wadewood Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 I was browsing this website; Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, Ltd.. This is the company owned by Evan Kulsveen. It has been discussed here before that all that goes on is bottling at this site. We also wondered where he gets his bulk whiskey. On the Distillation tab of website, it states the bourbon is from a pot still. Is this just marketing? or does he get his whiskey from someone who still uses a potstill? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradox Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 I'm drawing a blank but it does say that it is first distilled as most distilleries do in a column still and then redistilled in pot stills... So it's not like their first run distillate is from a pot still. I'm certain Chuck and others will have better info. Great website though, I never have seen it before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 Thanks for finding this, very interesting! It sounds like all this whiskey is made on-site, is that possible? E.g., the description of their still system, I can't see any reference to contracting production elsewhere. So many brands, but I can't recall seeing many of them on the shelves during my recent Sampler trip, Rowan Creek was there, maybe one or two others. Sounds like a concerted effort is being made to put many (all?) of these brands on the domestic market. Nice site with interesting information on Willett family history. By the way the Vintage Selection (bottles dated from '76 - '83) surely must have been made by the original Willett's because the site says the distillery (until the current generation took over) operated until the mid-80's.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradox Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 The vintage series may only be available for export. At least that's the only place I have seen it available, overseas. Old Bardstown I remember seeing at Toddy's, actually, I think I bought a bottle of it there but that was back in 2002. Johnny Drum 15yo I have only seen available on internetwines.com, I know it has been around for a while now. The Rowans Creek and the other 3 in the SB Botique Collection are pretty readily found, especially at liquor barns there in KY. If anyone has ever seen the Vintage series here in the US, mainly the 1976, please let us know. I would love to have a bottle of that year for particular reasons... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgonano Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 Many thought that Heaven Hill supplied the whiskey. However the site shows a fermentation process. Is it possible that they contract the first distillation thereby avoiding the mashing,etc. The second distillation could be done on premises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeNell Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 I emailed the contact on the site inquiring about NY distribution possibilities for the other whiskeys outside the Small Batch Boutique collection which are already here. I'll keep you posted on any response I get. You are prolly right, though, in that the Vintage series is for export only. Just our luck, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Good for them, all power to them, and I'm glad they did this (put up a web site), but there is nothing here (altough careful reading is required) to indicate anything has changed. KBD is still a bottler and marketer operating at the site of a defunct distillery. In their distillation section, just substitute "Heaven Hill" (or anyone else who may be selling bulk whiskey to them) for "our" and everything is true, to the extent that Heaven Hill hangs a KBD dba on the wall when they are making whiskey for Even, the "our" is true too. In fact, everything they say is true. I'm not disputing anything, but if they were making any whiskey up there on Willett Hill, I'm sure one of our local spies (you know who you are) would have told us about it.That Vintage Collection is very interesting. You would think it must be Willett whiskey. They did distill into the 80s, although there were some years in there when they were making GNS, not whiskey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 But what about the special "bourbon" continuous still they refer to; can it be loaned by Heaven Hill yet different from HH's standard equipment? Is it not possible Mr. Kulsveen has been distilling on the former Willett's site, or at least doubling the whiskey the way Dave has suggested?Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyc Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 I'm sure one of our local spies (you know who you are) would have told us about it. On the day last November Greg Kitzmiller and I stood in Heaven Hills parking lot after we looked at the new visitor center site and I pointed out the warehouses on Willetts hill and talked a bit about it. No smoke coming from there that day. BrendaJ 's son worked there for a time so she would know the most, Of course BettyeJo would see the site almost daily as well. Who has a pot still? Wth all the vodka being distilled in those maybe someone does a run now and then.At any rate it's as Chuck says. They are distilling more on the Website than on the Hill in Bardstown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Here is what they actually say: The first distilling is achieved by the use of a custom designed column still, made especially for the distilling of Bourbon. The still at Heaven Hill Bernheim is a "custom designed column still, made especially for the distilling of Bourbon." So is the still at Jim Beam Clermont, the still at Jim Beam Boston, the still at Barton, the still at Maker's Mark, the still at Wild Turkey ... you get the picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wadewood Posted June 4, 2004 Author Share Posted June 4, 2004 I'm more interested in the 2nd distillation that uses a pot still. I was hoping somebody knew what other major distillers use pot stills on their 2nd distillation or if this is common. The full paragraph reads: The first distilling is achieved by the use of a custom designed column still, made especially for the distilling of Bourbon. Thereafter, we distill our Bourbon a second time. This time, in we use a pot still, also custom made for our product, with the design based on the Alembic, original still design. Incorporated into the design of our custom made pot-still is a special film-tray section added into the top section of the still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Who uses a pot still for their second distillation? Everybody. They call it a doubler (direct heat source) or a thumper (steam) but either way it is an alembic-type still. They don't look like the ones in Scotland (or at Woodford Reserve) but they are, in actual fact, pot stills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubleblank Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Wade....Using a pot still for the second distillation is very common. There are some informative discussions on distillation elsewhere on this board that explain it in detail.Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boone Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Hmmmmmm...thanks Chuck for "Reading in between the lines"... I look over at the old Willetts place daily...No smell of distilling going on there...Geezzzzzzzzzz...By the picture that's on that web page it looks to be a nice looking place when actually it's really dumpy looking, run down, almost looks abandoned... They bottle in there. Bettye Jo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Yes but the drawing on the site shows a separate, free standing alembic still such as is used in Scotland (spirit still). I thought that thumper and other typical bourbon industry doubling equipment was different, operating on a pot still-like basis but attached to the columnar apparatus to receive the spirit but not something where you loaded the column distillate, batch-style, into a separate piece of equipment that looks a lot like a Scots spirit still.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 The illustration is indeed of a scottish-type alembic and, therefore, somewhat misleading. It was probably pulled out of a book without a lot of thought. A doubler/thumper is classified as a pot or alembic still, but it doesn't look like the one in the picture. If one interprets that picture as a drawing of "their" still, then it is misleading, because I guarantee "their" still does not look like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 The picture is taken from just far enough away that you can't see how old the cars are. My guess would be that the picture was taken when the place was brand new, in the 1930s or thereabouts. Maybe as late as the 1950s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgonano Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Well, maybe not the 30's but 50's or 60's perhaps. Funny how the site says the family has put a lot of time into restoring the facilities. When finished ? it will look like it did in 1800's. Regarding the stills, if they were on site , KBD most likely would have displayed a photo image as opposed to a chemistry book drawing. One last thought... is their whiskey made according to their specifications or do they just pick barrels that have certain characteristics and age the whiskey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 ...is their whiskey made according to their specifications... Probably not. ... or do they just pick barrels that have certain characteristics ... They probably do that, yes. ... and age the whiskey? I don't believe they do any aging on site. They simply buy whiskey of the age they want. Part of the reason for this is that aging whiskey yourself ties up capital and incurs a state tax liability. If there is any whiskey in the remaining rackhouses there it belongs to someone else and KBD is merely leasing them the space. If they would subsequently happen to buy some barrels that are already on their premises, it would be a coincidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyc Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 If there is any whiskey in the remaining rackhouses Also the issue of the odd sized barrels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendaj Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 Yepper Bobby, They are distilling more on the Website than on the Hill in Bardstown. My Son said there wasn't any Bourbon aging in any of the warehouses he was in (and I think he said he had been in all of them). And definitely no distilling. I think they had some plans for a Visitor Center when I shot those photos a couple of years ago. They even had some lumber delivered. But it looks like HH beat 'em to the punch.Bj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boone Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 Also the issue of the odd sized barrels. Yeah...the guys in the dump room described them to me. Short, fat and really round...They called em' "hog head" barrels ... Bettye Jo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbutler Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 Chuck, An enhancement of one area of the photo shows what is clearly a mid-seventies Chevrolet stepside pickup. Most of the other vehicles appear to be 60's or early 70's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyc Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 Short, fat and really round...They called em' "hog head" barrels As I understand it, there would have to be a lot of carpenter work done for a 52 gallon standard size barrel to fit in Willetts warehouses. In fact it may not be possible then depending on if enough clearance could be found for the longer barrels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted June 6, 2004 Share Posted June 6, 2004 Nice work, chief. Between our local humint assets and your technology, KBD won't put anything past us. After I wrote my post above, it occurred to me that what were obviously light colored cars meant it was probably the fifties at the earliest. Thanks for nailing it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts