Exclusive W.L. Weller bourbon release only at Emeril’s Las Vegas restaurants

Chef Emeril Lagasse’s Las Vegas restaurants announced today the exclusive offering of a W.L. Weller Antique 107 Single Barrel Select wheated bourbon. Limited to 156 one-liter bottles, this unique 107 proof (53.5% ABV) bourbon will be available starting today only at Delmonico Steakhouse at The Venetian, Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House at MGM Grand and Table 10 at The Palazzo.

“We take a lot of pride in offering our Las Vegas guests an incredible selection of whiskies, and bourbon in particular,” said Chef/Owner Emeril Lagasse. “But this might be the most incredible selection yet!”

The barrel was hand-selected by members of the Emeril’s Las Vegas team. Using the exact recipe as the legendary Pappy van Winkle and distilled and matured at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, this specific barrel #10-L-16-I-7-38-029, was filled on Dec. 16, 2010, aged in Warehouse I, stored on Rick 38 on the seventh floor, aged for six years and five months and bottled at 107 proof.

Tasting Notes: On the nose you will find delectable hints of corn cake, vanilla wafer, caramel and custard followed by subtle hints of dried banana. On the palate, a festival of ongoing flavors and complexity with notes of charred corn, oak, cinnamon bark, light white pepper, caramel crumb cake, hints of leather and spice box.

Delmonico Steakhouse Lead Bartender Lillian Hargrove has created two new cocktails to showcase the spirit, which will also be offered at all three restaurants:

1.5 oz Weller 107

1 oz Domaine de Canton

.5 oz honey syrup

.5 oz pink grapefruit juice

.25 oz fresh lemon juice

Shake all ingredients in a tin with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with grapefruit trio.

A marriage of a Gold Rush and a Brown Derby, the name represents the idea that most cocktails, even classics, are just one or two variants away from their predecessors.

1 oz Weller 107

1oz Camus VS

1 oz barrel-smoked maple

.75 oz fresh lemon juice

.5 oz Grand Marnier

Shake all ingredients in a tin with ice. Strain into a double-rocks glass rimmed with Falernum crystals. Top with ice and expressed lemon neck.

The name represents the use of maple syrup in a cocktail that has a dual base of whiskey and cognac; the dual base not being uncommon in a lot of New Orleans classics such as the Vieux Carre.

The bourbon will be offered at $14 per 1.5 oz.  pour, or $15 for the cocktails. Retail sale is not available.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, W.L. (William Larue) Weller & Sons became one of the most reputable Kentucky-based whiskey companies, with offerings consisting of quality whiskeys that were rectified to their exact specifications. Julian “Pappy” van Winkle, at a very young age, became a traveling salesman in 1893 and worked under Mr. Weller for fifteen years until he and a fellow associate, Alexander Farnsley, purchased the company in 1908, upon the death of W.L. Weller. Van Winkle then purchased the A. Ph. Stitzell distillery and merged the two companies immediately after the repeal of Prohibition. A new distillery was built in Shively, Kentucky that is now the renowned Stitzell-Weller distillery. This is where W.L. Weller bourbon was born and records indicate that this may have been the first documented bourbon whiskey by the Van Winkle family to incorporate wheat as a secondary grain, replacing the use of rye. Although, the W.L. Weller brand stayed with the van Winkle family for years, they parted ways in 1972 when the company was sold and the Weller brand changed several hands (now owned by the Sazerac company). Thirty years later, in 2002, the van Winkle family found themselves partnered with the Buffalo Trace distillery, where, both the W.L. Weller and Pappy van Winkle bourbons are made: Two of the most sought after bourbon brands in the world, born of the same family tree, reunited.

Chef Emeril Lagasse is the chef/proprietor of 13 award-winning restaurants, including four in New Orleans (Emeril’s, NOLA, Meril and Emeril’s Delmonico); four in Las Vegas (Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House, Delmonico Steakhouse, Table 10 and Lagasse’s Stadium); two in Orlando (Emeril’s Orlando and Emeril’s Tchoup Chop); and three at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem in Pennsylvania (Emeril’s Chop House, Burgers And More by Emeril and Emeril’s Fish House). Lagasse opened his first restaurant, Emeril’s New Orleans, in 1990 to national acclaim. He opened his first Las Vegas property, Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House at the MGM Grand in 1995, followed by Delmonico Steakhouse in The Venetian Resort, Hotel & Casino in 1999 and Table 10 at the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian l The Palazzo in 2008. Lagasse’s restaurants consistently win critical praise and top ratings. Delmonico Steakhouse has received the prestigious “Grand Award” from Wine Spectator magazine every year since 2004.

Chef Emeril Lagasse is the chef/proprietor of 13 restaurants in New Orleans, Las Vegas, Orlando and Bethlehem, PA.  As a national TV personality, he has hosted more than 2,000 shows on the Food Network, and is the food correspondent for ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Lagasse has appeared as a guest judge in four seasons of Bravo’s hit food series, “Top Chef,” was named a co-host for the tenth season of the “Rachael Ray Show,” and in January 2016, he entered his fourth season of “Emeril’s Florida” on the Cooking Channel. His latest project, Eat the World with Emeril Lagasse, an Amazon original series premiered September 2016. Lagasse is the best-selling author of 19 cookbooks, the latest, Essential Emeril: Favorite Recipes and Hard-Won Wisdom from My Life in the Kitchen, was released in October 2015. In 2002, Emeril established the Emeril Lagasse Foundation to support children’s educational programs that inspire and mentor young people through the culinary arts, nutrition, healthy eating, and important life skills. To date, the Foundation has donated more than $7 million to community organizations in New Orleans, Las Vegas and on the Gulf Coast. In December 2015, Sequential Brands Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:SQBG) acquired the assets related to Emeril Lagasse’s media and merchandising business, including television programming, cookbooks, the Emerils.com website and his licensed kitchen and food products. For more information, visit: emerils.com.