My First Dusty

[polyamnesia]

i did experience the thrill today, for the first time, what it's like to find and buy a 'dusty' ... in Delaware.

seems the state control board of PA keeps things new and fresh, so i never see dusties here!

perhaps this isn't a big find, but i am quite happy (esp. after tasting it!) to have found a 375 ML of W. L Weller Special Reserve with the old stamp still on it (sealed and all)...white label, 90 proof, green top. and yep, plenty of dust on it!

and just for $5.99. oh, and Louisville KY on the label.

any idea how old this is? 1990's? earlier? again, another aspect of bourbon history i am not as familiar with.

this is a really nice pour. wow. it blows that friggin' Michter's small batch bourbon i bought the other day off the map. and yikes, at $30+ on sale...! (the michter's isn't awful at all...just disappointing...i was hoping for something more complicated and slightly sweet).

this WELLER is just right. it's better than the 107 Antique...and it features a mashbill i really respect and enjoy. still trying to warm up to OGD...

oh, and they also had a HUGE bottle of Henry McKenna...no paper label...it was printed on the label...and had a tax stamp...i think it was $19.99....should i shoot for that????

and another store had a 4 ROSES blended whiskey...another old bottle with a stamp...plenty of dust on all of these. not into the blendeds, but how is this stuff???

at least a nice break for me. i've had a bad run lately of getting disappointing bottles, both inexpensive and expensive.

this one makes up for most of those faux pas...!

:grin:

[polyamnesia]

well, i am still quite elated, but i guess this wasn't that big a find to most here! nonetheless, it really is a nice bourbon. a total shock it would taste this good, this smooth, this interesting. sweet, but not too much so.

anyways, would still like to get a suggestion of whether to shoot for that big bottle of H McKENNA....sounds like that Four Roses BLEND is best to pass by....

[swampguy]

For the price you paid sounds like the 90s. I really enjoy all the Wellers. My favorite is the Antiqua that is 107 proof. For every day use I buy the regular Weller at 90 alot of times.

[TNbourbon]

...W. L Weller Special Reserve with the old stamp still on it (sealed and all)...white label, 90 proof, green top...

The paper strip seal would put in the the '80s. If the seal is a true 'tax' strip, it will have numbers on it and be pre-c. 1984. If unnumbered, it was a tamper-evident seal used after tax-stamp days but prior to the plastic snap rings.

No surprise to me that you find the whiskey enjoyable -- long reported here is that W.L. Weller SR 7/90 was my first bourbon favorite, back when most of the local stock was Louisville-distilled and -bottled. In fact, to date, I've still never purchased a Frankfort Weller SR, though my stock is down to a couple of liters or so. I still find one occasionally, and always bring it home.

[ACDetroit]

I'm with Tim! Nice find and I to bring every Lville I find home. Not as many as Tim but a few. Glad to hear you like it! Keep hunting, :grin: their out there!!

Tony

[cowdery]

To just add a little to Tim's answer, a true tax stamp will have something on it that indicates the taxing authority. The tamper-evident seals that were used by some producers in the 80s had designs on them that made them look kind of like tax stamps, but they didn't say anything. A true tax stamp will have some kind of information on it about the taxing authority, a name, a seal, something.

And congratulations on an important milestone. Sort of a rite-of-passage.

[polyamnesia]

thanks folks:grin: ...yep, this is an older bottle. i actually bought a second one. might go back for that last one...why not when it tastes so good and is only $5.99!

oh and it does have the paper stamp with black imprinted numbers...the stamp does say Bureau of ATF on top and Distilled Spirits on the bottom half. so i guess it is from the 80's. how long was this aged?

i took some photos but i can find the cord at the moment to upload.

anyways, there's a large Henry McKenna...how's that one taste? again, it's an older one. paper stamp and all...

cheers

andy

p.s.

i am still learning about mashbills and flavor profiles...but the WLWellerSReserve seems similar to WTRReserve90 (both ARE same proof). there's that subtle WT bite but a sweetness that is deep. unlike (i mean QUITE unlike) the OGD 'sweetness'...though i admit, i am warming up to the totally different profile of OGD BIB. i really enjoyed the pour last night. it was a great and complementary transition from the WLW

[pepcycle]

Its worth picking up the Four Roses blend because its the whiskey that almost killed the FR name in the US.

If for no other reason than to make a VooDoo bottle out of it.

Killing that product was one of the biggest obstacles FR had to face.

[Gillman]

Recently in New York, a retailer was telling me that he was surprised how many customers remember that Four Roses used to be a blended whiskey and will demur from buying the bourbon thinking it is still a blend. He said he needs to explain to them the change that has occurred, but after explaining, most will buy Four Roses Single Barrel bourbon. Goes to show that once a name becomes associated with a certain kind of product, it sometimes takes a while to create a new impression with the name. In the case of FRSB, it is doing and will continue to do great because it is fine bourbon and most buyers I would think are "new generation". The oldsters will of course become fewer and fewer over time, but still I was surprised that enough of them are still around that this retailer mentioned this to me.

Gary

[cowdery]

There are a couple of different McKenna's, based on when produced. Current and for the last 20 years or so it's Heaven Hill. Before that it was Four Roses and before that it was from the now-closed Louisville Seagram's plant. Before that it was from the actual McKenna Distillery in Fairfield. Doug brought some Fairfield McKenna to the gazebo and I thought it was fabulous. I couldn't get enough. Subsequent McKenna's, including the current stuff, are okay but pretty ordinary.

As for the Weller Special Reserve, that's always been a seven year old. It's possible that something from the late 70s or early 80s, as that one probably is, was a little older due to the glut. Weller Special Reserve is and long has been a personal favorite of mine. I would characterize it as everything a wheater should be.

[polyamnesia]

thanks again chuck and everyone else. now that i know the WLW reserve is a wheater, i can get a better sense of what i automatically/naturally like and what other mashbills i am attuning to...for example, that OGD BIB is now growing on me. and that's three weeks or so or touching base with it. i respect it now.

well, that McKenna has a stamp and from the same old store in New Castle DE that i bought the WLW...i assume it might be 20 years old. maybe a bit younger. maybe older.

i will certainly go back and get the last Weller at under $6...

and thanks also for the tip on the FR....i will probably stay away. i have plenty of other voodoo bottles on hand...

cheers to all

[cowdery]

Check the city named on the label of the McKenna. If it says Bardstown, it's Heaven Hill. If it says Lawrenceburg it's Four Roses. If it says Louisville it's Seagram's Louisville (or one of the other Seagram's plants but bottled in Louisville) and if it says Fairfield, then it's the real deal. If it's 20 years old, it'll probably say Lawrenceburg, but it might already be Bardstown.

[polyamnesia]

i'll be checking that McKenna this weekend for sure.

well, since i finally uploaded the photos, here's that first dusty

maybe this will help clue someone to the approximate age of the bottle.

[ACDetroit]

Hey Andy, I have a tax stamp Antique and the tax stamp looks similar, it's a 1981 750 ml but I would gues the others are correct it's early 80's whiskey. Great stuff, enjoy!

Tony

[polyamnesia]

thanks tony!

i gotta say i found ANOTHER excellent dusty and i wasn't looking for one (quite...).

anyways, will show off those pictures in a bit...

a mid-90's WT 101 (No. 8...they don't use THAT designation anymore, do they???).

i thought that bottle looked different. no tax stamp, but it said (and talk about timing!) 12/20/94 on the gold foil...

cork broke off...then the other part FELL IN!:bigeyes:

but i quickly transferred the contents to a WTRR101 empty...then got the original bottle cleared and re-de-canted.

and o my, it is so perfect. no wonder it's my all-time favorite bourbon!

oh and it was only $18.99 in tax-free DE:grin: