think the OWA/12 blend is synergistic (better than each one independently). Still, seems odd and I'm constantly fighting against that very '2013 bourbon boom era' mindset of...CLEAR THE SHELF!

[garbanzobean]

You wheater folks are about screwed if you don't care for Maker's Mark, Larceny, or maybe Bernheim if you don't mind it not being bourbon.

At any rate, I look forward to this almost certainly false rumor echoing down to social media.

[Crowes]

You wheater folks are about screwed if you don't care for Maker's Mark, Larceny, or maybe Bernheim if you don't mind it not being bourbon.

At any rate, I look forward to this almost certainly false rumor echoing down to social media.

That's what sucks. I'm not a fan of Makers, can't get Larceny OR Weller 12 in Michigan. OWA is all I got! lol

[PaulO]

I wish they'd just discontinue WSR and let that stock grow into W12 and OWA.

I agree 100%.

Also, some people will say something is discontinued, just to sell you something else. Based on what I see in person; I could think it's discontinued for years. Only because of this site, I know some folks still get it.

[Ishad]

I wish they'd just discontinue WSR and let that stock grow into W12 and OWA.

WSR is likely where they make most of their money on the weller product line.

[Enoch]

WSR is likely where they make most of their money on the weller product line.

i wonder since I can get WSR for $20 per 1.75 L which is why I buy it.

[mbroo5880i]

It would seem more likely that they suspend or discontinue WL12 before they discontinue OWA since it is NAS.

[squire]

I'll believe such rumors when they ramp up Old Rip production.

[Harry in WashDC]

Not a lot of stores in the WashDC area carry any of the Wellers. One that carries some Wellers every once in awhile usually carries VOB BIB (also rare in WashDC) so I shop there a lot. Yesterday, they had no VOB BIB but plenty of VOB 86. The shelf space usually holding the VOB BIB had lots of OWA and some WLW - on the regular shelves, not in the cabinet. They now have fewer OWAs on the shelf; they also have less ETL SB in the cabinet. Check my car trunk if you wonder where it is.:yum:

[Special Reserve]

i wonder since I can get WSR for $20 per 1.75 L which is why I buy it.

Damn! it's $44.99 for 1750 mL in MI.

[393foureyedfox]

im starting to wonder just how big Harry's trunk really is.....

maybe he's tooling around in a 65 t-bird with a few hundred bottles in the massive trunk

[danz]

im starting to wonder just how big Harry's trunk really is.....

maybe he's tooling around in a 65 t-bird with a few hundred bottles in the massive trunk

You may be thinking of the 1975 massive turkey bird.

[GAbiker]

Weller 12 was delivered in Atlanta end of Dec into first 2 weeks of January. NOW seeing some OWA being delivered. But not much to any individual store...maybe a case at best.

[Bourbon_Gamer]

Hi Kerry,

Rest assured, Weller Antique is not going anywhere!

Best,

Amy

(Amy is public relations manager for Buffalo Trace)

/worryover