William_Larue_Weller
W. L. Weller is a brand of "wheated" bourbon whiskey. The brand was created by the Stitzel-Weller Distilling Company, and was sold several times after 1972. Since 1999, the brand has been owned by the Sazerac Company. It is produced at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky.[1] Like all bourbons, Weller is distilled from a mash composed of at least 51% corn (maize). The secondary grain used for the Weller brand is wheat, whereas most bourbons use rye.
| Type | Bourbon whiskey |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Sazerac Company |
| Country of origin | Kentucky, United States |
| Introduced | 1849 |
| Alcohol by volume | 45%-57% |
| Proof (US) | 90-114 |
| Variants | W. L. Weller Special Reserve W. L. Weller Antique |
| Related products | Buffalo Trace Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve Old Rip Van Winkle |
The bourbon was named after William Larue Weller (1825–1899), who was a distiller in the early days of Kentucky. He was supposedly the first to produce straight bourbon using wheat instead of rye in the mashbill. His wheated bourbon was first produced in 1849.[2]
Current
There are several bourbons produced under the W. L. Weller name:
- Weller Special Reserve – "green label", bottled at 90 proof
- Weller Antique 107 – "red label", bottled at 107 proof
- Weller Single Barrel – "orange label", bottled at 97 proof
- Weller Full Proof – "blue label", bottled at 114 proof, and non-chill filtered
- Weller 12 Year – "black label", bottled at 90 proof
- Weller C.Y.P.B. – "white label", bottled at 95 proof
- William Larue Weller – Antique Collection, unfiltered and bottled at barrel proof
Past
- W. L. Weller 19 year was bottled at 90 proof. It was released only for the 2000, 2001, and 2002 Antique Collections.
- W. L. Weller Centennial was aged for 10 years and bottled at 100 proof. It went out of production in 2009.
Introduced in 2005 as part of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, William Larue Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is an uncut, unfiltered bourbon that's bottled at barrel proof. The proof and age of this annual release varies from year to year:[3]
| Release | Year of Distillation | Product Age | Release Proof | Number of Barrels | Warehouses | Warehouse Floors | Evaporation Loss | Number of Bottles (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall of 2005 | Fall of 1993 | 12 years, 2 months | 121.9 | 41 | Q | 5th | 58.04% | 4,602 |
| Fall of 2006 | Spring of 1991 | 15 years, 3 months | 129.9 | 22 | M | 5th | 50.64% | 2,905 |
| Fall of 2007 | Spring of 1997 | 10 years, 3 months | 117.9 | 34 | I | 9th | 53.27% | 4,250 |
| Fall of 2008 | Spring of 1997 | 11 years, 2 months | 125.3 | 40 | I | 9th | 52.05% | 5,131 |
| Fall of 2009 | Fall of 1998 | 11 years | 134.8 | 41 | N, O | 5th | 57.20% | 4,694 |
| Fall of 2010 | Summer of 1998 | 12 years, 3 months | 126.6 | 55 | I, P | 4th and 9th | 55.50% | 6,547 |
| Fall of 2011 | Fall of 1998 | 12 years, 11 months | 133.5 | 45 | N, O, P | 4th and 5th | 57.20% | 5,152 |
| Fall of 2012 | Spring of 2000 | 12 years, 4 months | 123.4 | 49 | P, I | 2nd and 4th | 56.60% | 5,689 |
| Fall of 2013 | Spring of 2001 | 12 years, 1 month | 136.2 | 39 | M, P | 3rd and 4th | 55.30% | 3,468 |
| Fall of 2014 | Spring of 2002 | 12 years, 3 months | 140.2 | 39 | D, K, L | 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th | 62.30% | 3,933 |
| Fall of 2015 | Spring of 2003 | 12 years, 3 months | 134.6 | 105 | I, K, L | 2nd and 6th | 72.30% | 7,780 |
| Fall of 2016 | Winter of 2003 | 12 years, 7 months | 135.4 | 145 | D, K, L | 3rd and 6th | 65.40% | 13,421 |
| Fall of 2017 | Winter of 2005 | 12 years, 6 months | 128.2 | 155 | D, I, P | 1st thru 6th | 54.08% | 19,040 |
| Fall of 2018 | Winter of 2006 | 12 years, 6 months | 125.7 | 149 | C, I, K, L, M, Q | 2nd thru 5th | 56.90% | 17,179 |
| Fall of 2019 | Winter of 2007 | 12 years, 6 months | 128.0 | N/A | I | 2nd and 3rd | 57.00% | N/A |
| Fall of 2020 | Winter of 2008 | 12 years, 6 months | 134.5 | N/A | I, C | 3rd, 5th, and 6th | 73.0% | N/A |
| Fall of 2021 | Winter of 2009 | 12 years, 6 months | 125.3 | N/A | K, L, D, Q, C | 1st, 2nd, 3rd | 64.0% | N/A |
| Fall of 2022 | Spring of 2010 | 12 years, 8 months | 124.7 | N/A | C, K, N | 2nd, 3rd, 4th | 64.0% | N/A |
| Fall of 2023 | Spring of 2011 | 12 years, 6 months | 133.6 | N/A | C, L, M, N | 2nd and 3rd | 66.0% | N/A |
The 2016 release of William Larue Weller, from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, was awarded a 2017 Double Gold medal by the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Old Weller Antique 107 was awarded a Gold Medal at the 2016 New York World Wine & Spirits Competition.
W. L. Weller 12 Year Old Bourbon won the designation of "Extraordinary / Ultimate Recommendation (95–100 pts)" from the 2015 Ultimate Spirits Challenge and a Silver Outstanding medal from the 2015 International Wine & Spirits Competition (UK).
Spirits writer Jim Murray named William Larue Weller Bourbon the "Second Finest Whisky in the World" in his Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2015 (ISBN 978-0955472992). The 2015 release of William Larue Weller was awarded a Silver Outstanding medal from the 2016 International Wine & Spirits Competition (UK).
Weller Full Proof was awarded a Double Gold in the Straight Bourbon category at the 2023 New York World Spirits Competition.[4]WL Weller Single Barrel and WL Weller Full Proof both won Masters awards at the 2023 American Whiskey Masters.[5]
- "Sazerac Completes Acquisition of Weller and Charter Brands" (Press release). PRNewswire. April 28, 1999. Retrieved March 7, 2010 – via thebourbonculture.com.
- "William Larue Weller". buffalotracedistillery.com. Buffalo Trace Distillery. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
- "Bourbonr BTAC Analysis". Bourbonr.com. 2017.
- "An Exclusive Look At The Best Bourbons From This Year's NYWSC". UPROXX. 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
- Kiely, Melita (2023-08-02). "The American Whiskey Masters 2023 results". The Spirits Business. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
