Willett Family Estate Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon 12 year

An outstanding, balanced, Straight Bourbon Whiskey aged for 12 years in new American oak by the Willett Distillery in Kentucky. It has a spicy birth with notes of cinnamon, cocoa, black pepper, rye, canned pear sweetness, cherry, raspberry & fresh sawed oak; while a creamy life adds notes of sugary syrup from canned pears, caramel & honey; that leads to a long & warming death with notes of fruit, butterscotch, baking spices, vanilla & mint. August / December 2018 / January 2019 / August 2022

This was the 8 year, purple foil. Really nice flavor

This is easily one of the most unique bottles I have ever had the pleasure of tasting. It is extremely rich and full of tart flavors like cherry and citrus fruits, while still having a very long sweet finish full of flavors I can’t quite pin-point. An absolute must for whiskey lovers.

Spearmint with a floral note that has a slight tobacco finish

Willett, we meet again. This bottle is a friends prized possession, now half empty and probably open 6 or more years if I was to guess. Unlike the 12 year I’d previously tied this one cam with the following specs: Barrel 779 Proof 120.6 Bottle 57/96 (ie. <75% the residual volume of most barrels that yield 120+ bottles) The color on this was a fantastic dirty penny. The nose was richly sweet with bits of cola, vanilla, honeysuckle, pepper and oak. The palate lands hot with a burst of mild cola and pepper and then subsides into a gobstopper of a ride with classic vanilla and oak, then cherry cola and clove and then - no surprise - as all else fades away the trademark black or Earl Grey tea note. Was it delicious? Very, yes. Would I blindly pay more than $80 a bottle for this? With some convincing, yes. Will I speculate further given my bitterness toward Willet for ending the sale of these in their gift shop - no. I’ll just enjoy it at this point and move on.

Part of a flight of four while out. Absolute steal at $35 for the lot. Started with pot still, then 7yr rye, then family estate 12 and 13y. All four in copies glasses. The 12y was bottled at 118.8 proof. The nose on this was subtle for the proof and didn’t wander far from pot still (both a welcome surprise and disappointment at the same time). Lots of warm rye bread but with brown sugar, anise, mint that pot still lacks. The palate is more of the same, a bit of barrel char is added in along with brown butter and more brown sugar. As compared to the 13y this had less heat and lacked some vanilla/cinnamon elements that really made the 13y the standout of the evening. I would probably put the 7y rye second followed by 12y and pot still. Seeing as how I can afford exactly zero of these bottles aside from pot still I might pour the latter and add a dash of Old Grandad 114 and hope for the best... Overall, if you like the rye bread and herbal tea backbone that has gained Willett its cult following then you’ll like all of these if you can find them. Won’t comment on price other than to say it can get outrageous but to each their own. Cheers!