OWA - As the Mash Tun Churns!

In this episode of "As the Mash Tun Churns", the dramatic saga of Old Weller Antique continues......

Old Weller Antique get's a curious makeover......

Harlan shares a secret that causes a volatile reaction.......

The BT Brand Representative frantically tries to quash Harlan's contemptible comments......

Rumors abound Old Weller Antique may not live to see seven!

.....tune in next week for the continuing tale of "As the Mash Tun Churns"

Old Weller Antique is a much loved bourbon brand produced by Buffalo Trace.  I have a fondness for this brand....so much so that I and a group of like minded bourbon dorks buy the stuff by the barrel.  The first round of barrel picks we were fortunate to acquire were two 8 year old barrels.  The next run of three barrels 7.5 year and the last 2 barrel picks were also 7.5 years old. 

Our bourbon group is gearing up for another run in April with the expectation we would be picking 7 year plus barrels.  Well, that is not the case.  We've been offered 6 year old barrels and all for the same price.  I've blogged twice about OWA here and here. In summary, 2009 the age statement dropped from OWA.  I made some assumptions about the potential demise of this brand.  Fast forward to March of 2012 and Harlan Wheatley, the BT Master Distiller makes comments about the termination of OWA.  Now, this statement has been poo pooed by BT and others so you can make your own judgement.  But now, BT is saying no more 7 year old wheat bourbon in the Barrel Program.  Zilch.  There has also been comments about saving some of the 7 year stock for Weller 12 "...and other brands".  So, I guess one could come to the conclusion that the currently aging stock is for older expressions like Weller 12 or even Lot B.....and not OWA.  Hey, I'm just speculating....that's all.  But if that turns out to be the case, does that then mean OWA or maybe even Weller Special Reserve (WSR) go by the wayside to maintain stock of older expressions?  

Now, before someone reading this goes all freaky deaky and tells me that his buddy Cletis in Texarkana  just purchase an OWA barrel that was 9 years old let me clue the reader in on how the barrel program works.  BT allocates a certain number of barrels for their Barrel Program and when Group A wants to buy a barrel, they roll out a number of barrels for the tasting.  Group A picks the one they like and BT rolls those rejected barrels right back to the Program racks.  Group B comes in and very possibly, those barrels rejected by Group A end up on the tasting room floor......rinse and repeat for subsequent groups.  See how it works?  So Texarkana Cletis that just purchase that 9 year old barrel of OWA got a barrel that potentially was rejected numerous times by prior purchasers. 

Our process?  We specifically request first pick barrels.....no rejects.  We do the same thing with Four Roses.  Four Roses has a semi trailer behind the bottling house loaded with barrels for their Barrel Program.  We asked them not to pick from the trailer but only pick from the rickhouses to which they graciously submitted.  We have other criteria we submit for consideration to ensure we get great barrels and so far, it's worked great.

While the news was somewhat disappointing, it's an opportunity to try some younger OWA wheat mashbill and see how it stacks up against our previous picks....which will be used as reference during the tasting.  The only downside to the younger whiskey is the price stays the same.  So, in effect, we just got hit with a price increase.  Not surprising since BT has raised their prices on some of their product line (around 10% or so).  In the end, it's all about taste; not age or mashbill or label.  When we pick from Four Roses, we ask Jim Rutledge to roll out the barrels blind....we didn't want to know the mashbill recipe or age.  I think that approach is the most honest you can be when tasting bourbon.

So, just let me now make the point that this deviation in age affects the BT Barrel Program and may or may not have anything to do with the current OWA shelf offering.  I'll post my thoughts after the tasting in April but my hope is we find another stellar OWA barrel even at 6 years old.