Yesterday I stopped by one of my favorite liquor stores. These guys have a relationship with BT and sometimes go down to the distillery to pick out their own barrels to be bottled. I was hoping to find out if they would be getting some of the new BT products due out this fall.
Boy, was I in for a treat! Two of the managers had made a trip down to BT a while back and had selected a few barrels to be bottled for the liquor store. They had a single barrel BT, a special Eagle Rare bottling, and what caught my eye, a special W.L. Weller.
They have a W.L. Weller 14yo at 100 proof priced at $29. How did this happen? They went looking for a nice barrel of wheat recipe and picked one out in a section of the warehouse very close to where Van Winkle is usually selected from. The barrel just happened to be 14 years old. They told me that Preston Van Winkle visibly winced when he tasted the barrel they chose, because it would obviously have been good enough for Pappy 15 in one more year.
I have just started working on a bottle, but it is wonderful. I picked up 2 bottles but may have to go back for a few more. I'll give a better review as I develop a relationship with this bottle.
Cheers!
Mike