Spirit Review: W.L. Weller Antique

Size: 750 mL bottle
Price: approx. $25

Background

A few weeks ago I took on the W.L. Weller Special Reserve, which I had picked up at a local Chattanooga liquor store for about $25. Surprisingly, on a day-trip to Knoxville, I found the Antique expression for about the same price, so I decided it would be a great time to buy another bottle and give it a try while I still had the Special Reserve fresh in mind…and while I still had a little of it left in the bottle!

Like the Special Reserve, the Weller Antique has no aging statement listed on the bottle. In general, it’s very safe to say it was aged somewhere between 2 and 20 years, but other online information I found suggested the Special Reserve actually has about 7 years of age, so I’m going to guess this is about the same. It makes sense really…the price is slightly higher for the Antique and the biggest difference listed is the bottling proof: 90 for the Special Reserve, 107 for the Antique. Neither is either at the low or high end of the proof spectrum, but 107 is a respectable proof that can result in a big flavor difference.

Tasting Notes

While the Special Reserve was reddish and amber in color, the W.L. Weller Antique was a much deeper red color, which makes sense since the big difference between the two is the lack of distilled water added to this expression (to be clear, there is distilled water added to the 107, but not as much as to the 90). The Antique has a heady nose with a strong hit of alcohol vapors right up front. Once you’ve peeled through that, there was a orange zest aroma, oak, and a mild vanilla note.

Giving it a sip, the Bourbon had a strong oakiness up front, with increased sweetness as it washed over my tongue, but all along from my lips to my throat, the alcohol burn was pronounced. I’ve had stronger drams that didn’t burn quite this much, and I didn’t quite know what to make of it. Repeated sippings didn’t seem to diminish the burn, either. Bottom line, this just seemed like a “hot” whiskey. As such, pairing with a cigar could be a little tricky; the strength and heat generated by the Weller Antique could easily overwhelm many stogies.

I chose to light up a Feral Pig, part of Drew Estate’s Liga Privada Unico Series. Strong, spicy, and mildly sweet, the cigar seemed almost a perfect match for the whiskey. Both had strong character and specific flavor components that didn’t stomp all over the other. I tried the Weller Antique with a couple other cigars during the time I was evaluating it, but nothing else even came close to this as being an excellent pairing. Given that, I am going to suggest other sticks that share some of the same characteristics: Tatuaje Cojonu 2012 Reserva, Cain F (or FF, if you happen to have one laying around), or maybe La Flor Dominicana Double Press.