Weller 12 Year Old Wheated Bourbon.

Buffalo Trace has four main mashbills, all of which are undisclosed. Mashbill #1 is 51% corn and undisclosed amounts of rye—believed to be 10% or less, or low-rye—and barley. Mashbill #1 is used for Buffalo Trace, EH Taylor, Stagg, and Eagle Rare. Mashbill #2 is a high-rye mash, with between 12 and 15% rye, 51% corn, and an undisclosed amount of barley. Elmer T. Lee, Ancient Age, Blanton’s, and Rock Hill Farm are made from mashbill #2. There’s a rye mashbill, used in Sazerac and Thomas H Handy, which is at least 50% rye, with an undisclosed amount of corn and barley.

And lastly, there’s the wheated mashbill, which uses 51% corn and an undisclosed amount of wheat and barley. This wheated mashbill is used for all Weller products (with the exception of the newly launched ultra-aged Weller Millennium, which blends in wheat whiskeys that contain at least 51% wheat) and it’s also used for Pappy Van Winkle and other Van Winkle products, as well as EH Taylor Seasoned Wood.

WHY WHEAT? It replaces the rye spice with sweetness from the wheat grain, leading to a softer mouthfeel. And demand for a whiskey that’s more gentle and approachable has been around since the 1840s, when William Larue Weller, a Kentucky whiskey pioneer, first launched it. Back in the 1850s, Weller’s wheated whiskeys were in such demand that he had to start putting a green thumbprint on barrels and invoices to indicate their authenticity. The legendary Pappy Van Winkle would later fold Weller’s business into A. Ph. Stitzel Distillery, forming Stitzel-Weller Distillery in 1935, and in 1999, Buffalo Trace acquired the brand and began reproducing Weller’s wheated bourbon.

WHAT DOES WELLER 12 YEAR OLD SMELL LIKE? You get a generous heap of sweetness; caramel candies, vanilla custard, cherry pie, honey, cinnamon, and clove, and a fair amount of orange zest and candied orange peels. The oak spice is present, too, but it’s soft, and there’s a nice floral aroma. A few deep inhalations reward you with hints of dark chocolate. After 10 or so minutes of resting in the glass, notes of tobacco rise. The 45% ABV tamps down some of the aromas, but it’s still rich and robust. It’s pleasing and inviting to sniff, and you can spend a long time nosing the glass. And, for bourbon neophytes, it’s a lovely entry to the spirit.

WHAT DOES WELLER 12 TASTE LIKE?: On the palate, first sips bring honey, vanilla, cinnamon, orange zest, a little ginger, tobacco, leather, and dark chocolate. The liquid weight is medium-light; just enough to give you a sense of heaviness that correlates with the 12 years in the barrel. There’s a decent amount of oak, as you’d expect, but it plays nicely with the other flavors, and doesn’t crowd the party. A floral note shines through early in the sip, then drops off as the other flavors build.

When chewing it, there’s more clove and cinnamon spice, plus a rush of dark chocolate, leather, tobacco, and a lot more cherry and dried cranberry. There’s also a browned butter note, as well as darker caramel. There’s a nice balance between the sweet oak notes that demonstrate the liquid’s age and the brightness and vibrance of the liquid. It’s approachable to all palates, thanks to the ample sweetness and desert-notes, though barrel proof zealots will likely find this too saccharine and lacking punch.

The finish is long and pleasant, with vanilla caramel, candied orange peel, and dark chocolate rising above the rest. As those flavors fade, you’re left with the oak spice, though it doesn’t veer into the realm of being tannic. It then resonates on the palate with notes of cocoa powder and dried tobacco leaves.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON WELLER 12 YEAR OLD: Weller 12 hits the mark as an approachable daily sipper with a lot of brightness, medium viscosity, and balanced flavor that’ll leave you returning for another pour. The softness and sweetness of the wheat help make it a dram that you’ll seek out. There are ample wheated bourbon options on the shelf, but Weller 12 is one that deserves a place at the top of that crop.

WHY IS WELLER 12 SO RARE? The scarcity of the product, particularly at its SRP, is something that warrants mentioning. A plethora of factors relating to distribution practices and America’s three-tier system regulations have an impact on which markets will get this allocated bourbon, making it harder to find locally. Additionally, due to the high pricing on the secondary market, retail pricing is often four or five times greater than the suggested retail price, so when you do see it in the wild, it’s often outrageously priced. The fact that Buffalo Trace moved it to an annual release, allocated product, instead of a mainstay production item doesn’t help meet the rabid consumer demand either.