If you’ve ever spotted a bottle of Van Winkle 12 Year Old Lot B, you might have noticed something missing. Unlike its older, more exclusive siblings, it doesn’t feature the now-iconic image of Julian Van Winkle Jr., cigar in hand, gazing calmly from the label.

It’s a small detail, but one that raises eyebrows, especially given how deliberate everything else in the Van Winkle world tends to be. But the reason behind it is less mysterious than you might expect. There’s no printing error or lost design history. In fact, the story of Lot B’s label is rooted in something far more practical.

There’s one sitting in the Mark Littler shop if you fancy seeing what the fuss is about. But before you do, you might be wondering why it looks so different and what that means for what’s inside.

The Real Story Behind Lot B

The story goes back to 1991, when Julian Van Winkle III was managing stocks of well-aged wheated bourbon left over from the old Stitzel-Weller days. Among the barrels of 12-year-old whiskey, he found some that stood out as particularly exceptional; these became known as Lot A. The rest, still of high quality but not quite at the same level, were bottled under the name Lot B.

Lot A was a small, limited release. Lot B was much larger, and it was this broader batch that would go on to shape the identity of the 12 Year Old in the years that followed. The cigar label never appeared on Lot B simply because the whisky was seen as an exercise at first, rather than a direct product. It was more about putting good bourbon into circulation and showing off what it could do. 

Why Lot B Endured – And What It’s Really Like in the Glass

Lot B might have started life as the ‘second pick’, but it didn’t take long for it to earn its own following. Because it was more widely available, drinkers came to know it not as a compromise but as a gateway into the Van Winkle style. For many, it was the first wheated bourbon that felt genuinely differentless brash, and more elegant.

Part of that was deliberate. Julian Van Winkle III has spoken before about wanting to show scotch drinkers what older bourbon could be: softer, subtler, and far more layered than the younger, rye-driven bottles that dominated shelves at the time. And Lot B did just that.

I was lucky enough to be given a bottle by a former manager at The Whiskey Jar in Manchester, and I stretched it out for longer than I probably should have. The last pour sat in the glass for a while, and it turned out to be one of those whiskeys that changes every few minutes. At first, there was this gentle raisin sweetness, then something closer to graham cracker. With a bit of air, it opened up to soft vanilla and the kind of warm oak that reminds you of cream soda and sponge cake.

Compared to W.L. Weller 12, which can feel a touch heavier and oakier, Lot B leans into lightness. It’s not trying to hit you over the head. Instead, it asks you to slow down and actually listen to what’s going on.

A Quiet Classic

Lot B doesn’t chase headlines like the Pappy bottles do, but that’s part of its charm. It’s understated, consistent, and genuinely enjoyable, especially if you appreciate the softer side of bourbon.

Yes, the price has crept up over the years, but for a 12-year-old wheated bourbon with real character, it still holds its own.

Read the full article at The Curious Case of Van Winkle’s ‘Other’ Bourbon: Why Lot B Breaks All the Rules