Buffalo Trace Distillery (Sazerac Company)
W.L. Weller Special Reserve
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey · NAS (estimated 4-7 years)
Same distillery, same mashbill as Pappy Van Winkle. But is Weller Special Reserve actually good bourbon, or just famous by association?
Rating Breakdown
Flavor Profile
Tasting Journey
Nose
Light caramel, vanilla, honey, floral citrus, apple, strawberry, thin toasted oak, hay, cinnamon
Palate
Abundant sweetness, honey, caramel, vanilla, light fruit, soft wheat character, easy mouthfeel, approachable
Finish
Length: ShortShort and sweet with caramel-dipped apples, faint oak, cinnamon spice, quick and delicate exit
Specs
Price / Value
MSRP: $28
Your Rating
Click to rate
Our Score: 76/100
Pairings
Food
- Apple pie
- vanilla bean ice cream
- light pastries
- honey-drizzled biscuits
- fresh fruit
Cocktails
- Wheated Old Fashioned
- Bourbon and Honey
- Brown Sugar Bourbon Cocktail
Our Verdict
Weller Special Reserve is a pleasant wheated bourbon elevated entirely by its famous family connection. At MSRP it's a solid buy; at secondary prices, it's a cautionary tale about hype over substance. Seek out the Antique 107 and Full Proof for the real Weller experience.
W.L. Weller Special Reserve carries the heaviest albatross in bourbon: it shares Buffalo Trace's wheated mashbill with Pappy Van Winkle. This genealogical connection has turned an otherwise modest bourbon into an allocated commodity, inspiring the phrase "poor man's Pappy" and igniting a secondary market that bears no rational relationship to what's actually in the bottle.
So let's taste the bourbon, not the story. The nose is light and approachable: caramel, vanilla, honey, and floral citrus create a pleasant introduction. There's apple, strawberry, and thin toasted oak, with hay and cinnamon adding gentle complexity. It's inviting in the way that a daisy is pretty—sincere but not exactly stopping traffic.
On the palate, Weller Special Reserve delivers the wheated bourbon experience in its most fundamental form. There's abundant sweetness—honey, caramel, vanilla, light fruit—and the soft wheat character rounds away any harsh edges. At 90 proof, the mouthfeel is easy and approachable. This is bourbon that asks nothing of you except to sip and enjoy.
The finish is short and sweet: caramel-dipped apples, faint oak, and cinnamon spice that depart quickly and politely. There's a delicacy here that wheat devotees will appreciate, though those accustomed to rye-forward bourbons may find it insubstantial.
Here's the candid assessment: at MSRP ($25), Weller Special Reserve is unquestionably one of the best bourbons under $30. It's pleasant, approachable, and offers a genuine introduction to the wheated style at a fair price. But at the marked-up prices that allocation has created ($50-80+), it becomes a different proposition entirely—one where the liquid can't support the premium.
The Weller lineup gets substantially more interesting as you move up: Weller Antique 107 adds proof and complexity, Weller Full Proof adds barrel-proof intensity, and Weller Single Barrel offers individual character. If the Special Reserve is the foundation, these are the stories built upon it. Start here if you find it at retail, but know that greater things await in the same family.
