Lot B is the Van Winkle family's 12-year Special Reserve, and the story behind it is a quiet one: Julian Van Winkle III added two years over the 10 Year to show what time does for the family's wheated bourbon, at a moment when older bourbon had almost no audience. It found one. The bottle has kept the same plain, image-free label and the same 90.4 proof throughout; the main change was the bottling line moving to Frankfort after the 2002 Buffalo Trace partnership. As the lowest-proof, most balance-driven Van Winkle, it sits in the middle of the line and is a limited annual release that rarely lingers. For a collector, it is the connective piece between the 10 Year and the older Pappy bottlings, and a genuinely collectible bottle in its own right rather than a stepping stone.

This is the gentle one, so it shows best neat in a Glencairn with a few minutes to open — at 90.4 proof there is little heat to tame. A single drop or two of water can lift the honey and dried fruit, but it rarely needs it. Many drinkers treat Lot B as an after-dinner pour in place of a cognac; ice is best avoided, as it mutes the soft wheat sweetness that defines the bottle.

Lot B is built on Buffalo Trace's wheated mash bill, with wheat in place of rye alongside corn and malted barley; the exact ratio is not published, but estimates cluster around 16% wheat. It is aged 12 years in new charred American oak, two years longer than the 10 Year, then bottled at a deliberately moderate 90.4 proof. That restrained strength is the point: rather than chase intensity, Lot B leans on integration and the soft sweetness the wheated recipe gives, which is why it is so often compared to an after-dinner cognac. Like the rest of the line, its barrels begin as the same Buffalo Trace wheated stock that becomes Weller.

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Where does Lot B sit in the Van Winkle lineup?

Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 Year, nicknamed Lot B, is the middle of the Van Winkle line, between the 10-year Old Rip Van Winkle and the older Pappy Van Winkle 15, 20, and 23 Year bottlings. It is the lowest-proof Van Winkle at 90.4 proof, aged 12 years, and made with the same wheated mash bill as the rest of the family.

Why is Lot B bottled at only 90.4 proof?

The lower 90.4 proof is intentional: at 12 years the wheated bourbon is soft and well-integrated, and the moderate strength keeps the focus on balance and the gentle wheat sweetness rather than heat. It is often poured after dinner and is sometimes compared to a fine cognac.