Tale of two weller 12 years

[Russellc]

Say, anyone know the difference between the weller 12 year in the little "pot bellied" bottle and the other Weller 12 year which is in a bottle identical to the one rebel Yell is in?

Thanks,

Russellc

[barturtle]

I believe this is simply a packaging change, and came about the same time as a slight price increase. Probably just to make it look like it was worth the extra money...it is, but I liked it better at the old price:cool:

[cowdery]

Timothy's right, just a packaging change. The pot-bellied bottle is the current one. The earlier package is what's known as the Stitzel-Weller "barrel" bottle. Weller 12 was a new product introduced by Buffalo Trace shortly after they acquired the brand. The original package was so bland, I suspect it was always intended to be temporary.

I like describing the current bottle as "pot-bellied," as in (I assume) a pot-bellied stove. It's a very apt description.

[Russellc]

Timothy's right, just a packaging change. The pot-bellied bottle is the current one. The earlier package is what's known as the Stitzel-Weller "barrel" bottle. Weller 12 was a new product introduced by Buffalo Trace shortly after they acquired the brand. The original package was so bland, I suspect it was always intended to be temporary.

I like describing the current bottle as "pot-bellied," as in (I assume) a pot-bellied stove. It's a very apt description.

Well, perhaps its my imagination, but I thought I tasted a difference, with the "pot bellied" bottle being smoother overall....while the other had considerable more spice and burn, along the lines of V.S. Old fitzgerald, or even the 107 proof "antique" Weller.....perhaps just my imagination, but seems a lot more than natural variations from bottle to bottle...Oh well. I will have to look again, but the pot bellied bottle does make mention as being a "wheated whiskey" I dont remember if the other bottle had such an inscription, I will have to inspect it carefully when I get home today.

Russellc

[Russellc]

I believe this is simply a packaging change, and came about the same time as a slight price increase. Probably just to make it look like it was worth the extra money...it is, but I liked it better at the old price:cool:

I would have sworn there was a difference, but setting up both blind, I can not tell a difference! Apparently the bottle shape was tripping me out, as side by side, I can not tell the difference. Interesting.

Russellc

[Jake_Parrott]

I seem to taste less wood tannin in the new packaging. If BT is finding a way to make this still-value-priced offering better, more power to them!

[cowdery]

It's possible they took the package change as an opportunity to tweak the profile, but I think normal batch variation is probably the explanation. I'm becoming convinced that with extra-aged, small run expressions, it's not as easy to stay consistent from batch to batch as it is for a big, mainstream brand.