Review #38 - William LaRue Weller 2018

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I'm caught up on moving over Reddit reviews! At least all the ones I could find. I seemed to be missing a few. I still have a bunch of reviews typed up on my phone to bring over, but for now let's review something new!

It's the middle of December 2018, and I'm home on vacation for just over two weeks over the holidays. No girlfriend anymore, and my kiddo doesn't come to stay with me until next week. So it's just me and the cats. I have cleaned the house, been hiking and baking bread and doing a bunch of photography things. It's pretty nice! While hanging out I thought I'd dig into one of this year's BTAC releases that LCBthrowaway was kind enough to send me.



I'm in a pretty good mood this morning. I slept in for 45 minutes, I spent yesterday hiking and I'm a bit tired physically but feeling good mentally.

So, notes from the Buffalo Trace website say this is 125 proof, aged 12 years and 6 months.



Appearance: Wow, that's dark. Looks gorgeous.



Nose: Cherries, pomegranates, vanilla, old oak, horehound. The scent is rich, very thick, almost buttery. Very fruit forward, but the classic vanilla and oak underlay the whole thing, making for a beautiful complex aroma.

Palate: Vanilla, leather, burley pipe tobacco, overripe plums, oak, bittersweet cocoa, red currants. This is very complex, there's a ton going on.

Finish: Medium in length. The leather, oak and pipe tobacco are there, combined with a beautiful caramel rich sweetness. Very thick. It's a touch hot at the tail end, just enough heat to let you know this is in fact Bourbon you're drinking. A touch of baking spice lingers as the whole thing fades away.

This is pretty fantastic. The finish is the best part. I wish it were a tad longer, but it's really very good. It's more balanced than the 2015 WLW I had based on my memory. I like that a lot. It's not worth crazy secondary prices to me, but I'd certainly pay $200 for this.

Rating: ★★★★★

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