A Night With Weller, Paper Planes and Rooftop Vinyl Sessions

Our hometown of Denver loves a great festival just as much as a great cocktail. So when Weller’s PR team called to take us on a local tour, our resident cuisine and cocktail guy, Josh Finklestein, jumped at the chance.

Article by Josh Finklestein

There’s a reason certain records command eye-watering prices on Discogs. It’s rarely just about the music. It’s the mythology. The scarcity. The quality. The stories people tell about finally finding a copy after years of searching.

Bourbon has its own version of that obsession and there is nothing better than a great bourbon cocktail paired with a great record or night out.

Mention Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year in the right crowd, and you’ll get the same reaction as someone casually pulling a first pressing of Endtroducing….. out of a record bag. A bottle can fetch well over $5,000 on the secondary market, and for most people, it’s something they’ll admire from afar rather than actually drink.

Like any great label, Buffalo Trace Distillery has built an entire catalog around different audiences. There are the dependable everyday releases: Buffalo Trace, Sazerac Rye, Traveler Whiskey, the bottles you actually open on a Tuesday night. Then there are the coveted limited releases that have collectors lining up before sunrise or hammering refresh on retailer websites, hoping luck is on their side: Eagle Rare, E.H. Taylor, Blanton’s, the Antique Collection, and, of course, Weller.

If vinyl collectors obsess over matrix numbers and first pressings, bourbon fans debate barrel warehouses, proof points, and mash bills with equal enthusiasm.

What Makes Weller Different?

Every bourbon follows a familiar blueprint. It must be made in the United States, contain at least 51 percent corn, and mature in new charred oak barrels. The remaining grain bill is where distillers find their personality.

Most bourbons lean heavily on rye, adding spice, pepper, and a sharpness that cuts through the sweetness of the corn. William Larue Weller decided to go in an entirely different direction, replacing rye with wheat and creating what became known as The Original Wheated Bourbon.

The difference is immediately noticeable.

If rye is the crisp sparkle of freshly opened hi-hats, wheat feels more like a warm analog compressor rounding off the edges. Softer. Richer. More cohesive. It doesn’t necessarily make the bourbon sweeter; it simply changes how the flavors reach your nostrils and your tongue.

That wheated mash bill became the foundation for both Weller and the now legendary Pappy Van Winkle line, which explains why the two are so often mentioned in the same breath.

After nearly fifteen years of explosive demand—fueled even further during the pandemic bourbon boom—Weller has slowly become easier to find. It’s still not an everyday shelf bottle, but it’s finally moving away from unicorn status and back toward something enthusiasts can actually drink instead of merely hunting.

So when an invitation landed in our inbox to spend an evening with the Weller team exploring Denver’s rooftop cocktail scene, it wasn’t exactly a difficult decision.

First Stop: Stellar Jay

The evening began atop Stellar Jay, where Denver’s skyline stretched across the horizon, and Sazerac PR lead Christi Cahill welcomed us with the entire Weller lineup displayed like a carefully curated record collection.

Special Reserve.

12 Year.

Antique 107.

Single Barrel.

C.Y.P.B.

Full Proof.

Every expression had its place, each representing a different interpretation of the same wheated DNA.

Before we even reached the tasting table, however, we were pointed toward something arguably more surprising.

A Weller Paper Plane…on draft.

Cocktails on tap aren’t exactly new, but seeing one built around Weller felt a little like walking into a club and discovering someone mixing an all-vinyl set from records you’d normally expect to live behind museum glass.

It immediately lowered the intimidation factor. Instead of bourbon existing as something precious, untouchable, or overly serious, it became approachable. Something meant to be shared vs. coveted in basements with only your closest friends and HiFi system. Release the HERMITS!

When the Music Changes the Drink

What elevated the evening wasn’t just the whiskey. It was the soundtrack.

Stellar Jay has quietly become one of Denver’s better listening spaces, regularly hosting vinyl nights and sunset DJ sessions where Japanese city pop, downtempo, chillwave, Balearic grooves, and left-field soul drift through the rooftop’s sound system. Nobody was trying to overpower the room, which was refreshing in a rooftop bar like SJ.

There’s something about hearing thoughtfully selected records while sipping a wheated bourbon cocktail that completely changes the context. It kind of “unstuffs” the experience, and suddenly, bourbon doesn’t feel like leather chairs, steak dinners, and cigars.

It belongs on rooftops. During golden hour sets, where nobody’s checking the time because the selector keeps finding another perfect track to keep you interested and anticipating the next cut.

It turns out a refreshing bourbon cocktail can have just as much atmosphere as wine, provided someone picks the right soundtrack, and you watch your intake. The paper plane goes down a little too easily!

Cooper Lounge: Building the Perfect Paper Plane

The next stop took us to Denver’s Cooper Lounge overlooking Union Station. There, we finally learned why the Paper Plane has become such a favorite among bartenders.

Equal parts Weller Special Reserve, Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and fresh lemon juice. Four ingredients. Equal proportions.

Like a four-on-the-floor groove, each part carries equal weight. Remove one element and the entire balance changes.

It’s remarkably difficult to screw up, scales effortlessly for batching, and somehow manages to stay bright and refreshing long after many whiskey cocktails become too sweet or palate fatigue in a glass.

Then came one of those moments you simply don’t expect. The team opened a bottle of Weller Millennium, one of the distillery’s most limited modern releases.

As glasses made their way around the room, the opening notes of Nightmares on Wax’s Carboot Soul rolled through the speakers. One of my all-time favorites from the 90s downtempo era that still holds up for just about any occasion, especially sipping a glass of Millennium.

If you’ve ever spent an afternoon with that record, you’ll understand why the pairing felt almost suspiciously perfect. Dusty beats. Warm bass. Space between every note.

Some combinations simply create their own atmosphere.

Closing Out in RiNo (or River North for Non Denver Locals)

The final stop brought us to Sorry Gorgeous in RiNo. Three different Paper Plane variations arrived alongside delicate macarons while Air’s Moon Safari drifted through the rooftop speakers as the sun disappeared behind the Denver skyline.

If Moon Safari isn’t already part of your golden-hour playlist or in your vinyl collection, consider this your reminder. Some albums don’t demand your attention. They quietly improve whatever moment you’re already having and if they are stopping by your city this summer, make sure you go!

Weller Isn’t Stuffy Anymore!

The biggest takeaway from the evening wasn’t discovering an elusive bottle or tasting limited releases. It was realizing how naturally bourbon fits into modern listening and nightlife culture.

The best DJs understand that great sets aren’t about individual tracks; they’re about layering moods until the room becomes something bigger than the sum of its parts.

Great cocktails work exactly the same way. The Weller Paper Plane is built from four equal parts that somehow become more expressive together than they ever could alone. It’s balanced without feeling predictable, approachable without being boring, and versatile enough to carry an entire evening.

Like a well-built DJ set, it doesn’t ask you to overthink it. Big thanks to the Weller PR team for an incredible experience.