Willett XCF Version 1.0 was the first release in Willett's Exploratory Cask Finish line: a 7-year-old rye whiskey given a short second maturation in French curaçao casks. It came out at the Bardstown distillery in late 2013 and was a small, one-off batch.
About This Whiskey
The rye was distilled in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, from a mash of 95% rye and 5% malted barley, then aged for seven years in new charred oak in Willett's Bardstown warehouses. Drew Kulsveen shipped 25 casks from France that had held orange curaçao; it took 42 barrels of the rye to fill them. After 90 days the casks were dumped together, brought down from about 115 proof to 103.4 proof and bottled, without colouring or chill filtration, as 6,912 bottles.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Orange marmalade over rye spice, with menthol, eucalyptus and fennel.
- Palate: Bold and sweet-edged, with candied orange, fresh oak and brown sugar against peppery rye.
- Finish: Warm and lively, with lingering citrus peel, herbs and spice.
Serving & Food
With its orange and herbal notes, XCF drinks almost like a bitter-sweet digestif. Serve it neat, slightly cool, in a small snifter after dinner, or with a strip of orange peel over ice. Try it alongside orange-glazed duck or a dark chocolate tart.
How to Enjoy
Rye drinkers curious about cask finishing, and fans of Willett's more unusual releases.
Product Details
Producer: Willett Distillery (Kentucky Bourbon Distillers)
Expression: XCF Exploratory Cask Finish, Version 1.0
Style: Rye whiskey finished in curaçao casks
Mash Bill: 95% rye, 5% malted barley
Age: 7 years, plus 90-day finish
Released: 2013
Bottles: 6,912
ABV: 51.7%
Proof: 103.4
Origin: Distilled in Indiana, aged and bottled in Bardstown, Kentucky
Volume: 750mL
About the Distillery
Willett sells some of its whiskey under the Willett Family Estate label, which the family describes as existing for its own private barrel selection program: barrel proof, unfiltered straight whiskey, chosen one cask at a time.
For much of its recent history the company worked as a bottler, buying mature stock from other distilleries and choosing barrels with care. That selecting skill is what made projects like XCF possible before Willett's own distillate, first run in 2012, was old enough to use.
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