Ohh crap, I just read the earlier posts on this. Apparently my brain filtered them out the first time I read it.

First of all, never assume a sales rep has any idea what they are talking about. Second, any comments from BT about Weller 12 being the same as PVW products were complete marketing spin. Technically they are telling the truth as its the same juice off the still, put into the same barrels, but the finished product is completely different. The barrel selection for any Van Winkle product is going to be much much more stringent than for Weller. A batch of Weller 12 might have a couple of barrels that could have been used in PVW 15, but it also going to be mixed with a ton of other barrels that would never be good enough for any Van Winkle product.

They might have been closer in the past, but Weller 12 has gone downhill significantly as they have been diverting more of the premium barrels to Wan Winkle products. Its still good for the price, but nowhere close to what it used to be. Even a few years ago Weller 12 was very close to Van Winkle 12 Lot B, but the difference in quality is very noticeable now. It is an excellent example of how barrel selection can differentiate two products that started off as the same juice, and were aged for the same amount of time.

^^^ Thanks for agreeing with me. To expand further on the quality of Current Weller 12 to old bottlings, I have a 2006 bottling of Weller 12 that is unbelievably good. It's probably 2 shades darker in color and the juice is no doubt has Bernheim and/or S-W DNA. Keep in mind, back in the early to mid 2000's BT was sometimes using bourbon up to 15 years old for the Weller 12 bottling because that was what was available at the time.

I agree the Weller 12 yo these days does not have the same taste from years past. I still buy it when I can, but something is missing.

There was a time when I could not find WLW 12yo I would buy regular BT...since they took over WLW brand. Some of those BT bottles I would have sworn were the old WLW 12yo re-packaged. My thinking was/is that - since BT took over WLW - they were taking WLW 12yo stock and re-bottling as their BT bourbon and using a less tasty product for 12yo. However, that could have just been me, but it doesn't seem too far fetched.

Buffalo Trace has 3 bourbon mash bills, and I doubt they would be mingling anything between them. I could be completely wrong, but you generally see stock get re-allocated within a mash bill. When Old Charter 10 got the ax, I assumed it was because the better barrels from that group were being used for Stagg Jr instead.

Wheated - Weller and Pappy lines.

#1 low rye - Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, Old Charter, Benchmark, Stagg Jr, and George T Stagg.

#2 high rye - Ancient Age, Elmer T Lee, Rock Hill Farms, Blantons, and Hancock.

You mind was playing tricks on you, Wheat vs. Rye and 12 yr vs. 8 yr. Both great buys for the dinero....Try the Eagle Rare 10 yr SB if you like regular Buffalo Trace

Y'all are probably right that my mind and tastebuds were playing tricks on me. WLW 12 yo will be my "go to" as long as I can find it. It does get scarce sometimes.

I don't mind a little change every now and again when I can't find it and BT - for some reason - is usually what I get.

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Try the Eagle Rare 10 y

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One of my favorite every day bourbons. Great stuff.

Anyone see BTAC in TX yet?

Not here in Houston. I've been out searching for it at my local stores for two weeks now and they don't have it yet. Stagg JR yes but no antique collection yet.

Well, this sucks.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20131016/BUSINESS/310160119/Rare-Kentucky-bourbon-stolen-apparent-inside-job

Damn.

I had a bottle of Stagg Jr. come in the other day - name on a list deal at Specs in CS. They only had 4 bottles come in for the store and they were all special orders. I plan on opening it this weekend and reporting back the results.

Julian Proctor Van Winkle III and his son Julian Preston Van Winkle are the proprietors of Kentucky's Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, and they make the best bourbon in the world at a rate of roughly 7,000 cases per year. Which is why you can't find any of it, anywhere. Sighting a bottle of the 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve, which retails at $130, in a liquor store is like spotting a Scaly-Sided Meganser in the wild. The Van Winkles are personally beset by desperate high-class drunks seeking an in. Personal assistants have wasted days trying to track down bottles for well-heeled bosses. Pappy is furtively deployed to seal multi-million-dollar business deals. Leads are whispered about among aficianados: "I heard about a warehouse in Jersey that just got a shipment."

Someone finally got fed up and just stole a bunch of the stuff. According to the Louisville Courier Journal, earlier this week thieves broke into the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Ky. (where Van Winkle makes its magic), and made off with 195 bottles of the 20-year Pappy and nine cases of 13-year-old rye. The retail value comes to $26,000, but the street value is considerably higher. The 20-year, the Courier reports, can go for up to $400 a bottle on the secondary market, meaning the thieves could pull in $78,000. (The rye is less valuable, because really, why would you drink rye?)

Found 3 Thomas H. Handys in Houston today, but they were the 2011 and 2012 ed. Also found two 2012 OFBBs. Good day.

Jefferson presidential select 18 year old is outstanding. Close to Pappy 20 IMHO

It's Christmas time for bourbon drinkers everywhere. The BTAC is hitting shelves. I just got a call that a bottle of GTStagg has come in and that I will get a bottle of THHandy and Eagle Rare 17 next week. The store where I was listed only got 3 ER17s and 2 WLWs. I didn't make the cut on the WLW. The guy at the top has been on there a year. The distributor said the WLW and ER 17 will be the toughest to get this year.

Hey Mathguy, what state are you in?

A person I spoke to at a store near my work in Houston said Eagle Rare 17 wasn't hard to come by.

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Hey Mathguy, what state are you in?

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I'm in Aggieland.

Cool, I appreciate it. Gonna go hit my spots tomorrow here in Houston and see if they have it yet.

1,000th post of the thread! This thread has helped out my liquor cabinet A LOT! I appreciate all the recomendations.

Just picked up my GTStagg from CS Specs. Rest ETA = next week.

^
Good stuff! This thread has been great.

Fall is my favorite time of the year: fall colors/leaves, golf, the start of ski season, football, pumpkin beers, and Pappy Van Winkle time. The pursuit of Pappy Van Winkle is like a huge Easter egg hunt for me.

I feel like I won the lottery. I got the three I wanted and just in time. My 2012 Stagg only has a couple of pours left in it. Big difference too. Last year 142 proof. This year 128.

Anyone have a lead on William Larue Weller

I'd really like to get a bottle of Eagle Rare 17.

Im suppose to be getting Eagle Rare 17 and Stagg tomorrow. Hopefully it's successful.

Got my Stagg.



Suppose to be getting the Eagle Rare 17 and another bottle of Stagg Monday.

Whoop!

^Nice. Still have never had it. Picked up a bottle of Stagg Jr. Shout out to aggiemike for the tip.

If I get that 2nd bottle of Stagg I'll trade for WLW or Sazerac Rye 18. Or it and cash for any Pappy and if not. I'll be very happy to drink it!

FWIW, I've got two bottles of Stagg Jr. I'm open to any trade possibilities.

I'd trade a PVW 15 for a bottle of Stag and WLW.

And speaking of good wheaters, I just cracked open my last bottle of Vintage 17. Good stuff.

Got a bottle of Four Roses Limited EsitiSmall Batch 125th year anniversary

Got a bottle of Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch 125th year anniversary today.