Willett Family Estate Small Batch Rye 4 Year

Impressions @ 1/3 bottle: 2018 batch, 56.9% abv Exploring this bottle has highlighted how my palate has changed over the years. I purchased and opened this bottle when I first began exploring whiskey in 2018, and my notes simply read: 'grape kool aid' and 'sharp'. Fast forward to today, and I find a lot more complexity and enjoyment. The nose still presents a lot of grape, but it's a drier variety that you might find in a Cognac or Armagnac. I also get a lot more caramel and maple syrup which I didn't find earlier, likely because it's somewhat buried under the higher proof. The palate starts off with a really heavy clay note that I found really off-putting when I was new to whisky. Even after oxidation, it's still very much there, but it's calmed down some and now feels better integrated with the fruit and spice notes that follow. The mid-palate finds lovely notes of dark cherries, golden raisins, and maple syrup before a very assertive toasted rye note carries you through the finish. The finish has always been outstanding on this whiskey, in that it's very long and gently warming in a way that very much compliments the rye flavors that emerge. I was initially put off by this rye, but I've come to really appreciate and enjoy it. It's interesting, available, well-presented, and affordable. I would encourage new rye drinkers to try it and perhaps come back to it over time.

Proof: 107.4 Nose: ethanol heat first, struggling to identify flavors but it’s coming off as complex. A touch of water brought out some honey sweetness and floral/herbal notes. Taste: struggled to pick out notes here but it tastes much like it smelled Finish: Nice lingering finish, less bite than I would have anticipated based on the nose I’m not a huge fan of rye but when I found this on the shelf I had to try it. First impression was meh, and definitely makes me question the expert’s 96 rating, but I’m interested to see how it changes as it sits a bit.

For the price point it’s an unbeatable and extremely reasonable rye. Neat it has a very big spice to it with some alcohol burn, but on the rocks, it’s a beautiful spicy rye with baking spice, floral undertones, and some caramel/vanilla sweetness.

108.2 Proof. Aged four years in white oak. Cask strength. A chestnut sherry/russet muscat color. Loud and aggressive aromas of wintergreen, peppermint, sagebrush, lemon balm, dried oregano, marjoram, thyme, sage, cinnamon oil, fresh mint. An abundance of dried thistle and flower. On the palate the spirit is incredibly oily with orange and lavender, an almost perfume-like bitterness, a rich unctuous cereal grain sweetness, and a floral and drying finish with hints of chocolate and spice. It's a nearly perfect encapsulation of walking through a tick-infested thicket in the western Dakotas to see a migratory bird. Few spirits exhibit this amount of dried vegetation. It is truly a spirit of the grasslands. I get this is made in Kentucky. However, this is middle America grasslands in a bottle. Beautiful stuff!

On the nose sweet notes of carmel. On the palette Wonderfully smooth but toothy. Nice sweetness