Buffalo Hint Launched an Extremely-Aged Whiskey: Weller Millenium

In a transfer that despatched the whiskey world into close to hysteria, information broke earlier this month that Buffalo Hint, the third oldest distillery on the planet with roots courting again to 1773, was planning to launch a brand new W.L. Weller whiskey. 

Bourbon fans first found it in an utility to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Commerce Bureau’s web site, which sought label approval of a “straight blended whiskey.” 

And the sleuths have been proper. The model, which is commonly billed as “Poor Man’s Pappy Van Winkle,” formally introduced yesterday at a personal occasion held at Blue Hill at Stone Barns that it’s set to launch an ultra-aged expression referred to as Weller Millennium. 

As the brand new millennium started, Buffalo Hint Distillery put aside a number of barrels of the primary whiskeys distilled within the 2000s, all to create one thing particular on this new interval of historical past. Weller Millennium — a mix of classic straight wheated bourbon and wheat whiskeys distilled in 2000, 2003, 2005, and 2006 — clocks in at a sturdy 49.5% ABV and spotlights “the affect wheat has on the whiskey’s taste.” After all, wheat is a crucial ingredient for the W.L. Weller model, which was the primary to make use of wheat as a substitute of rye in bourbon. 

“At Buffalo Hint Distillery, our motto is ‘Honor Custom, Embrace Change,’” says Harlen Wheatley, Buffalo Hint’s grasp distiller. “As we’re in fixed pursuit of constructing the world’s finest whiskey, we frequently maintain again small numerous barrels to proceed getting old past our typical model requirements within the hope that this getting old experimentation will lead to a very well-balanced, matured whiskey. On this case, we discovered the whiskey distilled in 2000 to indicate unbelievable steadiness and requested ourselves how wheat would carry out as an ultra-aged spirit. It’s confirmed to be an impeccable spine to this expression, permitting us to showcase wheat’s versatility and innovate past conventional wheated bourbon.”

The bottle and packaging are artworks in themselves. The liquid is encased in a crystal decanter with a custom-made crystal topper hand-etched with Weller’s brand. The field consists of an illuminated show with precisely 99 bursts, as a nod to the high-proof of the expression. 

This kind of ultra-luxury launch has change into par for the course for the Sazerac group, which has not too long ago launched a number of high-end expressions. Within the fall, the distillery introduced the arrival of solely 200 bottles of Eagle Uncommon 25 with a instructed retail worth of $10,000. It additionally debuted the inaugural Prohibition Assortment, that includes the 5 Prohibition manufacturers “that have been legally produced and bought on the distillery.” And previous to that, Daniel Weller, a $499 experimental bottle of whiskey utilizing Emmer wheat, an historical grain. After all, there’s the distillery’s much-lauded annual launch, the Buffalo Hint Vintage Assortment (BTAC), a line of non-wheated bourbons that’s change into a cult collectible amongst whiskey fans. 

All this to say, in the event you’re itching to get your palms on a bottle, that’ll be powerful. In line with the model, Weller Millennium might be shipped to retailers, bars, and eating places as of June 2024 at a instructed retail worth of $7,500 per 750-milliliter bottle. (And it’ll most likely price way more than that within the secondary market.)

However one factor’s for sure: That is no Poor Man’s Pappy.