Van Winkle Special Reserve Lot "B" 12 Year Old Bourbon Whiskey (750ml)

Lot 'B' 12 year old comes with a swag of rave reviews from blind tasters, including 90-95 points - Wine Enthusiast Magazine (winemag.com), 98 points - Beverage Tasting Institute (tastings.com), Best in Class Gold Medallion - 2008 IWSC (iwsc.net) and a Trophy for Worldwide Whiskey - 2008 IWSC (iwsc.net).

Some have asked, "Why is this whiskey drawn from 'Lot B' every year and not some other?" Apparently, the designation derived from an original 'Lot A' released only in 1991. For every subsequent release, it's been called 'Lot B'. More on this subject from straightbourbon.com: "I’ve always assumed that Julian III went through his stock of barrels that were older than the 10 year range and took the barrels that he did not think were worthy of continued aging for inclusion in future PVW releases and bottled those as Lot B. With Lot B indicating that they weren’t his best juice. At the time of the 1991 release of course there was no such thing as PVW as it hadn’t been released yet. I believe the first ever PVW release was in 1994. So maybe in 1992 he had decided that he would start setting aside his best barrels for future super premium older releases, and decided to start bottling those that didn’t make that cut as B then?"

One responder who actually emailed Julian Van Winkle for an explanation confirms: "It's pretty much to that affect, Lot A was small and ran out quickly. Lot B was much larger and by time those barrels ran out, everyone got so used to his 12 year old release being called Lot B that the name stuck so as to not confuse anyone." Hence, the designation is pretty much meaningless, except from an historical perspective.

Other reviews... For those who like their Bourbon hairy, bristling with spice, honey and big oak interaction.
94.5 points - Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2021

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