Quick recap here, the Weller range of wheated bourbons (wheat is used in the mashbill as the second largest component, second only to corn, which is required for the label "bourbon") comes from Buffalo Trace Distillery, which is home to many popular brands of bourbons.

It is so named after William Larue Weller (or W. L. Weller) who had settled in Kentucky and was early in the distilling game, in what would later become the Stitzel-Weller Distillery, home to the highly sought after Pappy range of wheated bourbons, that today shares the same mashbill (read: recipe) as the Weller's.

The range of Weller's currently includes 6 core expressions:

• 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

The crowning jewel to this range is the namesake William Larue Weller expression itself that is part of a broader Buffalo Trace multi-brand Antique Collection.

For the sake of continuity, I've reviewed the Weller Full Proof (here) and the Weller 12 Year Old (here), and today I'll add the Special Reserve and the Antique 107 to the literature.

It's worth pointing out early on and again that these Weller releases all come from the same wheat mashbill and primarily differ in age and proof (as well as where it's matured to an extent), which accounts for most of the taste differences.

Let's go!

W.L. Weller Special Reserve - Review

The entry point for the Weller range - it has the lowest proof of the range, and contains 8 year old wheated bourbon.

Tasting Notes

Color: Amber

Aroma: Sweet notes of brown sugar, lightly herbal with manuka honey and then the signature cherry crumble. There’s also maple syrup, orange blossoms and floral heather to boot. Really aromatic and somewhat dense, almost a little treacly and sweet, and just lightly tart.

Taste: Brown sugar, herbal manuka honey and Pei Pa Koa cough syrup - darker, denser flavours here, even if the texture is noticeably thin. There's more on those cherry crumble - more tart here, along with some vanilla frosting. There's a slight hint of cloves in the background as well.

Finish: More tartness of those dense cherries, brighter as well, and then more on woody tannins, as well as a more herbaceous eucalyptus.

My Thoughts

This was not bad, a fairly decent bourbon with likeable flavours and a good density to those flavours. It is very aromatic, and cohesive and well-integrated flavour-wise, but on the texture side of things, it did get alittle thin on the palate, as well as slightly overdone on the tartness and woody astringency. Finally, there was also one particular off note of paint thinner or varnish on the finish.

To my mind, this is a solid mixed bag - you've got good things going on that make it worth picking this one up, but you're going to have to compromise on some parts here as well.

Would I pick one up if I saw it? For sure, easy answer.

Let's get on to the second Weller we're doing today.

W.L. Weller Antique 107 - Review

The Weller Antique 107 was initially called the Old Weller Antique (OWA) and was rather popular because it was the highest proof of the Weller range until the Full Proof was introduced. It contains 6-7 year old wheated bourbons and is likely the youngest of the Weller range.

Tasting Notes

Color: Deep Amber

Aroma: Plenty of cherries here - but brighter and more tart this time compared to other Weller's, and then more on melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla sauce and cinnamon. Quite aromatic and fruit forward.

Taste: A good hefty body with more on cherry fruit and cherry crumble and then again that burnt brown butter and brown sugar, with a light herbal note of manuka honey. There’s a light note of acetone here too - alittle bit sour too, perhaps green apple peels. There’s a bit more on wood tannins too - slightly bitter. It’s quite tart and has alittle bit of plasticine notes. This evolves from being sweet and fruity, into something more plasticky and slightly sour and drying as is typically the case with wheated bourbons.

Finish: It’s alittle more plasticky here and also with more oaky tannins - oak char really. Lightly bitter and astringent, but it does have a light bit of tart cherries and clove spice.

My Thoughts

This was definitely more punchy than the other Weller's, but it did get quite plasticky and astringent. The cherries here are also distinctively more tart and also sharper here, and not as well integrated. The body as well got alittle thin towards the finish and coupled with that sour-plasticky-astringency it got alittle screeching. 

I think what it is here is that the span of the flavours the Weller Special Reserve tries to traverse is too wide for its body, which eventually resulted it in being discordant. 

You could obviously still tell it was a Weller bourbon, but this isn't one of the darker and denser ones that pack in alot of flavour on a hefty body. 

Not a fan to be honest.

Overall 

While I did find the Special Reserve rather decent, the Antique 107 was quite a disappointment.

Considering that the entire Weller line up comes from the same wheated mashbill that Buffalo Trace runs - that is to say, the recipe stays the same - the only difference between the various Power Rangers labels, it's worth spelling out, is for the most part the age and the proof of each expression (and to an extent the exact site of its maturation). 

While the Antique 107 sits at the second highest proof of the line up (not including the W. L. Weller that is part of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection), it seems to fall short and show its youth - it is the youngest of the line up.

The Special Reserve was decent but was probably dogged by the lower proof - it is the lowest proof of the line up, along with the Weller 12 Year Old that is substantially more aged. 

I think in sum, with labels such as the Full Proof and 12 Year Old, it sort of puts the Antique 107 and Special Reserve in a really tough spot in terms of comparisons. You've got expressions (just as difficult to find) that are more well-aged and at a higher proof.

Having tried the Special Reserve, Antique 107, Full Proof (Review Here) and 12 Year Old (Review Here), I'm only missing the Single Barrel and CYPB. As it stands, the Full Proof is my top pick, followed by the 12 Year Old, the Special Reserve, and finally the Antique 107.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot