Week 9 of sample mountain is Weller Week with three Weller Antique picks. The first is Cherry Potter a pick from Redstone Liquors with a suitably tater sticker and apparently loads of cherry notes (we’ll see). Next up is Unholy Trinity which I think is from a group called Brotherhood of the Barrel who has since removed all their social media content and that’s pretty much all I know about that. Last up is a sample of an old pick from 2015 by 1789b. These are all 107 proof and NAS. Unfortunately I was unable to verify if any of them were non chill filtered.
Since all of these are older single barrels and there is no way to buy them at a sane price I’m instead comparing them to an average Weller Antique pick which for me is most of the ones with the state of Texas stickers.
Cherry Potter
Neat
Nose: Sweet with cherry, butterscotch and cinnamon. Almost no proof sting.
Taste: Sweet notes that didn’t quite read as caramel or butterscotch for me, cherry syrup, cinnamon sugar and some baking spice. Pleasant viscosity and no ethanol notes.
Finish: Long finish that leaves sweet cherry and warm spice notes lingering.
Buy a bottle vs ‘average’ Weller Antique pick? Yes
Unholy Trinity
Neat
Nose: Soft and sweet with butterscotch and honey wheat bread notes.
Taste: It starts sweet with more butterscotch then some baking spices come in before a slight twinge of bitterness toward the end. The mouthfeel was not as nice as Cherry Potter.
Finish: Medium length with the butterscotch and wheat breads notes coming back.
Buy a bottle vs ‘average’ Weller Antique pick? No
1789b 2015
Neat
Nose: Big departure from the other two with a leathery note followed by sweet vanilla.
Taste: Closer to the usual profile with a rush of sweet butterscotch then the return of the leather with some spice. Nice viscous mouthfeel.
Finish: An unusual but not unpleasant leather note dominates the long finish with baking spice and some fainter sweetness.
Buy a bottle vs ‘average’ Weller Antique pick? No
Conclusion
The Cherry Potter does what it says on the sticker. It wasn’t overwhelmingly cherry but that note was clear and present throughout and otherwise it was about what I would expect from Weller Antique. Overall it was very enjoyable especially if you like the cherry side of the Buffalo Trace profile, obviously I do. The proof was well integrated into the whiskey and was only really noticeable on the finish.
Unholy Trinity was a clear step down from Cherry Potter for me. It was simpler, had some grain and some bitter notes and didn’t have anything particularly noteworthy about it. Overall it was enjoyable but I’m not sure I would put it ahead of a normal bottle of Weller Antique.
The 1789b pick was definitely unique but it lost some of the things I love about Weller Antique in the process. I typically like leather notes in bourbon, especially in Joseph Magnus, but for some reason it didn’t fit here for me. I can why folks would like this profile though.
TL;DR: Cherry Potter was great, the other two were enjoyable but not my favorites.
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