Weller Special Reserve 7 year Stitzel Weller

Rich caramel and raisin. After resting for a while, I picked up a little mineral, orange note on the nose (à la Dickel) and chocolate chip cookie dough notes mid-palate. Complex. Very good.

This Weller Special Reserve is 7 years old and was bottled in 1971 shortly before Stitzel Weller was sold to Norton Simon. The color is a deep amber and heavy with oils as it coats the glass with endless, thick legs. The nose is immediately sweet with vanilla, butterscotch, oak, brown sugar and touches of buttery popcorn and cherry syrup. There is the slightest bit of alcohol that follows it all up. The palate is gentle and chewy, staying mostly at the front of the palate. It is very creamy and oaky with sweet vanilla with a mustiness that works it’s way to the back of the tongue. The mouth is left full of dry oak. The finish is medium with the creaminess lingering with fading oak that gives way to a bit of cherry. The aftersniffs include the communing of fettuccine Alfredo and algaecide. There are also subtle sniffs of nacho cheese mingling with the tangy zip of miracle whip.