Willett WFE 9/10 year bourbon?

[Schultz24]

Hello all.  Quick question for the members here with more experience than me.  Been into collecting and of course drinking bourbon for almost 10 years now and have had the opportunity to purchase and taste a lot of well known bottles but have never had a chance to pick up one of these until now.  I have the opportunity to purchase either a 9 year, 134 proof or a 10 year, 132 proof.  The kicker is that they are at what I understand to be MSRP, but are still $350 and $370 respectively which seems like quite a bit to me.  Does anyone have any thoughts on if, in their experience, these would be worth picking up?  I have never tasted them and I get that they are all different, I am just on the fence as that is quite a hefty price for a bottle.  Thanks!

[PaulO]

Maybe some of the members that really know Willett can help.

I'm not sure if Willett has any or much of their own make 9 or 10 years old.  I could be wrong.

If we saw the actual wording on the label, that would tell us.

It used to be, those WFE selections were from barrels they sourced (different mash bills and distilleries).  That doesn't make it good or bad, but  unpredictable.  Also, if you know a barrel number, could be someone here has tried it.

[0895]

I’ve tried maybe 5 different 9-10 year house distilled singles (Bourbon) over the last year.

 

None of them were worth even talking about IMO.

 

Edited February 29, 2024 by 0895

[FacePlant]

Those are not unreasonable prices for someone that might want to flip to secondary. If you want to buy some good bourbon for you and your buddies, buy and flip, then purchase 5 or eight great bottles under $100? If your like 95% of US ON THE BOARD pass.

[Schultz24]

4 hours ago, PaulO said:

Maybe some of the members that really know Willett can help.

I'm not sure if Willett has any or much of their own make 9 or 10 years old.  I could be wrong.

If we saw the actual wording on the label, that would tell us.

It used to be, those WFE selections were from barrels they sourced (different mash bills and distilleries).  That doesn't make it good or bad, but  unpredictable.  Also, if you know a barrel number, could be someone here has tried it.

Barrel #6681 on the 9 year and 2862 on the 10 year.  Thanks so much for the replies thus far.  Still looking for any more opinions especially if anyone has tried these barrels.

[mal00768]

The bottle of house distilled 6 year I purchased had a note that was a bit like sucking on a dry tea bag. I felt that I had wasted my money. 
 

Don’t make the same mistake. Buy $300 of WT instead. 

Edited February 29, 2024 by mal00768

[smokinjoe]

5 hours ago, Schultz24 said:

Hello all.  Quick question for the members here with more experience than me.  Been into collecting and of course drinking bourbon for almost 10 years now and have had the opportunity to purchase and taste a lot of well known bottles but have never had a chance to pick up one of these until now.  I have the opportunity to purchase either a 9 year, 134 proof or a 10 year, 132 proof.  The kicker is that they are at what I understand to be MSRP, but are still $350 and $370 respectively which seems like quite a bit to me.  Does anyone have any thoughts on if, in their experience, these would be worth picking up?  I have never tasted them and I get that they are all different, I am just on the fence as that is quite a hefty price for a bottle.  Thanks!

Hi Schultz.  Are these Willett distilled?  

[Schultz24]

31 minutes ago, smokinjoe said:

Hi Schultz.  Are these Willett distilled?  

Looks like both bottles say “distilled, aged, and bottled at Willett Distillery”.

[FasterHorses]

Compare to 

10 year Eagle Rare

10 year Russels

10-12 yr Elijah Craig

10 year mcKenna

10 year JD

9-12 yr KC

even 12 year Weller

Why would willett command these exhorbitant prices for bourbon of the same age? It is silly season at Willett. 100% marketing. PT Barnum is laughing. 

[PaulO]

"It is silly season at Willett."  

[fishnbowljoe]

1 hour ago, PaulO said:

"It is silly season at Willett."  

Please sit down @PaulO.

[Charlutz]

Since the thread momentum is going one way I’ll offer another perspective. In the summer of 2022 I had the opportunity to do a couple of barrel picks at Willett. The family was awesome. The facility and restaurant are awesome. Am I biased? Maybe. The two barrels we picked were two different mashbills. I believe they have four mashbills. On that day, I felt good about the 9 year we picked (out of four).  By the time we got to the second round (again out of 4) my tastebuds were shot but our host helped us pick the 8 year. 
 

I bought three bottles of each at much lower prices than you are quoting. In the two years since, I prefer the 8 year in a SBS but standing alone it’s probably hard to tell the difference. They are fun whiskeys. I experiment with drinking them with ice, water or neat. The proof of them stands up to a lot. They have good flavor to me. 
 

I wouldn’t regret paying your retail price knowing what I do now, at least for a bottle or two. Is bookers or ECBP a better value? Sure. But sometimes this hobby is about trying what you can. 

[PaulO]

On 2/29/2024 at 2:56 PM, fishnbowljoe said:

Please sit down @PaulO.

Hey, FasterHorses is the one that said it.  I just laughed.

 

But, to be fair to Willett, they have to deal with supply and demand.

I recall, years ago, the prices on WFE bottles weren't too out of line with other brands if you figured in age and proof.

Things changed when a sort of mania developed via the internet/Facebook.  Some people decided to swoop in and buy everything as soon as available, then sell it themselves at a huge mark up online (even though this is against the law).  You have to take into account we're not talking about a huge number of bottles to begin with.  Anyway, Willett decided the way to deal with flippers was to change the retail price to what customers were willing to pay.

[JT3NSB]

I have been to the distillery (many years ago) on mornings when they put the days bottling of WFE out. I was able to pick up several 14, 16 and even 17yr bottles.  Each trip they nudged up in price a little.  The last 14yr was in about 2017 and was 175 ea, with a limit of two.  To the point @PaulOmakes, I saw many locals in the shop that were indeed flippers.  Some of those exact barrels were on bottle spot and CL within two hours of the place opening at $800 and up.   If raising the prices some stops this, I get it.    But as @FasterHorses said, there are way too many with better pricing to overpay. 

 

Price one is willing to pay is certainly subjective and all about your perspective.  

 

Wild times in the bourbon world....

[fishnbowljoe]

2 hours ago, PaulO said:

Hey, FasterHorses is the one that said it.  I just laughed.

 

But, to be fair to Willett, they have to deal with supply and demand.

I recall, years ago, the prices on WFE bottles weren't too out of line with other brands if you figured in age and proof.

Things changed when a sort of mania developed via the internet/Facebook.  Some people decided to swoop in and buy everything as soon as available, then sell it themselves at a huge mark up online (even though this is against the law).  You have to take into account we're not talking about a huge number of bottles to begin with.  Anyway, Willett decided the way to deal with flippers was to change the retail price to what customers were willing to pay.

I know @PaulO. I just had to give my fellow Hoosier a hard time.

[flahute]

On 2/28/2024 at 1:53 PM, PaulO said:

Maybe some of the members that really know Willett can help.

I'm not sure if Willett has any or much of their own make 9 or 10 years old.  I could be wrong.

If we saw the actual wording on the label, that would tell us.

It used to be, those WFE selections were from barrels they sourced (different mash bills and distilleries).  That doesn't make it good or bad, but  unpredictable.  Also, if you know a barrel number, could be someone here has tried it.

Everything Willett has at 9 and 10 yrs is now their own distillate.

[Jazz June]

I have said this on here before, but I’m not impressed with the price to quality on WFE bourbon (based on a half a dozen or so at 9-10 years old). The 8 and 9 year ryes are very good and slightly cheaper than the bourbons but still expensive. I would be tempted on the ryes at MSRP but not an automatic buy. Others who are knowledgeable disagree and think the values on the bourbon are justified (at least at MSRP).

[ThirstyinOhio]

I'm probably as big of a fan boy of Willett as one can get....that being said the price of their older distillate is getting a bit steep when you compare it to ECBP.  At MSRP, I'd buy them, but I definitely wouldn't be buying them at any inflated pricing be it at a store or online somewhere.  I've had some amazing 9 and 10 year barrels from them but also some very unimpressive.  I know this isn't helpful, but I'd say just buy one of them and give it a whirl...if its bad just bring it to the Gazebo to share at the April meetup in Bardstown.  

[flahute]

I picked a 10yr WFE rye back in November with my group and it's a stunningly good barrel. Even so the price stings but I will buck up because I know how good it is and because access to these picks is virtually non existent right now.

If I had not picked it and had not tasted it I would not pay the price. Willett pricing will continue to be controversial. As mentioned above they made the decision a while ago to take the secondary market profits for themselves and who can blame them. If it works, go for it.

How long will it keep up? As long as people confer a luxury worth on it and continue to pay. The market will decide as it always does.