Weller re-appears on the shelves

[ILLfarmboy]

Normally my only source for Weller Antique is up in the Quad Cities. Only one store. But this past weekend I was down in Peoria and saw Weller Antique at one shop I frequent down there. First time. I hope they get some of the 12 year. That would be nice.

[cowdery]

I got a bottle of Weller 12 about two months ago and I was surprised because unlike the other Wellers I had tried and liked, the back end was bitter. I've had about 3 pours out of it and haven't changed my opinion. Is there a difference between the older versions of Weller 12 and the new one or did I just get a bad bottle?

-Joe

Bad bottles are an extreme rarity, especially on bottles with screw caps. That much age can add a little bitterness. The Weller 12 bottled in the last six or seven years is all Bernheim whiskey, made by UD before they sold the distillery to Heaven Hill. We're probably still a couple of years away from true Buffalo Trace-made Weller 12.

Nobody has said this, but I suspect what has happened is that they have run out of the Bernheim-made whiskey and aren't quite to twelve years with the wheated whiskey they only started to make in earnest after 1999. That doesn't necessarily mean we won't see Weller 12 again before 2011, but maybe it does. They can predict these things and I think they invested too much in Weller 12 to let it be unavailable for three or four years.

To paraphrase Lady Bracknell, "To run out of whiskey for one year may be regarded as a misfortune. To run out for four or more looks like carelessness."

[TBoner]

I was out and about today here in Dallas and saw all of the Wellers, but didn't see all three at any one store. There seems to be decent stock if you look around, though. I bought a 12; my stock of Antique is pretty deep.

Regards,