Weller 12 Year is a highly allocated bourbon produced by Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Weller has a number of different bourbons in its collection, all of which are considered a wheated bourbon. A wheated bourbon replaces the rye in its mash with wheat, making it sweeter and less spicy than those bourbons that have rye.

I was one of the lucky ones who was able to pick up a bottle at my liquor store at MSRP. Weller products are extremely sought after and are typically only available after an initial release or via the secondary market.

Overall, this bourbon leans fully into rich, dessert-like sweetness rather than heat, and that character carries through from the first smell to the last sip.

Tasting Profile

Nose

There is a lot going on in the nose of this bourbon. I got a powerful smell of cherry and oak with an underlying sweetness almost like chocolate. The cherry smell is very unique and I could tell it was going to be a richer whiskey.

Palate

Upon the first sip, the cherry I had initially smelled came front and center on my palate followed by the oak. It was even richer tasting than I was expecting. I almost felt like I was having a dessert liquor with how rich tasting it was. The bottle comes in at 90 proof so it is very drinkable.

Finish

As for the finish, it is very smooth. The lower, more approachable proof helps as there is less heat than other higher-proof whiskeys. Given that the bourbon is extremely rich, that flavor holds true and continues to linger on the tongue. It does lose a little bit of its richness, leaving me wanting another sip.

Rate It Score

The 7.9 reflects just how far this leans into rich, dessert-like character, a cherry-forward profile I haven’t come across in other wheated bourbons I’ve tried. That same richness is also what held the score back, though, since it left little room for the softer caramel notes I typically look for in a bourbon like this, and it’s part of why this isn’t an everyday sipper. It is something different and a nice change of pace, pairing well after dinner as a finishing drink.

Given the difficulty of finding a bottle, I would definitely buy this again if I could get it for MSRP. However, I wouldn’t go out of my way to pay a marked-up price for it on the secondary market.