Westbrook Brewing releases its $200 2016 Barrel Aged Mexican Cake Reserva

In case you, like us, are a little late to the party, here’s some brew news for ya to sip on: Westbrook Brewing Company has been bottling and selling “cellar list” brews (ranging from $15-$1,000) for on-site consumption for the past two years. Yes, you read that right, some bottles sell for one-thousand buckaroos. With last week’s release of the 2016 Barrel Aged Mexican Cake Reserva, selling for a, confirmed, $200, there was a bit of Facebook backlash. Most of it sounds like “$200 for a beer?!”

Westbrook’s response? “Yes.” Founder and CEO Edward Westbrook says that since the Thursday release, he thinks they’ve sold about 20 bottles. It’s not laced with diamonds or water from the Fountain of Youth, but the brew is pretty special. It’s the same base as the rest of the 2016 Mexican Cake releases, but it’s been aged an additional six months in Van Winkle barrels with Blis bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup, Tahitian and Indonesian vanilla beans, Ceylon cinnamon, Valrhona cocoa nibs, and fresh habaneros. Westbrook says that the cellar list has been “very popular” and that people “appreciate the fact that they can come to the brewery and drink our rarest and hardest to find beers pretty much whenever they want.”

The brewery currently sells 41 different bottles and Westbrook says that the most popular bottles (besides the Reserva) have been the 2015 Pappy Van Winkle barrel-aged Mexican Cake ($200) and the 2016 Maple Bourbon barrel-aged Mexican Cake ($175).

Head to the tasting room for your very own bottle (grab one for us, too!) Tuesday through Friday 4 to 7 p.m. or Saturday noon to 7 p.m.