Eagle Rare 12 and Weller 18 Bourbons The Best Whiskey Releases of 2025

Buffalo Trace Distillery has announced two significant releases for 2025 with the submission of Eagle Rare 12 Year Bourbon and Weller 18 Year Bourbon labels via TTB. As if the Kentucky powerhouse’s 2024 expansions to the Taylor and Weller lineup weren’t already enough (introducing the much anticipated Taylor Barrel Proof Rye and uber-premium Weller Millennium), these two new additions to the ever-popular Eagle Rare and Weller lines bring even more variety to the core Buffalo Trace Distillery bourbon range and are sure to become hot commodities in 2025 amongst bourbon collectors and connoisseurs. While this undoubtedly diversifies the Weller and Eagle Rare portfolios, giving whiskey lovers more choices and options, what does introducing these new releases mean for the rest of the collection and will they live up to the hype?

Eagle Rare 12 Year Bourbon

Eagle Rare 12 Year Old Bourbon Whiskey is a 95-proof straight bourbon whiskey distilled and bottled by Buffalo Trace Distillery that represents an evolution of the standard Eagle Rare 10 Year Bourbon (90-proof). It joins the entry-level Eagle Rare 10 and becomes a middle point between this core offering and the highly limited Eagle Rare 17 Bourbon from the annual BTAC. Beyond this sit the Double Eagle Very Rare 20 Year Old Bourbon and Eagle Rare 25 Year Old Bourbon, making Eagle Rare 12 the fifth addition to this collectible and sought-after silo.

Rumours about this new bottling have already started to emerge, with suggestions that Eagle Rare 12 will be distillate that doesn’t meet the exacting standards of the elite Eagle Rare 17 and beyond, this rumour is of course mere speculation at this point (though it does make a lot of sense). Eagle Rare 12’s label suggests the tasting notes will resemble a “sweet, oaky nose, a full, complex body with subtle vanilla notes, and a long-lasting, rich finish. Reminiscent of a fine port wine, this rare whiskey is perfect for savoring neat, or over ice”.

While an additional two years in the barrel and a higher proofpoint of 95 will surely elevate the Eagle Rare profile, the implications of introducing the Eagle Rare 12 and what this means for ER10 pose an interesting conundrum… more on that below.

Weller 18 Year Whiskey

Weller 18 Year Old Wheat Whiskey is a 90-proof straight wheat whiskey composed of a minimum of 51% wheat in the mashbill. Weller 18 Year joins the esteemed W. L. Weller lineup, which features Weller Special, Weller Antique 107, Weller Full Proof, Weller 12 Year Old, Weller Single Barrel, Weller CYPB, William Larue Weller (BTAC), Daniel Weller and Weller Millennium.

Weller 18 Year Whiskey is the first ever age-stated wheat whiskey in the Weller lineup (with Weller 12 the first age stated bourbon whiskey), and unlike the abovementioned bourbons in the W. L. Weller range, is a 51% wheated whiskey rather than a wheated bourbon (51% corn). Expected to fetch a premium in the Weller vertical price spectrum, Weller 18 will likely sit somewhere in between William Larue Weller, Daniel Weller and Weller Millennium when it comes to price and accessibility. There’s no doubting the pedigree of this hotly anticipated whiskey, which is why it’s likely to become one of the rarest and most sought-after releases of 2025. While the bottle outrun on Weller 18 is sure to be extremely limited, we can assume this will have some sort of impact on the wheat reserves available to Weller’s core range, particularly the more premium releases.

What impact will Eagle Rare 12 & Weller 18 have on their respective lineups?

It’s been well-documented over the past few years that Buffalo Trace intends to increase its production capacity and accelerate output, much to the fanfare of the bourbon community and adoring disciples of the church of Buffalo Trace. More liquor being produced means more accessible whiskey prices right? For the most part, yes, but unfortunately that’s not the full picture. 

The introduction of Eagle Rare 12 at a similar age-statement to Eagle Rare 10 means that the existing distillate will likely be shared between the two iterations, which in turn means the release of Eagle Rare 12 comes at the expense of Eagle Rare 10 availability. So a new more premium core offering has the potential to increase the scarcity of its younger mainstream sibling. Not exactly a desirable outcome for bourbon fans. With Weller 18, the impact will be less noticeable on a core/mainstream level, but the pinch may be felt towards the more premium end of Weller’s spectrum with wheat distillate reserves being diluted across a greater number of products.

In any case, the announcements of Eagle Rare 12 and Weller 18 are exciting, and we’re looking forward to seeing if they juice is worth the squeeze and whether or not these bottles do end up becoming two of the best whiskey releases of 2025! Are you looking forward to these releases? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!