In any bourbon drinker’s life, there comes a time when they inevitably (spurred on by at least a few fingers’ worth of the stuff) say that they want to make their own bourbon. They’ll spout grandiose plans replete with beautiful Vendome stills, kick-ass bottle labels, and all the bourbon you could ever drink. No talk of the long hours and the hard labor it takes to make a quality product, but hell if you’re drinking a lot who wants to think about the hard stuff?
Most, obviously, never follow through (damn you real world!). Starting in November 2015, though, about 100,000 bourbon drinkers got to — at least, theoretically — try their hand at “crafting” their own bourbon.
It was back then that Buffalo Trace launched their “Craft Your Perfect Bourbon” website, more or less in jest as a way to educate consumers about their whiskey. Once on the site, you were able to determine the grain recipe, watch that recipe go through the distilling process, determine where in the warehouse it would be aged, how long it would age, and the ultimate proof of the bourbon when it would be ready to bottle.
In total, 100,239 people crafted a bourbon recipe. According to Buffalo Trace, an overwhelming number of those eager crafters made a wheated bourbon that would be aged for eight years. That bourbon would be aged on the top floor of the warehouse and bottled between 90 and 99 proof.
And what did Buffalo Trace do with all this data? Well, they made a damn bourbon with it, of course. They named the resultant whiskey W.L. Weller CYPB, short for — you guessed it — Craft Your Perfect Bourbon.
The whiskey will be a limited release, but Buffalo Trace will introduce a new bourbon every year, starting this summer. The suggested price is $39.99 for a 750mL, but seeing as it’s a Weller, don’t be surprised if you don’t see that exact price when you get to the store.
Not able to find this limited release? You could always take a little trip down to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and see if you can find some down there (or just pick up these value options from Buffalo Trace).
