William Larue Weller

W. L. Weller is a brand of wheated bourbon. The brand was originally owned by the Stitzel-Weller Distilling Company, which was sold several times after 1972. The brand is currently owned by the Sazerac Company and produced at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky.^[1] Like all bourbons Weller is distilled from a mash composed of at least 51% corn (maize). What makes Weller different is that its secondary grain is wheat rather than the usual rye.

The bourbon was named after William Larue Weller (1825–1899) who was a bourbon whiskey distilling pioneer in the early days of Kentucky. He is famous for being the first to produce straight bourbon using wheat instead of rye. His wheated bourbon was first bottled in 1849.

Current Brand Expressions

William Larue Weller is a part of the Buffalo Trace Distillery's Antique Collection. It is an uncut & unfiltered Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

There are several bourbons produced under the Weller name, all of which are wheated. The top three brands with the "W. L." title are all produced in their signature bell shaped bottle while the fourth variation with the title "William LaRue" is bottle in a very sleek straight wine bottle. The various brands and their descriptions are:

• W.L. Weller Special Reserve is 7 years old and bottled at 90 proof.
• W.L. Weller Antique is bottled at 107 proof.
• W.L. Weller 12 Year - 90 proof
• William LaRue Weller is a barrel proof, unfiltered bourbon. It was introduced in 2005 as a part of the Antique Collection

Past Expressions

• W.L. Weller 19 year was bottled at 90 proof for the 2001 and 2002 Antique Collections.
• W.L. Weller "Centennial" was a 10 years old, 100 proof bourbon which went out of production in 2009.

References