Willett Pot Still - How come we never discuss it?

[humchan2k]

After all, it's got the coolest bottle ever...and it's won some tasty awards. Got one for Christmas, but haven't opened it yet....last bottle I had was 2+ years ago and I remember it being pretty solid. Does anyone dig this? Is it like Noah's Mill and other stuff where it's decent, but not something you'd buy yourself? Help!

[HighInTheMtns]

I have always passed on it because I don't want to pay for that ridiculous bottle

[Clavius]

Sure the bottle is cool and the juice inside is alright... but at $37.99 here I pass on it regularly.

[smokinjoe]

I agree the "crazy bong bottle" is cool ( I wish I could remember who coined that phrase...one of the best). The family size model is absolutely hilariously absurd, BTW. For me, like most KBD whiskies, the QPR just doesn't justify repeat purchases. I will buy another, but only to "keep" the bottle this time.

[WAINWRIGHT]

It's not in my suited profile as I find it very nutty and buttery,not a pour I would turn my nose up at but never on my radar either.YMMV

[MyOldKyDram]

Bought it once. Drank it. Hated pouring from that bottle, but I did keep it.

[squire]

It's a very attractive, classy bottle containing NPP whisky. To call it Pot Still is misleading because the Distilleries that could have made the whisky do not use Pot Stills. It may have been run through a doubler (sometimes called a pot still by those who wish to create an 'image' for their whisky, Michter's also did that) but the majors all use a column still for the heavy lifting.

An exception would be Woodford of course but I do not believe they have sufficient excess production to be selling off surplus on the spot market.

Whether the bottle and label are worth a premium price is up to you. I wouldn't.

[Lazer]

Because the producer is a dirty fraud. Its a delicious bourbon in an awesome bottle. But KBD have been pissing Chuck off for 20 years so if he doesn't like them then we don't like them. Plus, look at what they did with Noah's Mill. It was a great bourbon with a 14yr age statement and then in went NAS and started using younger bourbon and totally ruined it.

Any non-disstiller producer, if they are buying bulk aged whiskey, then they are buying a finite amount. Once its gone, its gone. Look at Bourye. The second version had a new name, son of bourye, because there was no more bourye. So when is the current potstill going to run out and they're going to put something else in the same bottle and tell you its the same, but you know it isn't?

[matthewdc]

I had it at a restaurant once and thought it was OK. Some definite sweet notes--certainly drinkable but not very complex. Then when I was at a local store and inquired about it, the clerk had only mediocre praise and suggested spending $10 extra to get the Willet 8 YO, which he said was much better.

At its price point, seems like one is paying more for the "neat" bottle then the contents... but Hey! you got it as a Christmas gift so ENJOY!

[fricky]

Because the producer is a dirty fraud. Its a delicious bourbon in an awesome bottle. But KBD have been pissing Chuck off for 20 years so if he doesn't like them then we don't like them. Plus, look at what they did with Noah's Mill. It was a great bourbon with a 14yr age statement and then in went NAS and started using younger bourbon and totally ruined it.

Any non-disstiller producer, if they are buying bulk aged whiskey, then they are buying a finite amount. Once its gone, its gone. Look at Bourye. The second version had a new name, son of bourye, because there was no more bourye. So when is the current potstill going to run out and they're going to put something else in the same bottle and tell you its the same, but you know it isn't?

Calling KBD a "dirty fraud" is rdiculous and libelous. Who cares if Chuck doesn't like them? I have had great bourbon and rye under the Willett label. I don't have to know where a whiskey is distilled to like it.

[wadewood]

KBD's honey barrels all seem to be going into Willett SB bottles. As far as Willett Pot Still bottle, to me it's $12 worth of bourbon in a really fancy bottle that sells for $38. I'll pass.

[sailor22]

A 1.75 (really really big ugly bottle vs a smaller ugly bottle) at Costco sells for $55 in this market. That seems like a fair price.

Haven't had any in a year or so but I seem to recall it being soft, drinkable and a little uninspiring.

Not a bad pour at this price point but the bottle is such an abomination I can't bring myself to buy any. Bottles with huge wide bottoms, Birthday Bourbon also comes to mind, take up excessive space when stored and are clumsy to pour. In the case of the WPS 1.75 seem really fragile also, it would definitely require decanting into different bottles.

[AaronWF]

I recall it as tasting pretty generic, which is unacceptable at its price point. And of course, it's the bottle that's in the shape of a pot still, not the juice that has been pot-stilled. Like Wade alluded to, KBD puts their better barrels into their Willet Family Estate label, and you get them at CS and unchillfiltered; much more bang for the buck. I find their other labels these days like Rowan's Creek, Noah's Mill, Johnny Drum, to have muddled profiles.

Plus, who has room for a bong in their liquor cabinet?

[VAGentleman]

I actually like this bourbon and think its a good pour to have every now and then. Not too complex but quite tasty. Plus the bottle looks really cool sitting on my bar.

[Lazer]

Calling KBD a "dirty fraud" is rdiculous and libelous. Who cares if Chuck doesn't like them? I have had great bourbon and rye under the Willett label. I don't have to know where a whiskey is distilled to like it.

First of all they are frauds. The D in KBD stands for distillers, and they never distilled anything that they've sold. That's called fraud.

Second, I agree with everything else you said, my point is that you can't rely on them to be consistent. If I had a bottle of their whiskey three years ago, how can I expect a bottle with the same label to taste the same now? Its a roll of the dice with them that's all.

[Lazer]

Plus, who has room for a bong in their liquor cabinet?

You have to make a special shelf for these and the OFBB's.

[HighHorse]

Because the producer is a dirty fraud. Its a delicious bourbon in an awesome bottle. But KBD have been pissing Chuck off for 20 years so if he doesn't like them then we don't like them. Plus, look at what they did with Noah's Mill. It was a great bourbon with a 14yr age statement and then in went NAS and started using younger bourbon and totally ruined it.

Any non-disstiller producer, if they are buying bulk aged whiskey, then they are buying a finite amount. Once its gone, its gone. Look at Bourye. The second version had a new name, son of bourye, because there was no more bourye. So when is the current potstill going to run out and they're going to put something else in the same bottle and tell you its the same, but you know it isn't?

I'm having a bit of a hard time ingesting the "dirty fraud" lead in your post. Even though you come back and restate your belief that KBD is just that. At least you say that it's a delicious bourbon in an awesome bottle. I've found Drew, his dad & family to be nothing but honest, straight forward brokers of damn fine bourbon and rye that they nurture in their warehouses and offer up for folks to come and take their pick from. I .. and I suspect you .. have had many fine Willett offerings although I rarely, if ever, buy blind. Regardless of how and why and where their barrels come from .. there are some damn fine bourbons on those ricks. I have climbed through them and tasted a few out-of-the-park home runs. Those that don't hit that "honey barrel" bell go into blends and come to us as Pure Kentucky, Noah's Mill, etc., etc. As someone who knows the Kulsveens and KBD very well once told me .. "When you find a bottle of theirs that is great .. go buy as much as you can because the next batch may be different!" That's simply how it works and it doesn't mean that they slapped you in the face when one batch differs from another.

The Pot Still Bottle is a marketing gimmick .. surely you know that. It's neat on a bar .. and guests gravitate to it immediately. Not a damn thing wrong with that.

Bottom line .. your petty point about the D in KBD aside .. they, like High West, Jefferson, and others are artisans who have provided us with some tasty treats and will likely continue to do so ... with or without your or Chuck's seal of approval.

I also doubt that Chuck would take claim to being the final word on what we do or do not drink. So I'm going to assume you're just stirring the pot (still) for the sake of stirring.

The fraud business is wrong ... it's just wrong.

[squire]

Oh I'm not knocking the whisky fricky, Heaven Hill makes a good product. HH also sells it at a good price so I see no reason to pay extra to someone else.

[Brisko]

Ignoring the pointless "fraud" part of the conversation, I've always shied away from the WPS. Only because my experience with a lot of the other KBD labels is that they have been far more woody and dry than I like. The exception is perhaps the various Willett bottlings. I don't know if WPS is that way or not, and for the price I'm not that interested in finding out, plus I lack the shelf space for that ugly-ass bottle.

Does anyone want to speculate, does Drew like his bourbons well-oaked, or is that just what the distillers are selling him?

[squire]

Oh I don't think there's fraud in the full legal sense, at least I'm confident if I were defending we would beat the rap. A distiller who knowingly promotes column stilled whisky as Pot stilled (with it's connotations of small, hand crafted, higher grade product made to a higher standard) is extremely misleading though.

However, brand embellishment seems to have crept in as a permanent part of Bourbon lore. For instance:

A company started in 1935 implies it's flagship brand is a product of Kentucky's first distiller and claims an heritage dating back to 1783.

Another claims to make it exactly the same as they have since 1795, using the same yeast.

Jack Daniels tastes exactly the same today as the original whisky.

We invented wheat whisky by experiment with bread recipes.

George Dickel went running around the banks of Cascade Creek with net in hand to capture a special yeast.

Cabin Still brand prominently displays a pot still on the label when in fact it's made in a column still.

Al Capone preferred our white likker over the finest Champagnes, Cognacs and Whiskys in the World.

Michter's, well, I won't even bother.

Point is these patently untrue, misleading and sometimes downright silly claims are so widespread to start pointing fingers one could grow dizzy turning in circle. Maybe it's a holdover from the old days when advertizing was limited to a print medium where even the bottle labels served as billboards and the customers were not as sophisticated as today.

Perhaps we should draw back the curtain, tell the Wizard to go home, concentrate on what's in the bottle and refuse to pay more than it's worth.

[Kalessin]

Perhaps we should draw back the curtain, tell the Wizard to go home, concentrate on what's in the bottle and refuse to pay more than it's worth.

[squire]

I recon so Kalessin, Jack Daniels is the World's largest selling whisky.

[JB64]

I have received a bottle of the WPS for Christmas each of the past two years. I have yet to open either bottle, not sure why just always seem to reach for something else. I think I might crack one open tonight and give it try. Count me as one who likes the look of the bottle.

Edited January 3, 2013 by JB64

[squire]

Have one for me Jim, and let me know what you think.

[BourbonJoe]

I'm having a bit of a hard time ingesting the "dirty fraud" lead in your post. Even though you come back and restate your belief that KBD is just that. At least you say that it's a delicious bourbon in an awesome bottle. I've found Drew, his dad & family to be nothing but honest, straight forward brokers of damn fine bourbon and rye that they nurture in their warehouses and offer up for folks to come and take their pick from. I .. and I suspect you .. have had many fine Willett offerings although I rarely, if ever, buy blind. Regardless of how and why and where their barrels come from .. there are some damn fine bourbons on those ricks. I have climbed through them and tasted a few out-of-the-park home runs. Those that don't hit that "honey barrel" bell go into blends and come to us as Pure Kentucky, Noah's Mill, etc., etc. As someone who knows the Kulsveens and KBD very well once told me .. "When you find a bottle of theirs that is great .. go buy as much as you can because the next batch may be different!" That's simply how it works and it doesn't mean that they slapped you in the face when one batch differs from another.

The Pot Still Bottle is a marketing gimmick .. surely you know that. It's neat on a bar .. and guests gravitate to it immediately. Not a damn thing wrong with that.

Bottom line .. your petty point about the D in KBD aside .. they, like High West, Jefferson, and others are artisans who have provided us with some tasty treats and will likely continue to do so ... with or without your or Chuck's seal of approval.

I also doubt that Chuck would take claim to being the final word on what we do or do not drink. So I'm going to assume you're just stirring the pot (still) for the sake of stirring.

The fraud business is wrong ... it's just wrong.