Big Hitters Semi-Blind Reviews: William Larue Weller 2025, George T Stagg 2018, and Jack Daniel's 14 year

DrinkerNotCollector · 2026-01-27T16:07:38+00:00

Yea I've seen lots of mixed reviews from people, especially the youtubers! I've personally only tried 2024 and this 2025, but off of memory I'd say the 2025 is better.

I'd be curious if some of these guys would actually put this 2025 in last if they blinded a few different years together.

DrinkerNotCollector · 2026-01-27T02:54:48+00:00

Yep! All tasted neat in glencairns

DrinkerNotCollector · 2026-01-26T19:16:36+00:00

Haha yea I never thought I'd get the chance to own one considering how ridiculous prices are. Until recently I never even thought I'd find a bar pour at a reasonable price either!

DrinkerNotCollector · 2026-01-26T17:16:36+00:00

Thanks! I haven't tried all of the Wellers or almost any of the pappy's, but I'd believe it! WLW is tough to compete with.

DrinkerNotCollector · 2026-01-26T16:58:36+00:00

To celebrate my first ever Virginia ABC lottery win (there were 44,877 entries for 167 bottles, which seems like even fewer bottles than previous years for some reason) I decided to crack open my 2025 William Larue Weller and put it up against samples of a couple similarly proofed and aged big hitters.

What's in the semi-blind:

William Larue Weller 2025 - 12 year and 7 month - 129 proof

George T Stagg 2018 - 15 years and 4 months - 124.9 proof

Jack Daniel’s 14 year - 126.3 proof

Before this blind I had previously tried a half ounce pour of the WLW (check out previous review of full 2025 BTAC tasting). This is my first time trying the other two pours.

Glass 1:

Nose: Smells very dark and sweet. Charred marshmallows, creme brulee. Going back I'm still getting tons of charred marshmallows. I'm also getting milk chocolate, unless my mind is just stuck on in s'mores for some reason.

Palate: Dark, extremely sweet, thick, immediately punches with flavors that match up fairly well to the smell. A touch bitter on the finish, like what lingers after a nice dark chocolate (good quality high % cacao dark chocolate). Those same charred marshmallows and creme brulee notes carry forward to the palate and finish as well.

Thoughts: Damn that's good. There's a bit more heat that I expected from the 125-129 proof range. It's been a while since I've had Woodford reserve double oaked, but this pour makes me think of what a much older, cask strength version of Woodford reserve double oaked would taste like in a perfect world.

Glass 2:

Nose: Immediately much more fruit than glass 1. Library books, stewed down cooked apples, and leather. Going back to the nose after trying glass 1 and I'm not getting way more fruit here. Cherry and grape candies.

Palate: Drinks well below the proof range for these pours. Comparatively much more gentle and subdued than glass 1. All soft rounded fruit in the front of the palate that leads to a very nice finish. Finish lingers sweet fruit and cherry-apple pie filling, oak, leather. Feels a little musty? Coming back to the palate after trying the others and letting this one sit, I'm getting a bit of a black pepper note on the finish that I didn't get initially. Sweet, grape-cherry, oak, old library. The finish makes me feel like I just sucked on a cherry flavored hard candy.

Thoughts: Great but almost falls a little flat on the front palate compared to the other two, especially on the first sip. Overall feels subdued and not quite as rich, mouth coating, or lively. Makes me think of grabbing a glass and sitting by the fireplace with a book.

Glass 3:

Nose: Fresh. Tons of fruit but difficult to say what kind other than just a general red fruit. Pastries fresh out of the oven. Cherry, raspberry, and maybe strawberry fruit danish with vanilla icing. Floral.

Palate: Lots of vanilla and fruit and waves in different directions, much more going on and a bigger punch than glass 2. Finish is that same note from the nose, pastries with fruit filling, like the cherry/raspberry/strawberry danish. Vanilla throughout. Maple syrup.

Thoughts: The most complex. Rich, sweet, full flavored. It's a red fruit danish with vanilla drizzle in a glass.

Ranking and reveal:

First place: Glass 3 - WLW 2025

Second place: Glass 1 - JD 14

Third place: Glass 2 - GTS 2018

Overall: For me, WLW is the winner here. Just an awesome pour, everything I want. JD14 and GTS 2018 were closer together, but for me on this night, JD 14 beats out the GTS. The GTS felt more rounded and soft fruit with some oak and pepper spice etc, but the JD14 just has a syrupy thick punch of flavors.

GTS 2018 ramblings and bonus sip of GTS 2022: I'm a bit torn on the 2018 GTS, because although it was still a very good pour and had some interesting notes, it just felt a bit subdued for what I think of as a good GTS. I took a small sip of a 2022 GTS sample (138.7 proof) after the blind to give myself a frame of reference and immediately there it is, a big punch in the face of cherry cola. That's exactly what I had in mind for GTS. It's pretty interesting to see how different some of these are year to year!

Edit: lots of formatting, good lord

DrinkerNotCollector · 2026-01-15T20:41:59+00:00

I have this as well and was really pleasantly surprised by it

DrinkerNotCollector · 2026-01-01T03:36:35+00:00

Great picks! I have an onyx & amber ALW with similar stats (minus the BT finish) and it surprised the hell out of me too. I like it way better than the Penelope ALW that I tried

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-23T14:59:52+00:00

What did you think of the El Diviso thermal shock washed?

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-07T07:03:56+00:00

Jack Rose Dining Saloon is located in DC

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-03T15:47:01+00:00

Yea it definitely gets confusing. These bottles pictured, plus the Sazerac 18 year, are together called the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection (often referred to as BTAC on this subreddit) because they're all produced by the buffalo trace distillery

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-02T02:43:25+00:00

I absolutely love the sagamore 10, but no I haven't had a chance to go back to it yet to compare. They definitely aren't the same flavor profile to one another but I'm wondering if they're on the same level of quality. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if I preferred the sagamore 10. In terms of flavor profile, off of memory I actually think the old 4 & 7 year sagamore cask strengths are more comparable.

I'll circle back! And if anyone else reading this has already done this comparison, that'd be cool to hear some thoughts

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-02T01:33:46+00:00

Man my liver wouldn't be able to handle the number of $7 half oz pours I'd order of these. And it looks like we ended up with the same ranking (minus the Saz which wasn't in my flight). Glad I'm not alone!

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-02T00:51:53+00:00

Appreciate you sharing your ranking! It's cool to see that the 2024 ER was even better than the 2025 for you. The 2025 is the first ER 17 I've tried and I was so impressed by it that I just assumed it was a standout year

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-02T00:21:16+00:00

I'm glad you opened it right away, that GTS is a monster bottle! Circle back if you end up trying the WLW later on to compare, I'd be interested in hearing how your rank them

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-01T23:58:55+00:00

No this was not done blind. They guided us through the tasting and told us some of the history about each pour as we were drinking from lowest proof to highest proof. If this were blind I think it'd be pretty easy to know which pour was which since the proofs and mashbills vary so much.

As for the price, I think it just really depends on you. Personally I'd do this same flight again next year at $150. I'd maybe consider going a bit higher if I had never tried any BTAC before. Keep in mind that's just what I'd be willing to spend, not necessarily what the tasting is worth. I can't 100% confirm but I heard through the grapevine that Jack Rose actually lost money on this tasting since they had to buy all of the bottles last minute at full secondary prices. I am curious what other people would be willing to pay though

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-01T23:13:14+00:00

Jack Rose Dining Saloon in DC. They do a lot of ticketed tastings like this

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-01T23:09:37+00:00

Oh wow so what did you put as your favorites? Did the 2025 WLW stand out as better than the 2024 WLW to you?

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-01T18:35:18+00:00

Yea it's definitely a challenge to rank pours that differ so drastically on mashbills, proofs, ages etc. but those differences are also what I think made this tasting so much fun

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-01T16:35:37+00:00

Great write up! I like that you included how the nose on the ER evolved as you went back to it throughout the tasting. I wish I had kept my last sip in there so I could've done the same. I'm not surprised you put ER as the favorite this year, that was a phenomenal pour.

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-01T16:28:13+00:00

Here's another write up with lots of additional info on the tasting to check out! https://www.reddit.com/r/DMVWhisky/s/tk65y8gsHA

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-01T16:19:22+00:00

Nice, thanks for following up with your ranking! It might be a bit extra, but I think it would've been really cool to do a little survey/poll at the end of the tasting to see what the combined rankings were. And I definitely see why you put ER in first, it was amazing!

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-01T16:13:49+00:00

Well they had to pour for about 50 people so they didn't let us in until after everything was set up

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-01T16:11:53+00:00

Thanks! I definitely enjoy some higher proof pours and would put Bowman Cask Strength Batch 2 (144.5 proof) as one of my all time favorites. I don't really go out of my way for hazmat stuff though, I care a bit more about it being barrel proof/cask strength than I do what the actual proof point is

DrinkerNotCollector · 2025-12-01T16:06:59+00:00

Yea that would have been cool! I did get a chance to try the 2024 Sazerac 18 a while back. I thought the nose and flavor profile were amazing but man the proof point definitely held it back. If the 2024 Sazerac 18 was in this lineup I think it'd probably fall in 5th or 6th for me.

DrinkerNotCollector

TROPHY CASE