theglobalguy Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Have driven down the road it's located on multiple times years ago, never thought to wonder what that stone driveway led to till today. Having seen comments from another SB post, was in the mood for a Bardstown road trip today, review as follows;Time/Day; - Sat, 1st tour. Drove up a few minutes late and they were kind enough to catch me up with the main group rather than make me wait.Facilities/Grounds;- Knew i was in the right spot thanks to the new sign near the road, but half way down the gravel drive i started to wonder. Once i came round the bend and saw rick houses...all was well.- You check in at the gift shop, pay then start just outside heading to the main production area. Both the gift shop and all the buildings you walk through have either been gutted and rebuilt, or at the least shiny new materials bolted over the old ones.- Despite the mix of old and new construction (gravel drive and parking lot as an example) loads of picturesque areas withinTour/Guide;- The tour itself was just the right length (smaller property so not a huge amount of walking), and they happened to be running production today so we got to see some of the steps in process.- The guide was highly knowledgable (i was shocked only as compared to hit and miss guides at some of the other distilleries i'd been to)- Sample started with Willet Pot Still, and was "choose your own adventure" for the second. That is a great way to give folks a chance to try different products without having to buy a bottle of each. $7 is more than fair price for the 2 samples.Gift Shop;- The non alcohol products were of high quality, and not as gimicky as some. The clothing was quality and had a soft feel to it (managed to talk the wife into a shirt for her!)- Wide array of different brands they bottle (Johnny Dram, Willet Pot Still, etc, 6 or 7 in total)- Willet Family Reserve this trip were all Rye. 4yr, 23yr and 25yr. Someone smarter than me can explain why the 23 was in a different bottle/label? than i'm used to seeing the FR products- Pricing on the normal brands was almost to the penny of what you'd pay locally. That is awesome for out of town folks (i'm looking at you Heaven Hill!)Summary;- Worth the short trip from Louisville and a must if you're already heading to Bardstown! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Good notes guy, thanks for the ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bad_scientist Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 23 and 25 year old ryes? Do you know what the proofs are for them? I've seen some Willett 23 year ryes recently, but unlike most Willetts they were cut to pretty low proofs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theglobalguy Posted May 25, 2013 Author Share Posted May 25, 2013 23 and 25 year old ryes? Do you know what the proofs are for them? I've seen some Willett 23 year ryes recently, but unlike most Willetts they were cut to pretty low proofs.Was afraid to touch them to read that detail! Seriously though the 23 yr was a bottle similar if not the same to the "Vintage 17yr" product i've seen before, and the 25 yr was the normal Family Reserve labeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bad_scientist Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Was afraid to touch them to read that detail! Seriously though the 23 yr was a bottle similar if not the same to the "Vintage 17yr" product i've seen before, and the 25 yr was the normal Family Reserve labeling.Oh, the 23 might have been the Vintage 23. It has the same design as the Vintage 17 and 21 bourbons and the Vintage 21 rye. I'm just speculating... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theglobalguy Posted May 25, 2013 Author Share Posted May 25, 2013 Oh, the 23 might have been the Vintage 23. It has the same design as the Vintage 17 and 21 bourbons and the Vintage 21 rye. I'm just speculating...Google image search seems to match your theory. Next time i'm bringing a proper camera and recording all images! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryT Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Great notes! We did their tour last September and enjoyed it. I picked up a 25 yr rye for my anniversary present (wife gave me permission for the trip, although she didn't attend), and I was a bit disappointed. I'd tried a 23 yr rye at a friend's and it was the best rye I had ever tasted. My 25 yr spent too much time in the wood - the char flavor is a bit overpowering for me. The folks though, from the tour guide to the gift shop folks, were all great. Our guide was also fairly knowledgeable, although we got lucky and "bumped" into Drew during our tour. He was kind enough to take probably 10 minutes to chat about the process, how he determines where to cut the "heads" off from the run, and take a few pictures in front of the copper pot still (acting as a doubler). Definitely recommend the tour! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Presumably the distillate ran through the column still first, did Drew mention whether they were using the traditional Willet mash bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryT Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 It did - the doubler wasn't running at the time. The column was running their bourbon mashbill (according to the tour-guid, 72% corn, 13% rye, and 15% malted barley). I didn't think to ask how often they'll run rye (I'm pretty sure we asked if they would make their own rye, and the tour-guide said yes - but I didn't get what that mashbill would be). Drew wasn't the first master distiller I met, but he was the first I got to meet "in the act" of actually distilling. When we walked up to the column still he was checking different things on it, but he caught up with us as we viewed the high/low wine boxes. Really nice guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Sounds like a very pleasant time, glad you enjoyed the experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bad_scientist Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 It did - the doubler wasn't running at the time. The column was running their bourbon mashbill (according to the tour-guid, 72% corn, 13% rye, and 15% malted barley). I didn't think to ask how often they'll run rye (I'm pretty sure we asked if they would make their own rye, and the tour-guide said yes - but I didn't get what that mashbill would be). Drew wasn't the first master distiller I met, but he was the first I got to meet "in the act" of actually distilling. When we walked up to the column still he was checking different things on it, but he caught up with us as we viewed the high/low wine boxes. Really nice guy.So much barley... I hope that doesn't overwhelm the rest of the cereals. IMO HH offerings have way too much barley influence, and they only have 10%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryT Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 So much barley... I hope that doesn't overwhelm the rest of the cereals. IMO HH offerings have way too much barley influence, and they only have 10%.I also thought 15% was pretty high. I thought that the norm was 5-7%, but don't know what everyone else has. Should be interesting - I guess in another 4-6 years we'll get some idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 The usual is more like 73corn-15rye-12malt but higher malt content was not unheard of in yesteryear, Old Taylor originally used something like 22% and also used a different variety of corn than the other distillerys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryT Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 The usual is more like 73corn-15rye-12malt but higher malt content was not unheard of in yesteryear, Old Taylor originally used something like 22% and also used a different variety of corn than the other distillerys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theglobalguy Posted May 26, 2013 Author Share Posted May 26, 2013 Ok, was trying to post a few shots from the trip. Anyone know why the second pic is rotated? It's not when i open on my mac. Was taken with camera rotated though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Interesting, is that a condenser attached to the end of the lyne arm? I haven't seen one set up horizontally before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crowes Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 I went to the Willett distillery a few weeks ago myself, it was probably my favorite tour during the couple of days I was there. At the gift shop, when I was there, they also had a 9, 12, and 21 year SB bourbon. I tried the 21 at the tasting a enjoyed it quite a bit, but not for the price. I came home with the 9yr and a bottle of the 4yr rye, which I am absolutely in love with. Highly recommend a stop here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmckenzie Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 That is a deplegmator. Most Vendome stills have them set up like that. I spent some time down there last month, you will see some fine whiskey coming out of that place. Just wait and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmckenzie Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 looks like they are running a little rye according to that last picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolph Lundgren Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 looks like they are running a little rye according to that last picture.When I visited their distillery last November they were running Rye. I think they mentioned the mash was 74% or 76% rye - can't recall the exact %. Either way, I got to pull some off the trybox and it was really good distillate. Looking forward to the future... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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