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The Weller brand is a very old one, with the Weller family distilling back into the early 1800s. William Larue Weller, born in 1825, started producing his W.L. Weller bourbon brand in the 1840s, which became very popular. In 1893, Julius “Pappy” Van Winkle joined the Weller company as a salesman. W.L. Weller died in 1899, and in 1908 along with Alex T Farnsley he purchased the Weller company. A. Ph. Stitzel had been contract distilling for Weller, and in 1933 the companies joined to become Stitzel-Weller. Their famous distillery opened in 1935 and made Weller products (as well as Old Fitzgerald and other brands) under its wheated bourbon recipe until it was closed in 1992. The brand was purchased by Buffalo Trace in 1999, where it is made today. See also the Stitzel-Weller timeline for more info.
Photo libraries, in ascending order by bottling year
Old WL Weller Special Reserve 7 year Bonded, 1936-1944
This bottle was very likely distilled during the very first year (or 1.5 years) after Stitzel Weller opened on Derby Day, May 5, 1935. It does not have a foil wrapper under the tax strip similar to most of the early Stitzel Weller bottlings. This bottle is taller and thinner than the years that came after. It is an Extremely Rare bottle, and thought to be one of less than 10 still in existence. This bottle is a beautiful marker of history when Julian Van Winkle Sr, Alex Farnsley, and A. Ph Stitzel joined forces to resurrect and build a brand that would change the bourbon world by producing it at a new world class facility.
Photos and commentary courtesy of Bourbon Benevolence.
Old WL Weller Special Reserve 7 year Bonded, 1940-1948
Very similar bottle used by Stitzel Weller for the WL Weller SR line for 20+ years. Since Stitzel Weller opened in 1935, this was whiskey from only their fifth year of production making it very rare. Much of the popularity of Stitzel Weller seems to have come from the Old Fitzgerald brands that didn’t start until 1941 (and didn’t gain mass popularity until several years later). Anything bottled in these first six or seven years of production is extremely rare.
Photos and commentary courtesy of Bourbon Benevolence.
Old W.L. Weller Special Reserve Bonded, Pint, 1947-1955
Posted in Weller
Tags: 1955, bottled in bond, bourbon, old weller, stitzel weller, weller, wl weller
Tags: 1955, bottled in bond, bourbon, old weller, stitzel weller, weller, wl weller
Weller Antique Reserve 10yr 110pf, 1962 – Leo “Roundy” Coughlin
Labeled for “Roundy” Coughlin, a noted Wisconsin sports journalist from the 1940s-1960s.
Weller Special Reserve 8yr Bonded, 1956-1964
An excellent example of a bottle that is rarely seen these days. Photos courtesy of Eli Spitzner.
Weller Special Reserve 90pf Decanter, Pint – 1960s/70s
This bottle has no date code on the bottom. All that can be determined is that it was produced between 1964 and 1977, after Stitzel-Weller started producing whiskey below 100 proof, and prior to the next change in the tax strip type. If anyone has any further information on this bottle please email us!
Photos courtesy of Eric Stephens
Weller’s Cabin Still 5yr 86pf ~1971
This early version was distilled by Stitzel Weller, before having the Cabin Still brand contract distilled elsewhere.
Old Weller Original 7yr, 107pf ~1972
Note the image of Pappy on the label, and below him the plaque at Stitzel-Weller reading “But always fine bourbon.”
Weller Antique Reserve 10yr, 110pf, 4/5qt ~1972
Inside the box, this bottle came wrapped in a faux “newspaper” featuring a Weller ad.
Weller 10yr 101pf Decanter, ~1985
This bottle appears to be the Weller-branded equivalent to this Old Fitzgerald decanter from a similar era.
Photos courtesy of Dirk Roberts.
Weller Centennial 10 yr BHC, 750ml, Louisville
The year on this is actually unknown. There’s no year on the bottle glass, and it has a government warning, so that would put it some time between 1989 and 1999 when the brand was sold to Buffalo Trace and the city was changed from Louisville to Frankfort on the label.
Weller Centennial Frankfort, BHC and gold cap
The Weller Centennial came out as a part of the Bourbon Heritage Collection, and originally had Louisville on the label. Later the label changed to Frankfort but kept the BHC logo on the cap, and the final version had Frankfort on the label and only a gold capsule.
Very Old Fitzgerald / Weller Leatherette Display Boxes
Several Very Old Fitzgerald varieties (as well as Old Fitzgerald 1849 and some Weller bottles) have been found encased in sturdy leatherette display-type cases complete with shot glasses and keys for the locking mechanism. The history seems murky on which bottles came with which boxes originally. I’ve been told that they may have been sold separately from the bottles, and that the design of the case didn’t necessarily match up to a particular whiskey. Another theory is that at some point in the 1960s the boxes were offered with any Old Fitzgerald that was 10 years or older. At some point in the 1970s these were replaced with a simple clear plastic box that contained the bottle.
If anybody has boxes not represented here I’d love photos.
Weller Centennial 10yr 100pf, Sam’s Single Barrel, 2004
Selected by Sam’s Wines & Spirits, a company which was later bought out by Binny’s.
