Bourbon Review: W. L. Weller Special Reserve

Size: 750 mL bottle
Price: approx. $25

Background

What’s in a mash bill? A lot of information really. Certain distilleries will give you the exact specifications of their whiskey mash, specifying percentages of corn, rye, barley and wheat (some or all of the non-corn components may be used). Really, it’s not all that different from a cigar manufacturer stating what countries of origin their tobacco hails from. There is so much to the process of making whiskey and creating cigars that trying to replicate the flavors of a favorite based on only a list of ingredients would be virtually impossible. With tobacco, you have to factor in all the processing steps (curing, fermenting, aging) along with the basic issues of crop quality for a certain farm in a particular location, or even the quality of the crop for a particular year.

For whiskey, you factor in such things as the water used in the first place, the weather where the whiskey is aged, and the number of years you age it. This is a bit of an esoteric way to start a whiskey review, but there’s a good reason for it…this W.L. Weller Special Reserve reputedly shares the same mash bill as the cult classic Pappy Van Winkle. Both issue forth from the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Both use a “wheated” mash bill, rather than rye, imparting a softer, smoother flavor. The difference is the W.L. Weller is bottled after 7 years (or so…the bottle does not say at this point, but the older bottles do say that) and at 90 proof, while the Pappy ages for 15, 20 or 23 years and is bottled at a variety of proofs (all seem to be above 90 from what I could find).

There were two other differences of note between W.L. Weller’s Special Reserve and its older brother. First, the Weller was in the mid-$20 range, versus $130 for Pappy (which is just “suggested retail”…it can be much, much higher). Second (and this is key)…you can actually find and purchase the Weller. The shop I bought at told me they start a “Pappy List” in the summer, only for those serious about buying a bottle. Once a year, around November, they get a single shipment in and every bottle is spoken for before it hits the store.

So if this is a Van Winkle that hasn’t slept long enough yet, is it a really a penny-pincher’s Pappy? That’s not going to be easy to answer since I’ve never tasted the “real deal,” but I can tell you if I think this libation is worth the asking price.

Tasting Notes

The W.L. Weller Special Reserve had a reddish amber hue in the bottle. When I unscrewed the cap and put my nose up to the neck, I got an overwhelming note of sweet vanilla. It doesn’t have that pronounced of a vanilla note in the glass, so I found it strange that it should when the aromas were concentrated by the narrow bottleneck. I poured into a rocks glass (no rocks…I like my whiskey neat, like God intended it!), and found the aroma to be much more of oak and corn now, with just touches of the vanilla.

I took a small sip of the Weller, finding it less sweet on the lips and tip of the tongue than many bourbons. This was more of a savory taste, and definitely soft and smooth, as they noted it would be with the wheated mash bill. There is a little bit of bite and spice, but not nearly as much as you get with a higher rye percentage. On the middle and finish, the bourbon was oaky with a touch of vanilla. It’s still strange how strong the vanilla aroma is through the neck of the bottle, but how restrained it becomes in the glass.

As with any fine aged whiskey beverage, it’s always appropriate to ask, “What kind of cigar would you pair that with?” I’m going to repeat my “Fundamental Whiskey Wisdom”: Almost any bourbon will play nicely with almost any cigar. There are exceptions to every rule, but this has worked out for me more often than not. This is an excellent middle of the road bourbon whiskey…not too light and nuanced…not too heavy-handed…so it would work well under my rule. For best results, though, pair it with a medium or medium-to-full bodied cigar that doesn’t have a massive amount of pepper spice. Off the top of my head, the 262 Revere, La Gloria Cubana Serie R Estelí, and Crowned Heads Four Kicks all seem like excellent candidates.

Other:

The bottles in the photos look a little empty…that’s because I forgot to take pictures at the time I wrote this review and ended up drinking quite a bit more of it before the review posted. Guess I enjoyed it.

Also, it’s worth noting that liquor prices vary substantially, even within the same state. I paid about $25 for this bottle at one of my regular shops in Chattanooga, where I saw the “Antique” version for sale at about $33. A couple weeks later I was in Knoxville and saw the same two bottles priced at about $18 and $25. At the $25 price, I picked up the Antique (bottled at 107 proof) and will be working on a review of it for the near future.