Temporary setback in willett family estate program

[MyOldKyDram]

I dunno about all of that. Most all of the WFEs I've had are prime to prime+ pours, and a few are some of the best bourbons and/or ryes I have ever had.

[T Comp]

Some retailers that carry the WFEs will have bottles of them open for you to taste (Liquor World-South Loop Binny's). Party Source was always dead on in their descriptions too. Hard not to like most and some are great.

[White Dog]

hmmmm. sounds like a total crapshoot on what youre going to get.

if they are just buying existing stock from other distilleries, why would the original distillery sell off their best stuff, isntead of keeping it for their own high end lines? It seems to me, that if i were the original distiller, i would keep the best for my own label and offer the 2nds to the NDP's. I guess this is not the case, as its generally accepted that willett FE is highly regarded. perhaps that explains the high price of it.....that maybe they DO go in and buy some of the original distiller's best stuff, at prices the distiller couldnt turn down.

sorry if i'm not getting it, i just want to understand the NDP process. I guess there is no way to know if the 8 year WFE i find on the shelf is even reminiscent of the awesome one I sampled at the distillery then?

perhaps a 10 would be okay, but still, i havent had any luck liking stuff that ive tried that was 10+ years old (heavy woodiness), particularly a WFE 10 year.

no consistency in taste/quality, huh?

Not all NDPs are the same. The Willetts actually have rickhouses, so they age these barrels themselves. So let's say they bought 20 barrels of 1yr old Bourbon from HH. By the time these barrels turn 4, or 5, or 7 years old, 2 of the 20 barrels could have become "honey" in that time, but HH would not have known that when the barrels were 1yr old. All barrels are so different, and different at every stage. Get it?

Also, let's take current Michters or current Hirsch. KBD will actually do these bottlings, dumping multiple barrels for a taste profile. Nothing to do with single barrel expression and taste. See what we're saying here?

Any single barrel can be awesome, or suck. There's only one way to know.

[393foureyedfox]

I'm going to jump in and assume they did a few barrels worth for the KBF strictly for the GS. Since an 8yr barrel is 200 bottles or so, likely all stayed there....and if it didn't i wouldn't have a guess which stores would get. May want to call the GS, never know if they "found" a case.

i was there at 10am on the KBF saturday and all they had was a 6 and some 20+ year stuff.

will the variety of profiles disappear from Willett in a few years when they start bottling their own distillate, or do you guys think theyll continue to buy from other distilleries for their FE products?

[Paddy]

Reading this thread is making me thirsty.

[ewj]

interesting read! looking forward to delving into willett some more also, pretty damn thirsty now!

[393foureyedfox]

still no releases yet?

[NWBourbonDrinker]

Any word on new releases? I have been checking my sources and it seems like everything but the 3-4 year Rye has been sold.

[P&MLiquorsEric]

None. 13 months since we initially inquired. 9 since barrel samples selected.

Some places I have spoken with are at nearly twice that and still no bottles.

I like willetts product enough to not bash them...but if is getting hard to keep the faith.

Soon they will have their own aged product and will be looking for placement. In poker terms, I will be on the button then.

[GaryT]

I don't blame you Eric - at a minimum they could acknowledge that the WFE program is on hold for X years. I imagine that they make more on some of their KBD labels (hey - according to Parker that Old Bardstown is amazing stuff!) than the WFEs when you factor in production costs.

It will be a while yet though before they have anything with some age on it. Wasn't it in early 2012 that they fired up the stills? Should be able to see some of their rye in a couple years (as I enjoy the 4 yr), and maybe they'll do something unique with bourbon (4 yr, 110 proof, like the young ryes?) Or a BIB. But even those will likely be lower volume if they plan on holding barrels back to age.

[Kyjd75]

I called the Willett gift shop last week on behalf of a friend looking for a gift bottle. All they had at that time was the 4 yr and 25 yr ryes. No WFE bourbon at all!:bigeyes: A real disappointment as every WFE that I have tried was top notch bourbon.

[WhiskyRI]

Here's my take on it. Once I realized that the bottles were from Single Barrels I realized that if I liked a bottle, I better go back and buy a bunch of them. Recently someone pointed me to a semi-local retailer bottling of a WFE 12 year - based on his recommendation alone I picked up three bottles at $70 a pop. That night I cracked one and immediately ordered another 3 bottles. If my budget would have allowed I'd have bought multiple cases. It was/is extraordinary. I've also had different ages from different retailers and each one has been very good.

Whenever I see a WFE bourbon I pull the trigger and buy a bottle. I was traveling on business to Seattle and found a retailer with a bottle - I pulled the trigger even with WA state's ridiculous tax situation. It was darn good and unique. And priced roughly the same as the BTAC collection. I also pull the trigger when I see a WFE Rye distilled in KY - although it's been a while since I've seen one of those. I like being able to pull out a bourbon I know someone hasn't had before. So although they have had a WFE they most likely haven't had "this WFE".

I regularly lead people through tastings of bourbon and it's fun to give them something they can buy on a regular basis but it's also fun to show them something special and unique. I recently gave a taste of two different WFE's to some friends who are serious wine geeks and they were blown away. They had never had bourbons like these. It completely changed their perspectives on what bourbon could be. They never knew bourbon could be so complex. My hope is that the current shortage of WFE means that when it returns (please let it be soon) the quality will be just as high.

[TunnelTiger]

The only Willet product I've seen in the wild is the pot still, yuck. Do other areas in GA get any and if not why do they send us the over priced, poor tasting ps?

[GaryT]

I haven't see the ryes around here lately, but for a bit saw the 4yr ryes with regularity around Atlanta. I can't say every WFE bottle I've tried was spectacular, although for sure the majority were. I've got a couple that had I been able to taste before, I wouldn't have bought.

Maybe if they would have let less go, they would still have some to offer now. But on the other hand, maybe they had to strike while the iron was hot in order to finance their build-up of the distillery?

[tanstaafl2]

There were a few WFE barrel proof bourbons that floated through town early last year I believe. One was a seemingly young 4yo (youngest I have seen either here or in the gift shop. A sign the tap was running dry?) and the other an 8yo. Haven't gotten around to trying either of them yet. Haven't seen them or any other WFE bourbon since. Still see the 4yo rye on occasion in town.

[Chilly Water]

Finding WFE where I can buy it at "retail" is a bitch. We don't get it in NC, and the ones I see on shelves in SC are the regular 4/5yr ryes. If I'm not going out of state to go hunting for some, where else should I be looking for things older than 10 yrs or so? Everywhere they list them online are sold out.

[mbroo5880i]

Recently, I have found some retailers do not even put WFE bourbon on the shelf. You have to ask for it. In cases, where WFE rye (4 year) has shown up on the shelf, it typically doesn't last for more than few days.

[PaulO]

I'm assuming the 4 year old WFE rye is the one from Indiana?

[luther.r]

I'm assuming the 4 year old WFE rye is the one from Indiana?

Generally, yes. It will say distilled in Indiana on the back label if it's from MPGI.

[White Dog]

The only Willet product I've seen in the wild is the pot still, yuck. Do other areas in GA get any and if not why do they send us the over priced, poor tasting ps?

[White Dog]

Finding WFE where I can buy it at "retail" is a bitch. We don't get it in NC, and the ones I see on shelves in SC are the regular 4/5yr ryes. If I'm not going out of state to go hunting for some, where else should I be looking for things older than 10 yrs or so? Everywhere they list them online are sold out.