William Larue Weller Barrel Proof 2009 Release 134.8 Proof (67.4%) Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml)

Awarded Bourbon Whiskey of the Year - Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2011.

Part of Buffalo Trace distillery's annual “Antique Collection” of world class Bourbon & Rye Whiskeys. One bottle only to sell.

Born in 1825, William Larue Weller was one of the early distilling pioneers in Kentucky. After serving in the Louisville Brigade during the 1840's, Weller remained in Louisville and continued his family heritage of whiskey distilling. Mr. Weller was famous for being the first distiller to produce Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey using 'wheat' instead of 'rye' in the mash bill. As the most distinguished Distiller of his time, Weller spent many years educating consumers about the different styles of bourbon, and the special flavours that wheat imparted to his whiskey. Weller also believed in the importance of aging his whiskey. To this day the firm of W.L. Weller and Sons sells no whiskey younger than seven years old.

'A phenomenal whiskey'. David Broom, www.whiskymag.com

William Larue Weller is the Antique Collection’s uncut wheat recipe bourbon, double distilled in the Spring of 1991. Twenty two white oak barrels were aged 12 years on the fifth floor of Warehouse M, then bottled straight from the barrel, unfiltered. Just over half the original spirit was lost to evaporation. Described as “a mouthful of sweet molasses”, the whiskey was awarded a Double Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Other Reviews: n24 stunning potpourri of ginger, crystallized Demerera sugar, milk coffee and caramalized biscuit; the mingling and interplay is the stuff is the stuff of wizardry; t24.0 immediately mouth-enveloping with a semi-sweet, thick liquorice slick followed swiftly by superb, controlled spices on a major scale. Tannins begin to fill the middle ground but liquorice and burnt honeycombe ensure balance and civility; f25.0 long, with the darker, more intense toastier notes gathering weight. A later bitter-ish marmalade secures the balance but it is a death by chocolate which makes this something it is very likely you have never experienced before. It is if they have distilled from chocolate (as opposed to Stag) b24... among the best wheated mash bill bourbon i have ever encountered. Why some whiskies work better than others is the stuff of long debate. The reason for this particular bottling is releatively simple: you have an almost breathless intensity, yet somehow the constituent parts of the complexity can be individually identified and savoured. This is quite rare in any whiskey with this degree of weight. 67.4%
- Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2011