Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington
Willett Family Estate Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon 12 year
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed
September 25, 2020 (edited September 29, 2020)
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!
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@Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington Still a good find, especially since they'll give you a half pour! I'm exceedingly frustrated by the number of bars that won't, even when a full pour is $50 or more.
@ContemplativeFox I suspect these have been sitting behind the bar for awhile and were obtained prior to the hype. Full pours of any one of these were still in the $35 range (admittedly the 1/2 pours I received were exceedingly generous). Maybe I’ll form a symbiotic relationship with the hospitality industry after all (being an introvert I rarely go out for a drink).
Sounds awesome. I shudder to imagine the cost.