Fred Minnick continues his tour through the 2025 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, this time reviewing the latest expression of William LaRue Weller.

Fred prefaces his review to say that his Top 100 for 2025 is on the way — hopefully in the next couple of weeks. Working on his new book, which comes out in February, not to mention some health concerns, put him behind, but the list is on the way.

This year’s William Larue Weller is aged 14 years. It was distilled in late 2010 and early 2011 and bottled at 129 proof, which is close to the 130 barrel entry proof. In the video, Fred offers up some history on barrel entry proof, and Minnick praises Buffalo Trace’s transparency.

The nose opens with a ton of caramel, unsurprisingly, bubble gum and a a bit of “basement.” With the first taste, that basement note comes forth.

“It’s not a note you want unless you are an old dusty drinker — it has an old dusty note to it, like maybe a cork fell off in the bottle kind of thing,” Minnick says, noting the basement note is often connected to the dank woodiness his palate sometimes detects.

He then goes in for another taste, and puts it on his tongue to explore it further. The 2025 William Larue Weller hits the rear and sides of Fred’s tongue, where he most commonly experiences bitterness. The basement note not only persists, it continues to expand on Minnick’s palate as he sips it.

“Yep,” he says, ” that basement note, that oak note, is not doing it for more. This is over-oaked. This is completely falling apart on my tongue. The beautiful caramel I got in the beginning, from the first time I smelled it, is completely not there.”

To hear what else Fred had to say about the 2025 BTAC William Larue Weller, watch the full video below.

Read more: Review: 2025 BTAC George T. Stagg