Weller 12 Year Bourbon Review

Just a reminder: Each review will follow the same template, and include a score.  Please enjoy responsibly 🙂

For those unaware, Weller 12 bourbon has become extremely hard to find, sells at a huge premium to MSRP on the secondary market, and gives all the bourbon bro’s boners if they ever find a bottle.  I had never tried it, and a year ago, I was lucky enough to score some at MSRP (so I picked up 3 bottles for 59.00 each).  I bought into the hype, I had to see if it really was “Poor a poor man’s Pappy” as they say….

Weller 12 Year

Date Reviewed: February 26, 2020

Atmosphere: In a Glencairn glass, neat at home.

Distillery: Buffalo Trace

Mash:  Unspecified – but same Mash & Ageing as Van Winkle Lot B

Age: 12 years

Type: Bourbon

ABV%: 45%

Price I Paid: $59.00 Canadian

Appearance:  Amber, Burnt Honey

Nose:  No dominant, or overpowering scents.  Slight brown sugar and oak. A hint of dried orange peel – all very muted.  This particular bottle has been open about a year.

Palate:  Oak and a general dry woodiness is what stands out.  Thick and oily mouthfeel – it coats the roof of the mouth and makes you feel like you need to chug a glass of water.  Second sip is softer and sweeter. Vanilla and brown sugar poke through.

Finish: Long and thick. Quickly goes from woody and dry to soft and sweet.

Conclusions:  Each sip is better then the last.  The problem with this bourbon is the hype.  Overall it’s a good – even a great bourbon, but you typically can’t just go buy it – and if you can -usually you are paying 2-4 x MSRP.  If you can find it for $60 buy it, and you will enjoy it – but don’t buy into the hype and spend $200 on it.  There are much better bottles in the $60-100 range.

I would buy this again at MSRP,  hell I’d even buy a couple just to trade.  I originally bought 3 (before I had even tried it), and ended up trading 2 of them for much more than MSRP.  The hype is real…

Overall Score:  83/100*

*If it was readily available for 59.00, I’d probably rate it around 85-86.  The scarcity, and the fact it is so overrated brings it down a few points for me.

Cheers.