Keith and I decided to do a blind tasting of four wheated whiskeys. We wanted to stick with bottles that most people could reasonably find at a decent liquor store, rather than chasing down rare or expensive bourbons.
With Weller Special Reserve becoming a little easier to find, we thought it would be interesting to see how it compared to Maker's Mark, Larceny, and Woodford Reserve Wheat.
Kaitlin handled the pouring, putting each whiskey into numbered glasses so neither of us knew what we were drinking. We tasted everything neat and ranked the four from our favorite to least favorite.
Here's how we finished:
Mike's Rankings
Woodford Reserve Wheat
Maker's Mark
Larceny
Weller Special Reserve
Keith's Rankings
Woodford Reserve Wheat
Larceny
Maker's Mark
Weller Special Reserve
The Results
The biggest surprise was Woodford Reserve Wheat. Not just that it won, but how convincingly it won.
Both Keith and I thought it stood out pretty dramatically from the other three. The aroma was noticeably richer, and the flavor was right there with it. We didn't have to spend much time debating which one we liked best.
Maker's Mark and Larceny ended up in the middle, with Keith and me swapping their positions. Neither one managed to knock Woodford out of the top spot.
Weller Special Reserve finished last for both of us. I wasn't particularly surprised by that result. I'd tried Weller before and didn't love it. There's nothing necessarily wrong with it, but I've always found it a little forgettable, and tasting it alongside the other three didn't change my opinion.
The Winner
Woodford Reserve Wheat was the clear winner for both of us.
That's what makes these blind tastings fun. You take away the labels, the prices, and whatever expectations you might have about a bottle, and just see what you actually enjoy.
In this case, we both came away with the same favorite, and it wasn't even particularly close.