Weller 12 Bourbon Review & Whiskey and Video Games Coming Out in August

Today on the Bourbon Bites Podcast, I'm reviewing Weller 12 Bourbon and talking about new whiskeys and video games coming out this month

Hello and welcome to the Bourbon Bites Podcast. My name is Clifton and today I'm reviewing a bourbon that you've probably heard of even if you're not a whiskey drinker

And that is Weller 12-Year-Old Bourbon. So this one comes to us from my friend Swan

He was gracious enough to give me a sample of his bottle. And I'm really excited to revisit this because I remember last time I tried it a few years back, it was not my favorite

Now, I am a big fan of the Weller line from Buffalo Trace. I do enjoy a weeded bourbon

I have bottles of Special Reserve, 107, Full Proof, as well as some store picks of each of those

However, I do not own a bottle of the 12-Year. And I have had a couple opportunities to buy one, but based on my experience trying it a few years back, I did not love it as much as I loved the rest of the lineup

Even Weller Special Reserve, I mean, I know the price has gone up and it is incredibly hard to find, but for the MSRP of that bottle, I think it's a great daily drinker

I actually had a sip of that right before recording this podcast, just so I have something to compare this to as a baseline

But this is the 12-year-old version of the Weeded Mashbill Bourbon from Buffalo Trace

It comes in at 45% ABV, 90 proof, and MSRP is technically $40

Now, I know y'all are all laughing at that, so am I. I have not seen a bottle of Weller 12 year on the shelves ever

I've seen some of the other ones, of course, and sometimes they're marked up. But yeah, Weller 12 just does not exist in Southern California

I know this varies across the country. It's just funny that I can find, you know, even some foolproof picks before I can find a Weller 12

which to me I've really loved the foolproof releases so I'm really excited to revisit 12

and maybe it'll change my mind so let's go and get that poured now I also have a second sample

of this from another friend that I'm saving in case I want to do a weller flight on my youtube

channel I'm not sure if I want to do it blind or just do comparatively so if you guys want to see

that let me know over on discord I'd love to try all these side by side I've probably done it in

the past in a previous stream but it's been a long time since i've done that so i do have a backup i

did finish swan's bottle that he sent for this review but i do have a backup sample from someone

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But with that out of the way, let's get to the Weller. First, let's give it a nose

Mmm, that smells really nice. Like I said, I did have a pour of the Weller Special Reserve right before this

This one definitely has a better nose. It's got a lot of those richer, deserty notes

The Special Reserve was very light on the nose, because I imagine it's probably pretty young

It's the same proof, though, but I think this one has a lot more decadent of a nose. It smells really caramelly, really vanilla

like everything that you expect a bourbon to smell like, but this smells like an amped-up version of it

I mean, it's one of the sweetest things I've smelled in a long time. It's like a creme brulee, maybe a bit of like a bread pudding

I was going to say fruitcake, but I think it's more bread pudding. There is a little bit of fruitiness there

but sometimes bread pudding has some raisins and things like that. that i think there's some of those darker fruits there too but wow i based on the nose alone i may

have had the wrong impression about this bourbon now even though it is a 12 year i not getting too much oak on the nose i think that kind of a given with it being a weeded bourbon I think rye whiskeys really bring out the wood characteristic a lot more I think it because the rye spice is kind of combining with that wood spice and really making a prominent note But this

one, the wheat kind of focuses your attention on the corn, and that's why I'm getting all that

sweetness. A plus on the nose. Let's go and give it a taste. Cheers. So different on the palate

And I think I remember that from my last taste of this. That dessert-y sweetness that I got on the nose is not gone

but it's kind of been overtaken by a few different notes, and I'm kind of struggling to place them

There's like a walnut kind of note at first. It's not like a peanut

It's definitely more of a, I guess, a premium nut. You know when you get the mixed nuts packages, there's like the premium nuts

This one, I'm not the best at naming my nuts, but I'm getting a little bit of like a walnut, maybe even hazelnut

I'm kind of getting a little Nutella note there. But it's got that kind of sweetness, a nutty sweetness compared to what I expected from the, you know, the caramel vanilla sweetness I got on the nose

It also brings out that wood characteristic that I felt like I was missing on the nose. However, this is almost more of like a cedar wood

Like it's been in like a cedar chest, maybe in your grandma's attic. I always say grandma's attic when I think of cedar chest

I think that's just a personal memory. But it's definitely not the darker rich oak that you would expect from a 12-year-old bourbon

The one that I think of the most is like Knob Creek 12-year, one of my favorite bourbons ever

That one is an oak bomb. That one definitely tastes like it's been sitting in a barrel in a hot rickhouse for 12 years

This, though, it's very, very different. And I don't know if that's the wheat or if it's just where they're storing this at Buffalo Trace

I don't know, but this does not taste like a 12-year-old bourbon. There's also, like, a hint of, like, a..

This is not going to sound great, but, like, a melted plastic kind of note. And I do remember getting that last time

I think that was the number one reason I decided not to buy a bottle. And this is, you know, a different bottle, and I'm getting the same note

so I know it wasn't tainted or anything like that. I don't know how to describe it other than that

It kind of tastes a little chemically. It's similar to a note that I get on just like standard Maker's Mark

I love everything from Maker's Mark except their standard bottling. I get a little bit of that kind of, I always say like burnt plastic, melted plastic

It doesn't have any like the smokiness. Like when I say burnt, don't think of it like that. But to me, it's more of just like a chemically plastic subtle note

It's very subtle, but I think that's the one thing that kind of throws me off from Weller 12

And I don't get that on any other Weller product. I maybe have gotten it on a few off picks that I didn't love from either Full Proof or 107

But in general, I never get this note other than the 12-year. And even though that note kind of lingers all the way to the finish

it's kind of rounded out back by that like cedar note that I was getting up front

And by cedar, I guess I'm just saying like a sweeter, kind of a vintage oak

compared to like a fresh cut piece of lumber oak or even like an old saturated barrel like I get with some other 12-year-olds

so for MSRP $40 honestly if we're okay if we're talking MSRP I would much rather have 107 than

this I think MSRP I think that's gone up to like 50 or 60 nowadays um you get the higher proof it

is probably a bit younger but I think that's a better flavor profile for me um and at 25 ish

dollars for the the special reserve which I know you can't really get it for that but if you can't

if you could I think that's MSRP I would also rather have that than this one I think I would

rather have those two versus this one in the middle because this one the flavor profile to me

is so different than any other weller I've ever had yeah this isn't for me and I'm sad because I

was hoping I would revisit this and be like oh what was I missing this was such a great bourbon

again it smells fantastic I love the nose on this but palate it just doesn't do it for me

and honestly the only thing I can think of that that may be why is I really haven't had many older

weeded bourbons I think to like larceny barrel proof I know that's like seven to nine years old

So it's definitely younger than this. I think of Maker's Mark. They don't age state, but I believe they are like six to eight years old

I'm almost thinking that maybe I just don't like weeded bourbon once it gets past, you

know, the 10 year mark. And I don't think that's too odd because I know with Red Breast, which is an Irish whiskey

I love, love, love the 12 year. I really enjoy the 15 year

The 21 year is kind of iffy. And then when I tried the 27 year, it also didn't do it for me

So I feel like certain whiskeys do well at different ages. I think with like a rye bourbon I think you know 12 years the perfect age I love an older bourbon

that uses a rye mash bill and with just straight rye whiskey I actually prefer you know seven to

nine years old I think some of the rye whiskeys I've had in that age range have been my favorite

rye whiskeys I've ever tried so maybe that's what I'm learning maybe I just don't like older weeded

bourbon now the exception might be William Leroux Weller I have had a pour of that and I absolutely

love it but you're also combining the fact that that's cast strength those are like some of the

select premium barrels whereas Weller 12 you know it may not be. So with my rating system out of 8

because we love 8 games here I gonna have to give this one for me it it tough because I really love that nose but honestly if I were to give this a real rating I would give this a three out of eight I don think I could see myself buying a bottle So a nose alone you know it be like a seven out of eight

because the only thing it's missing is that oak, but the palate just is not quite my flavor profile

So yeah, I know that might disappoint some people. I know there's some big Weller fans out there

and don't get me wrong, I love most of the lineup. It's just, for some reason, every time I revisit this 12

it just doesn't do it for me. I'm curious if anyone else feels the same way. definitely let me know over on discord seriously i know i'm hounding the discord element but i love

hearing your feedback on these podcast episodes because it is kind of like talking to the void

because it's not like a live stream where i have the chat um so any feedback you guys have or just

comments on my episodes please let me know so now let's get into some news because i know i've been

kind of light on that uh in previous episodes so we're gonna start with some whiskey news there's

a lot to talk about so i'm just gonna get right into it first of all there is a brand new will it

bourbon coming out. It's in a completely redesigned bottle. This is an eight-year-old

weeded Willett. I gotta say this bottle looks really nice. It kind of looks like a wine bottle

It's just solid black. It's got the engraving of the Willett logo. This one comes in at 108 proof

and it's the first release of Willett weeded bourbon. So this was distilled back in spring

of 2013 and is being bottled in the summer of 2022. We do know that the proprietary mash bill

is barreled at 115 proof and char number four American oak. Of course, non-chill filtered as

always. And it's supposed to be released this fall. MSRP is going to be $230. I imagine this

is going to be impossible to find. Let's be real. Most Will It bourbons are just non-existent on the

store shelves. If it is, it's going to be, you know, secondary prices. I can't imagine what

they're going to charge for this, knowing what they charge for the other bourbons. But I will say

I'm very very intrigued Will It is always a distillery to me that

I either really like it or really dislike it I'm not a big fan of Will It Rye

I have tried some of the younger bourbon I think it's like 4 or 5 years old I liked it a good bit

definitely more than the rye but I have not had any of their older age releases

I've heard some really incredible things so I definitely would love a chance to try this one

I just don't know if I'll actually ever have that chance so if you know someone with a bottle

that's willing to share a sample please let me know I would love to review it here on the podcast. Other new releases worth mentioning is the new

Maker's Mark limited edition release, BEP. So this uses 10 virgin toasted French oak staves

which at first confused me because I knew they used the 10 French oak staves for their Maker's

46 release. So I was curious what makes it different, but these are actually toasted

staves. So a lot more of those vanilla marshmallow kind of notes that I love about a bourbon. Now

this one comes in at 109.1 proof. It says this release has prominent wood sugars that bring

forth strong notes of vanilla, caramel, and sweet spice. And this is actually a celebration of their

110 barrel entry proof. So at first I was like, oh cool, that's like a new entry proof. But no

that's just the standard barrel entry proof for Maker's Mark. So it took me a minute to see what's

different about this one. But with those toasted staves, I'm imagining this like a toasted Maker's

46. And I'm all about that. So looking at the label, I'm realizing this is a 2023 release

and at first i was like wait was there even a 2022 release and that was the brt 01 and 02 now

i heard very very little about these bottles basically it's highlighting the barrel rotation

process how they you know move their barrels down across the brick house the first release showing

off how the whiskey is affected at the higher levels of the brick house and the 02 being the

lower levels which have the darker heavier characteristics so i don't know why i haven't

heard anything about the 2022 release um have you guys even seen reviews i'm sure there's been

reviews of it I just can't believe I missed that what what the heck so I I definitely want to try

the 2022 ones but this 2023 release sounds way more exciting so let me know if you've had a chance

to try the ones from this year and I think one's actually not even out yet why is no one talking

about this they were announced back in February of this year but I haven't even heard anyone talking about them so let me know and lastly in whiskey news the TTB is proposing that American

single malt whiskey have an official definition now I know this is something that a lot of American

single malt lovers have wanted. It's kind of a Wild West category because there's not very many

places doing it, but the TTB has proposed a new official definition of American single malt whiskey

So they've defined it as made from 100% malted barley, distilled entirely at one distillery

mashed, distilled, and matured in the U.S., matured in oak cask of a capacity not exceeding

700 liters, distilled at no more than 160 proof, which is 80% ABV, and bottled at 80 proof or more

So a lot of those aren't that different from other American whiskeys, but it does sound like they are finally starting to regulate this

So there is a 60 day period where this is you know open for comments open for questions and you know maybe some disputes But so far it looks like this is probably going to pass So I don have too much experience with American Single Malts I enjoyed quite a few of them but I would love to try more of them And I think I imagine the industry is

probably very, very excited about this, to have an official definition so people aren't going out

making crazy things and calling it American Single Malt. So before I wrap this episode up, I do want

to talk about some new video games coming out this month, the month of August 2022. One that actually

just recently came out or it's in its beta period is multiverses i've talked about it on a previous

episode and i have been enjoying the heck out of that game it's basically like a super smash bros

kind of game but it's based in like cartoon universes um so there's like iron giant there's

like scooby-doo there's like wonder woman it's actually a ton of fun it's cross-platform too so

if you have a playstation or you have a pc or an xbox you can play against people on all platforms

So if you want to battle me on that, you can look me up. My username is brbnbytes

So the word bourbon was banned on WB servers, but brbnbytes. Send me your friend request, and I'll definitely play

Like I said, I'm playing on PC, but you can also download this for free right now on Xbox

and PlayStation 5. Now, it'll cost money when it actually comes out, I believe, but definitely take advantage

of this open beta because it's a lot of fun. But for new games, there's a couple that have really piqued my interest

I'm going to read through here. The first of which is called Two Point Campus

So this is a sequel to the game Two Point Hospital, which is basically like a hospital simulator strategy game

where you're building your hospital, you're adding wards, you're hiring doctors. I've played a little bit of it, but not too much, but this new one sounds very exciting

So it's based on a college campus, so you are developing the different programs, the different themes of the school

I love these simulation games. I think I date back to Roller Coaster Tycoon, one of my favorite games from my childhood

number three to be exact. So I love these type of games

It takes me a minute to get into them and I feel like I come back and forth between liking them or not liking them

But I think Two Point Campus is definitely one that I will be picking up just because I love the whole college building kind of thing

I mean, I love the Sims University program which is where you have your Sims go off to college

and different majors and stuff like that. So this is definitely one I'm excited for. But speaking of simulation games

there's one that I'm even more excited for than that and it's called Arcade Paradise

Now this is a rags to riches story where you start out as owning a laundromat

you're running it doing the daily business, and then you discover that there is a back room with a bunch of arcade machines in it

So your new goal is to turn this into the best arcade in town

So this is set back in the 80s, and even though it doesn't feature a lot of the actual 80s video games

there are a ton of mini games based around these. So as you progress and build up your arcade

You unlock a ton of minigames that you can play on the different arcade machines

I saw a trailer of it and this looks so fun. I will absolutely be picking this up

No doubt about it. That one comes out on August 11th. So next week, definitely check out my Twitch channel

I will definitely be streaming this once I pick it up. So if you're not yet following me on Twitch, twitch.tv slash bourbon bites

I've tried to go live there more frequently now and I definitely will be streaming this game

So keep an eye out on that next week. I'm not sure if I mentioned the release of the two-point campus but that comes out on the 9th

of August so the same week two really cool simulation games that I am very very excited for

and lastly there's one more game that's coming out this month that's kind of intrigued me it's

called Roller Drome it's coming out on August 16th to PC, PS4, and PS5 and it's kind of cool it kind

of looks like a Tony Hawk Pro Skater kind of thing but there's weapons I guess that's the easiest way

describe it tony hawk pro skater but weapons and rollerblading so you are in this like roller rink

and there's like there's like stunt jumps and all this stuff but you also have guns so it looks

really cool it's got a very like post-apocalyptic kind of vibe to it and honestly just like a ton

of fun i like the idea of combining the rollerblading with you know shooting and attacking

and it looks like it can be a lot of fun but also really hard to play so i'm looking forward to

watching some other people stream that i probably won't be doing it because i imagine i'm not gonna

be good enough to stream it but I definitely look forward to watching other people play it and I

might pick it up if it's on sale so with that I think that wraps up this week's episode thank you

for tuning in like I said I love doing these news focused ones early on in the month next week I

don't actually know what's in store I think I might do a little side by side of two or three

different whiskeys normally I save that for a live stream but these samples have been sitting

for a while and I know my friends sent them to me so I definitely want to do a little comparison so

stay tuned make sure to follow me on your favorite podcast platform and as I said last week if you

You could leave me a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. It would mean a ton

I really do appreciate your feedback there. But until next time, this has been the Bourbon Bites Podcast

Cheers, and I'll talk to you next week