Smoke Wagon Uncut Unfiltered Bourbon Whiskey

Named after Master Distiller Emeritus Elmer T. Lee, this whiskey is hand selected and bottled to the taste and standards of Elmer T. Lee himself. Perfectly balanced and rich, as declared by the man who knows how great bourbon should taste.

The proverbial powerhouse favorite of the Antique Collection, George T. Stagg, comes in at a lower 116.9 proof this year. This is the lowest proof in this whiskey’s history. Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley cites barrels located on the lower warehouse floors as the reason. “Many of the barrels for this year’s Stagg composite were taken from the first floor of the warehouse. The first floor is cooler with higher humidity levels, therefore the alcohol evaporates faster than the water.” The taste, however, is still what Stagg fans can expect, vanilla and toasted oak with a floral undertone, followed by a long finish of cherries, coffee and black pepper. Past releases of this uncut and unfiltered bourbon have won many top awards, including last year’s release capturing the Chairman’s Trophy at the Ultimate Spirits Competition. This year’s release contains bourbon from barrels filled in the spring of 2004. Storage location of these barrels varied across warehouses C, H, I, K, and Q. The evaporation loss for this year’s batch was 56%, a bit higher than last year’s release.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch C919 is an uncut Small Batch of 12-year-old Bourbon bottled straight from the barrel. The variance in proof from batch to batch presents a unique opportunity to explore the impact of the angel’s share and the resulting proof in a small batch of barrels. The first letter of the batch number indicates which of that year’s releases the bottle was a part of, starting with “A,” while the second digit is a number that determines the month of the year the bottle was released. The third and fourth digits indicate the year. Hover over the years below to see the full list of releases and their respective proofs.

About Willett Pot Still Reserve Bourbon is produced in Bardstown, Kentucky. It is a Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey bottled at 47% abv, with 8–10 year aging. Tasting Notes Nose is “vanilla lemon cake.” The palate is a balance of caramel, vanilla, spices and citrus. I’m not sure if they made the opulent bottle to match the Whiskey or vice versa.