ChiTuckyBourbonBrothers

Episode 124 - Weller Full Proof

• ChiTucky Bourbon Brothers • Season 6 • Episode 19

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The list dropped and the takes are hot. We kick things off with the new Whiskey Advocate Top 20—Elijah Craig A925 at the top, Oban 15 sliding in at number two, and a well-earned spotlight on Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged—then we turn the conversation toward a bottle that always hit the spot: Weller Full Proof. If you’ve ever wondered how proof and filtration change a bourbon’s soul, this is your pour.

We walk through the Weller family by color and proof and then slow down on the blue label. Non-chill filtered at 114, Full Proof carries a dessert-like nose—brown sugar, caramelized wood, a hint of cinnamon—before shifting into an oak-driven, slightly drying finish with a layered spice profile. One of us wants the nose’s sugar to stretch longer; the other leans into the structure, texture, and tannin that make it a weeder with backbone. Along the way, we unpack why chill filtering matters, what happens when you leave the oils in, and how a splash of water can coax sweetness forward without muting character.

Price and access are part of the story. At $70 for a good store pick, Full Proof feels like a win; at inflated tags or secondary levels, the value case gets tougher. We get practical about finding bottles—build relationships, learn the color code, and time your visits—and we tip the cap to history, tracing Weller’s roots through Stitzel-Weller to the Pappy mash philosophy. The bigger theme is clear: quality is everywhere, and the right bottle depends on your proof tolerance and palate goals.

If bold, textured wheaters are your lane, blue might be your new weeknight flex. If you want softer sweetness, the 12 Year or Special Reserve may hit just right. Pour something you love, then press play and taste along with us. Enjoyed the breakdown? Follow, share with a whiskey friend, and leave a quick review to help more listeners find the show.

SPEAKER_00:

We didn't see this guy, but we saw the guy that he's covering. Nope. We stopped Parker, dude. We stopped Parker for sure, but I thought called I think we saw Cold Fundell too in the fact. Cold Talk. I thought it was You were having those moments where you just you just highly, highly think you're right about something. No, no, you're right. You were close to right. We talked about it. I was just the wrong event. Oh man, how are you, dude? I'm doing great. The uh this is Thomas Rhett, by the way. This is Thomas Rhett doing a cover of it. A cover of it. Yeah, he's at uh Fenway, and that's where I like this live version. I heard it the other day, so I suggested and I thought it sounded really great. So um, but uh you know what's even better than any of that is man, it's a it's a week of the year that uh I am pretty overly excited. The Whiskey Advocate 2025 top 20 whiskeys whiskey. That means whiskey world, right? Correct. And uh should I go through some of them? Oh, heck yeah. What don't give me one yet? Don't give me one. Give me uh I don't know. How many, how like how many scotches are there? You want to go backwards from 20? No, it takes too long. It takes too long. How many, how many scotches you think? Over half? Uh I'd say about it. Yeah, about half. So here I'm gonna just get into it. So Elijah Craig, um, the A925 won first place. Oh uh, the OBEN 15-year scotch second. And dude, guys, go back to our podcast right before this one, which was the maker's mark seller age. Yes, I called it. I mean, good. There is a prediction in the podcast uh over this just came out, I'm pretty sure today, and it was over a week ago. And that that bottle is fabulous. It's fabulous. I just love that something like this, Maker's Mark, put their their name and all their money behind it. And some some people are saying people are drinking. Whiskey's behind me. I don't drink whiskey anymore. I'm moving on to other cocktails, and it's like, dude, this is you're just in your face, Kentucky bourbon whiskey. Well, what number? You didn't say what number? Number three. No, that's awesome. I told you, I thought it'd be in the top five and ten list. I'm I'd I'd say really high. Couple other notables. New Riff at number four. That's super high for them. Which one of theirs? Which one of theirs? Um, I'm just scrolling. No, no, which is the thing. I want to get through these. Bardstown at number 11. Okay. Um Middle West at number 14. Oh, that's awesome. Um, I think they've only been on here once. Stray hands, number 16. And uh yeah, I I kind of went through most of the Kentucky ones, but uh, there's a lot of scotches on here. But I did say the oh Oban was number two. That's probably that's gonna be hard to find. That's a great, great scene. But Middle West, Middle West is uh Ohio, right? Correct. Columbus. Okay. Yeah. Um, so fun that that came out and it's still going strong. And again, I I say it again, I think there's a lot of uh haters out there that you know whiskey, the whiskey's best days are behind us. And uh I don't think there's a slowdown, but I or a correction, I don't think it's uh behind us for I there's a lot of really ever. There's a lot of really good juice. Not in my lifetime. A lot of really good juice out there right now. I think that what it's doing is you're going to be able to, if you ever really wanted to buy some barrels or buy a barrel, it might uh depending on how much a particular place overproduced, you might actually get yourself an opportunity to buy a barrel. Barrels are cheaper now. Yes, I think that's that's what you're gonna see. You're not gonna see a lack of old stuff. So what are we drinking? Speaking of that, yeah today, getting to the whiskey. We are drinking the Weller uh Foolproof. The Weller Foolproof. This happens to be a uh Benny's small batch select, but um from year to year and pick to pick, uh a whiskey, uh by the way, a weeded uh bourbon whiskey. Um with the same proof and similar uh surroundings as far as where the barrels are, and um Weller and or Sazerac not doing a whole lot of different things with these. These from year to year come out uh the same or similar. And um what's the price now? How much are these? Oh, you know, I don't know. I think it's uh shoot, I think it was like$69.99 the last one I got. Yeah, I think um that's exactly right. Store picks are$70. Okay. Yeah, that's what I got. So it's a little some liquor stores you're gonna they're gonna crank this one to over a hundred. Um maybe not the big box. They just you know give them to their best customers, but smaller liquor stores will. And uh I mean it's the it's the highest proof of the Weller family tree. Someone would say it's worth it. Of the Weller family tree, it's the highest proof until you get to the antique collection of the William Louie Weller. So there's seven bottles all together. 114 on this. I don't think I said that already. Yeah, so it's there's seven bottles altogether. You got the uh green special reserve 90 proof, you got the red antique 107, which is 107 proof. Then you got the black 12 year, which is also 90 proof, full proof that we're drinking, which is the blue label. So usually when you go to wellers, you just ask them for the color. Sometimes Tony and I have notes. The last minute, he's just looking me right in the eye and just saying, all right, so he's through three of them. Third one is the Weller 12 year. Yep. Four is what we're drinking, which is the foolproof 114. Then you got the CYPB, craft your own perfect bourbon. That's C Y P B. It's a white label. Craft your own perfect bourbon. Yeah, remember we did that. That was a good idea. Yeah, we did that. It's great. It's really good from what I remember. 95 proof on that, and then you have the single barrel, which is the orange label. We only had one of those. We had to pay extra to get that in the secondary. And it didn't, it wasn't special. I think that these some of these blue and white labels is significantly better than that orange label. And then you got William Laru Weller, which is anywhere from 120 to probably 140 proof nowadays. Antique collection and big dollars. And that one being Tony's it's my favorite, favorite. Favorite whiskey, uh bourbon whiskey, Kentucky bourbon whiskey of all time. Yeah, it's so hard to get that year to year. It's it that that's stuff that changes year to year. Yeah, I know that for a fact. Only got three bottles this year of it.

unknown:

I know.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, those those are those are pricey. I think they're pricing about like 1200 bucks online. Um and but I mean they're they're a crazy good thing. So um, the Weller. Let's uh one of the cool you want to get into some details of Weller. Yeah, I mean I can quickly Weller, everybody knows Weller. Weller's the weeded bourbon. If you haven't had it before, it's the weeded bourbon. It's um it's they don't they do not give you the mash bill, but it's an estimated 70% corn, wheat 16 to 20 percent, malted barley 10 to 14 percent. It's the biggest thing that that makes the blue label different than almond. How much corn? Sorry, somewhere in the 14, I'm sorry, 16 to 20 percent. Corn? Yep, okay. Which they compare this to the uh almost so it's almost the exact um same percentages that Pappy uses for his bourbons. Right. And that's what almost that's what they're trying to do. So uh Sazerac is the company that owns uh Buffalo Trace, and one of the Buffalo Trace lines is this Weller line, one of their lines is uh Pappy Um and Eagle Rare and a lot of the other ones. So when we're talking about why this would probably be good or expected to be, is everything they do is good. Yeah, it's it fairly maybe not everything, but like if the they know it's not really great, it's probably either just kicked off the shelves or uh severely discounted cheaper whiskey. But um I mean, I was trying to figure out some differences between all the different Weller bottles, and the only difference I can really find is that the blue weller, which is the foolproof that we're drinking today, is the only one that's um non-chilled, non-chill filtered, non-chill filtered. All the rest are chill-filtered. And what the difference to that means, my understanding is that the process is that bourbon gets cooled down, you know, to um like pretty close to pretty close to freezing, honestly, um, freezing temperatures. And that causes like fatty acids and proteins and different things to get filtered out. So what this one does when it when you skip that process or you have a non-chiltered, it actually, you know, it actually gives you it give it a c it becomes more cloudy. You can look at it and see that. But what it does is it um it gives you a better mouthfill, like like more texture, supposedly more oily. So I think you're gonna really like this one, Mike. Isn't a non-chilter wasn't that uh made a big deal by Jack Daniels? Aren't they a non-chiltered? They do that other one, they do the um Lincoln County process or something county process, and it's a charcoal filtered. So theirs is actually takes even more out because it's a charcoal filter, and there's so many different ways to do the charcoal filtering. All right, I just really want to drink this, this. I just want to drink this. So let's do that. Let's do a smell. Let's do a smell first. Well, I meant, yeah, of course, we gotta smell it before we drink it. Well, you can have both at the same time. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna turn you in or anything. So if the smell to me is like forget about whiskey, alcohol altogether, put brown sugar in a barrel for a dozen years. It has a very woody, sugary, um, not overly done at all uh sweetness like that. Like it's it's more like sugary um desserts for me than it is. Cinnamon sugar is the word I would use for that. Dessert. Yeah, but cinnamon is like its own spice. And cinnamon would would be like to me kind of spicy, and it's not all right. Well, I yeah. To me, it's um it's like a it's like a yeah, very sugary, very cinnamon sugary, very caramelized. It's good. Very good. I mean, I think when you swirl it around, it brings out its intensity a little bit. I feel like if you swirl it a little, you actually can start to get a little bit more, you can kind of feel like it's gonna be a little higher proof. Maybe it's maybe a little bit more shines through. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. So anyway, let's have a sip. Unbelievable. Good mouth coating, good sugary qualities, but kind of a ding for a very drying of your mouth. Yeah. Probably not mouth coating. When it dries out, it probably is. Not like a too much alcohol drying, but kind of like a um like a like there's a lot of dry wines out there that just have no sweetness and they're like kind of graphite-y, like just that's what I'm getting. Which is not I want more sweetness throughout. I want more better finish. It's definitely oily, it's definitely got the tannins. It's it's definitely there, it's that it's more forward that way than some of the uh like what we had last time with the maker's mark where they were trying to push the chocolate and the sweetness. This isn't that at all. This is more of an oily feel. I like this a lot. This is it, this is this is good to me. This I like this a lot. I think it's great. I would it's getting close. It's not it's not it's not the uh it's not the same as last time, but this one's pretty good to me. I I think that the overall finish length. So you're not getting that dry note. Not as much. It's definitely going away, but like the long-lasting, you know, length of the finish, the oak. I feel like that oak lingers just long enough. Um, I get that cinnamon at the beginning. You're not getting as much cinnamon, but it it feels like it's just it's like I don't know, it's kind of going into a some type of a like a layered spice almost. I just want it to taste like it smells, and it smells so dessert sweet, and I kind of I guess wanted that. Um but no, it's a good it's sweet. It's a it's a good pour for sure. I mean it's sweet, it's balanced. I mean, it's it's a pretty good balance between oak and spice. I don't think it's got as much fruit as you love what we're hoping for. Because like the reserve where uh is a much lower proof. I think that's what I what I think times changed and higher proof whiskey became more and more popular over the last 10 years. Um, that's more or less when they put this out. I think that you can put it out for a guy like me. Yeah, I think they and you. I think they put special reserve out for the everyday light vanilla, you know, everyday drinker at 90 proof, in my opinion. It's it's got that light vanilla, it's got a little bit of oak, but like you get into this and it's you definitely have oak, but you're you're you're burning through some. So you're you're gonna get some a lot of different op a lot of different things here first. That'd be fun to do like a two or three glass uh weller side-by-side tasting because this against the reserve or um I can go get it in the two or you want to talk for 20 seconds. I didn't with other people. Yeah, if you want to talk for 20 seconds, I can go get it. We we have all those battles, but I don't no, not not right now. No, um I it is I think I feel like the this one has a uh it's it's definitely got um just the higher proof comes through, and I feel like it's it's uh this is right in my wheelhouse. I mean, you get me north of 70 on corn, and I'm a big fan of the of the uh of the weeders. This proof is a home run. I think they're estimating the age to be between six and eight years. Personally, I'd love to see it closer to 10 years, um, but that's not what we have. That's not an option. So I'm gonna have you do your sip rating, but I want you to pay attention mainly to the influence part because um I think it should be noted that Tony likes weeders, Tony likes Weller, one of Tony's the higher level of this is one of his favorite whiskeys of all time, if not the one, the LaRue Weller. So influence. I assume it's through the roof. I mean, the historic. I feel like you always like these more than me. That's yeah, that's that's finally I got that. I mean, the historic significance of Weller. I mean, Weller is like they're the foundation of Stitzel Weller, distillering company. I mean, that that is what turned into Old Fitz and Pappy, and and those are the those are the stud weeded bourbons, right? That is what you talk about, and William Laru Weller is the guy behind that. And I just think that um I'm a big fan of weeders. Uh, it's not just the lower end ones with the maker's mark and the larcenies, but um, I I just really like that flavor profile, and so it's gonna be this one's gonna be a good score for me because this is right in my wheelhouse. This is an easy one. Well said, and I I will say that um I mean, could couldn't be more right in the way of um how how you described it because uh there's there's no higher influence, right? To me is sorry, this is trying to I mean catch my thought and like there's like exactly what you said. Bourbon is now it was great before, it's now popular for the last two coming on three decades because of that. Yeah, like that's kind of the best thing. They're really good at what they do. I mean, I you know, I I we always say what's our favorite, we talk a lot around here. Like, what's your favorite distillery to go to, right? We love going to Heaven Hill, we love going to to uh Willet. We just like the town of Bardstown, I think. This is Buffalo Trace. We don't go to Buffalo Trace as much, but I would tell you that Buffalo Trace, I mean, between Buffalo Trace and Heaven Hill, it's it's a it's that's tough for me to say which is better. Competing one and two. I mean, and I don't even know if you could go one and two. I think it's gonna be what flavor profiles you like more, um, especially for the amount of the amount of skews they have. I mean, those both of those brands have like 40, 50 different. And that's where they trend more towards Heaven Hill. Okay, so sip rating, I that was your eye. Uh yeah, so for me, it's simple. I am lucky enough to be able to get a bunch of these blue bottles. So I share this a lot. I literally had this uh Sunday night when my one of my neighbors is moving. He came over and we opened up a bottle of this, Eagle Rare and the and the Baker's 13, and everybody got to have sips of whatever they wanted. This went over pretty well. It's higher proof, so you gotta like it. Um, but I for me, sip shareable all the time. Influences off the charts. Price, uh, I wish it was the same price as it was five years ago, but don't we all? But 70 bucks is still pretty good for this stuff. Yeah, uh, you kind of when you got to the price, it I just kind of had a moment where it does kill all three. Yeah. You know, I mean, you're kind of like it's the I and the P help the shareable because you're not paying out of the nose for it. And if you can get it, and it's right. So I mean, this is these are four or five hundred bucks secondary, I think. I don't know, you know, probably it's four or five hundred bucks, I think these are secondary now. And you know, I would probably see I don't I don't drink this a lot and I don't ever have it at home. So you're more I would I would find that I would want to share it, and then the bottle would just kind of be gone. So that's my ass. Uh influence. I mean, you hit the nail on the head and um price, yeah. I mean, come on, how many bottles do we talk about it? Last last week. Yeah, makers market 175 bucks. This is like you could have it's like today. I just came back with the 10-year papy. The 10-year papy, the old riff is$179.99 this year. I just pulled one up today. I was like, oh, I mean, I'm guessing I'm happy to get one, but man,$179. I swear to god, that bottle was like$89 five years ago. Definitely was. It definitely was. Uh haven't opened it yet, but we got some good trade bait now. Trade bait. That sounds like there's something there that we don't need to talk about. No, but we we Mike and I, we horse trade, we horse trade bourbon a little bit. So we don't know. Give me your number. Give me your number. For even like sitting here dying. I'm like, caught the small talk. Four even. Four even. Yes. Yeah, that's uh three seven five. I think that's the difference. I think I think uh some Elijah Craig andor Heaven Hill brands, I jump into the fours and you might still be hanging out in the threes. Um so wow, that's great. Uh I think high marks that is from Tony. I think this one's good. I think if you're if you're able to get one, um Vinny's does have it a couple times a year. And um, if you buy enough bourbon from them or wine from them or however you get your your bourbon, um, this is one. If you can get it under 150 bucks, I say give it a try. And right what Tony said why he has like a bunch of these is because he, as we've said before, he goes to the store and more or less asks for them or turns on the charm to to get one. Um, there's all six of those wellers we talked about. Um try one, taste one, and then go to that store. And uh because there's so many different lines, um, they'll probably give you one. So you can find you can find these. You can't find blue all the time, but you can find the green. Um, and in some states, like if you're in Texas or Ohio, you can find the red really easily. Uh black is never easy to find, but when you see a 12 year grab it, it's it's fantastic. I mean, I would say it's just a nick down below this one. And I don't remember CYPV as well. I remember liking the 12 year more than this, but that's for another time. What are we going out to? We can see we can see how you uh how you how your numbers have changed to see if you really 375 here versus whatever you did for the 12 year four years ago or three years ago. Is that that sounds like you're gonna call me out or something? No, I I can look it up. I don't care that much right now. Uh I'm going out with more Thomas Rhett. So Thomas Rhett is uh, you know, one of these modern country singers. Uh little he doesn't have a ton of super fast songs, but uh I really like his music and I I hope to hope to catch him on tour here in the next year. So we're turning up, crank it. We're going out with another one. Just uh I think this song came out to him last year. It's called Um Look What God Gave Her. And you can see it's a little mellow music. He's more mellow. Did you ever bump into him in Nashville or something? Never. Him and his brother. I've only been to Nashville once. I met him. And that was very recently. You might have walked right past him. I could have walked past him and didn't know. Honestly, I don't know if I even know what he looks like, really. I know he's young. I know he's like 30. You'll look at him and say, that's exactly what I thought he would look like. Sorry, sorry, Nashville guys that wear cowboy hats. Whatever. Anyway, uh, shotgun brothers. Does he have a beard? Like a I don't, I didn't look that close, dude. We take care of the whiskey so you can focus on with whom you share it. Really good. Tony's the second, third, fourth, fifth, like the ninth love of his life. Oh, this is the Weller. The Weller, anything. Anything with those six letters. It's a big deal for Tony. Good one today. If you can get them. If you can get one, get one. And they're they're around. Definitely keep your eye open. The green specifically, the special reserve. I just had the last sip of it. It's so good. Yeah. Maybe it took me like six. Too low of a score, I'm telling you. That's good stuff. Alright. See you guys. Bye guys.

Contributor

Mike Nielsen

Host
Contributor

Tony Meyers

Co-host