Willett Single Barrel 12 Year Barrel # 3656 121.6 Proof 750mL

A 12-year-old single barrel Kentucky straight bourbon from Willett's Family Estate program, drawn from barrel #3656 and bottled uncut at 121.6 proof. Twelve years is a good stretch for a Willett barrel: plenty of oak, with real sweetness still in hand.

About This Bourbon

Family Estate bourbons are bottled one barrel at a time at full barrel proof and without chill filtration. The label records the age, barrel number and proof, here #3656 at 121.6 proof, or 60.8% ABV. Willett has worked with a standard bourbon mash of 72% corn, 13% rye and 15% barley and a high-rye mash of 52% corn, 38% rye and 10% barley, filled at around 125 proof. At twelve years, barrels from its Bardstown warehouses usually show deep caramel, dark fruit and firm oak.

Tasting Profile

• Nose: Dark caramel, orange peel, toasted oak and clove.
• Palate: Rich and warming, with toffee, dark sugar, cherry and baking spice at full strength.
• Finish: Long and oak-led, with lingering sweetness, leather and pepper.

Serving & Food

Room temperature, a Glencairn, and patience. At over 60% ABV a teaspoon of water helps the caramel and fruit show. A thick ribeye, bitter chocolate or grilled pork belly all stand up to it.

How to Enjoy

Anyone following individual Willett barrels, with a taste for mature, high-proof whiskey.

Product Details

About the Distillery

Willett Distilling Company was founded in 1936 by Lambert Willett and his sons, led by Thompson Willett, on the family farm just outside Bardstown. Work began that spring, soon after Prohibition ended, and the first 30 barrels were filled on 17 March 1937.

The family's whiskey roots go further back. Thompson's grandfather John David Willett was a master distiller in the Bardstown area in the 19th century, and his recipes were the base of Old Bardstown, the brand the new distillery built its name on.