Speakeasy Bourbon by Willett

I have an innate lazy streak to my personality. Like, so innate that my mother tells stories of how she was concerned I might not actually be alive when I was in the womb. I just didn’t move much. Fifty years later or so, and that hasn’t changed much. I still have a general inclination toward a sedentary lifestyle. I just don’t like to expend any more energy than I have to in order to get the result I want. If the only way I can get a certain result is to work hard and tire myself out, I certainly will. But if there’s an easier way to get the same result, I’ll take it.

And this is why the modern “speakeasy” concept irritates the hell out of me. Seriously? Why make it harder for me to give you my money? I’ve seen ones “hiding” in gas stations and burger joints. I’ve even seen one where you need to do a math problem to figure out the passkey for a keypad—if you didn’t already know it. This one was a standalone building on a busy street, so it wasn’t hiding.

I get that these places appeal to people who are much less pragmatic than I am. But what are my ultimate goals when headed out to grab a drink with a friend? One, hanging out with a friend, and two, grabbing a drink. If I wanted to hang out at an escape room, I would. But since my goal is a drink, just let me buy it. The easier you make it for me to get what I want, the more apt I am to come back a second time. I don’t need anyone to overcomplicate things.

So now that I’ve gotten out an old-man rant that is only kinda appropriate because of the name of tonight’s bourbon, let’s leave off yelling at clouds and get to the purpose of this review. Speakeasy Bourbon is another bottle I picked up on my way through Kentucky last month. Because I don’t get press releases from Willett, I had never heard of this one. I grabbed it because it’s fun when you find a new bottle from an established producer. Most of the time, it means you aren’t about to waste your money on it.

Before we get into the details, let’s let the folks at Willett have their say, from their website:

Behind false bookshelves and trick doors, parties of lavish extravagance were replete with jazz music and the allure of forbidden spirits. Patrons knew to “speak easy” or softly of their secret watering hole, lest they draw the attention of a prohibition agent. The Noble Experiment failed, but the bold resilience of elegant whiskey drinkers has proven timeless.

Speakeasy is made from a mashbill of 79% corn, 7% rye, and 14% malted barley. It is entered into the barrel at 125 proof, the highest proof legally allowed. After aging, it is cut to 98 proof and bottled. Let’s see how it tastes.

Speakeasy Bourbon by Willett

Purchase Info: $39.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Liquor Barn, Louisville, KY.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.67

Details: 49% ABV. Mashbill of 79% corn, 7% rye, and 14% malted barley

Nose: Oak, wax, cardamom pods, cinnamon, and hints of citrus and mint

Mouth: Cinnamon, chocolate, nougat, oak, cardamom, and a touch of both citrus and mint

Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Notes of cardamom, chocolate, nougat, and cinnamon

Thoughts: Not bad, but not great. When I first nosed this, I was struck by the smell of freshly waxed hardwood. Over time, that shifted to more of a cardamom note among others. The mouth follows the nose and adds in "candy bar" notes of nougat and chocolate. The finish is on the gentler side of medium. More of the same notes. The mouthfeel is thick and rich. There are people who will love this, but I’m not one of them. The notes just aren’t hitting for me. I’m neutral on this one. It currently lives among my cocktail supplies, as it is very nice in a cocktail. Which I guess is thematically appropriate for a bourbon named after a place that sold cocktails to cover up the subpar spirits available at the time. But the price is decent for a cocktail ingredient, if on the higher end of the definition of decent. Luckily, the store selling it didn’t put it behind a math problem…

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12th Annual BourbonGuy.com Brackets: The Championship Rounds

Welcome back, folks! We are now at the end of the 2025 contest. Eight whiskeys entered the arena. Four have fallen by the wayside. There have been some delicious treats, with not a single stinker in the bunch. Let’s see how it all ends and if we’ve learned anything along the way. First, we have the Round Two matchups.

Division 2: Gleaming Pancake (Jeppson’s 100 Proof Bourbon) vs. Lumpy Telescope (Maker’s Mark)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: As I go back and forth nosing these, I'm always amazed at how the comparison allows you to sense different notes. When Lumpy Telescope was being compared to Soggy Parrot, there was no hint of the smoky maple on the nose that I'm getting now that it is being compared to Gleaming Pancake. This is why the "real" tasting notes I do are always done with a clean palate.

Both of these are quite tasty in the mouth. However, the softer mouthfeel of Gleaming Pancake and the baking spice is a little nicer than the slightly bitter stone fruit notes of Lumpy Telescope.

Winner: Gleaming Pancake (Jeppson’s 100 Proof Bourbon) moves on to the Championship Round on the softer mouthfeel and baking spice.

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Division 1: Rusty Marshmallow (Old Bardstown) vs. Wobbly Cactus (Jim Beam Black)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: Not a ton of difference on the nose between these, with Rusty Marshmallow being slightly more vibrant. As for the mouth and finish, it seems that I like whichever I’ve had last. The cinnamon roll notes of Rusty Marshmallow are delicious. But what puts it over the edge is that I like its finish better. Tough one.

Winner: Rusty Marshmallow (Old Bardstown) moves on to the Championship Round on the strength of that cinnamon roll note.

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Championship Round: Rusty Marshmallow (Old Bardstown) vs. Gleaming Pancake (Jeppson’s 100 Proof Bourbon)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: On the nose, Rusty Marshmallow is slightly more interesting. A little breadier. Not better, but more interesting. Still tied as we head into the mouth and finish. I must be really into cinnamon spice notes right now because both of these have that in spades on the mouth and finish. Damn! This one is tough. At the end of the day, Rusty Marshmallow just had slightly more flavor than Gleaming Pancake, and since both were delicious, I'll use that as the tie-breaker.

Winner: Rusty Marshmallow (Old Bardstown)

Congrats to Old Bardstown, the 2025 BourbonGuy.com Bracket Champion!

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This was an interesting contest for me. I knew going in that there was only one bourbon that I might need to brace myself for before taking the first sip. Unfortunately for me, I had no idea when or where that one would show up. But luckily, every one of the bourbons was good. I don’t think I’d say there was anything in here that would warrant a “meh/neutral” rating if it were being tasted alone, which makes the contest so much fun as a taster. Though, seeing my reactions to bad whiskey might have been more entertaining as a reader.

So, what did I learn about each of these?

First off, the winner—Old Bardstown. I’m not sure that when I started this project 12 years ago, I would have ever expected a craft bourbon to be in the contest, much less win it. Twelve years ago, small distilleries were almost exclusively more expensive and lower quality than the big guys. At that point, the idea that a small distiller could compete with the big brands on price was ludicrous. Plus, most of them just didn’t taste as good. That has changed over the years, and I’m very happy to see it.

Moving over to the other Championship contender, Jeppson’s 100 Proof Bourbon was the bottle that I thought I might need to dump after the competition was over. I wouldn’t mean to, and I’d swear during the competition that it was pretty okay. But I’d never reach for it and would eventually dump it when I needed the shelf space. That’s what I thought I’d be writing here. But no—this was a decent bourbon. And since it is likely a blend of MGP and Dickel, based on the listed states of distillation, that’s no surprise. A Dickel bourbon won last year, so it’s not surprising that one made from it would go far this year too.

Benchmark Bonded was one that I was surprised to see knocked out in the first round. I hadn’t had it before, but I’d had the old 90-proof Benchmark and enjoyed it. I also picked up the Benchmark Full Proof back in September as well. Really enjoyed that too. I fully expected that the 100-proof version of Benchmark would go far. A probable contender. If forced to put money on a winner, this would have been the one I’d have chosen to win its division.

Maker’s Mark is the other one that I would have chosen to win its division. I really like Maker’s Mark and would have guessed I’d have liked it better than Larceny, Old Forester, and something I’d never heard of before. Not much for me to learn here. I just really like it.

These days, when I think of Larceny, I usually think of the Barrel Proof version that I get samples of a few times per year. I almost never think of the standard 92-proof version. I had a bottle that tasted funny a few years back, and it put me off of it for a while. I enjoyed it here, but there was no way that it was going to beat one of my favorite bourbons. It got a bad draw and suffered from it. I wonder how it would have fared if Larceny and Jim Beam Black had switched spots so it could have gone up against the final wheated bourbon.

Speak of the Devil, Rebel 100 is the final wheated bourbon in the contest. I had really wanted to find one more sub-$25 wheated bourbon so I could have wheated and non-wheated divisions, but alas, there aren’t that many wheated bourbons on the market, and even fewer that are affordable. If memory serves, I think Buffalo Trace might be the only other “big guy” to regularly produce one. And good luck getting anything that shares a mash bill with Pappy out of there without it costing an arm and a leg.

Jim Beam Black is a good bourbon. For some reason, I never buy it, but it is a good bourbon. The issue is that I usually need to be in the mood for it. And I don’t drink enough these days to have “change of pace” bourbons on my shelf.

Finally, Old Forester 86 is also a great bourbon. Personally, I prefer its higher-proof cousins, though. The 100 proof is delicious, and the Whiskey Row Series is just phenomenal. But 86 proof is nothing to sneeze at.

Now that we are done, it’s time to turn the page to the future. Next week, we will look at the samples that have been stacking up while the contest was going on. As much fun as this was, it’s fun to try new bourbons too.

Once again, congrats to Willett and Old Bardstown on their 2025 Championship!

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12th Annual BourbonGuy.com Brackets: Round 1: Benchmark Bonded vs Old Bardstown

Welcome to the fourth and final matchup of Round One for the 2025 BourbonGuy.com Brackets. These were tasted in an order only known to my wife as another bit of obfuscation to hide what was being tasted. Tonight, Division 1’s Number 1 seed, Benchmark Bonded, takes on Number 4 seed, Old Bardstown.

Benchmark Bonded is a product of the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, KY. This bottle was purchased in September 2024 at Binny’s Beverage Depot in Chicago, IL, for $19.99 for a 750 mL bottle or $1.33 per pour.

Their opponent is Old Bardstown. A product of the Willett Distillery in Bardstown, KY, it is the only true craft bourbon in the competition. This bottle was purchased at South Lyndale Liquor in Minneapolis, MN, for $21.99 for a 750 mL bottle or $1.47 per pour.

All of the competitions this year were tasted blind, and we knew the winner of the competition prior to any reveal. Notes, thoughts, and conclusions were all recorded before we knew which bourbon was which. Needless to say, some of my conclusions were surprising to me. Tasting notes may be a little unusual since they were tasted side by side and will have influenced the perception of one another.

Rusty Marshmallow (Old Bardstown)

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $1.47

Details: 45% ABV

Nose: Vanilla, red fruit, and a touch of oak

Mouth: Strong cinnamon spice notes followed by caramel and bread notes. Reminds me of a good cinnamon roll

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium. Good cinnamon spice notes

Baffled Toaster (Benchmark Bonded)

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $1.33

Details: 50% ABV

Nose: Brown sugar, apple, and oak

Mouth: Cinnamon, clove, toffee, apple, and leather

Finish: Medium in warmth and length, with notes of cinnamon, clove, and toffee

Thoughts:

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: Here’s another close one. Baffled Toaster is delicious—I’m really digging the apple notes. However, that cinnamon spice on Rusty Marshmallow is just calling to me. My favorite dessert is a great cinnamon roll, and this captures that.

Post-Reveal Thoughts: Another surprising result. Not only is there the David vs. Goliath angle of Willett vs. Buffalo Trace, but there’s also the proof difference between the pair. But one thing that isn’t surprising is that Willett turned out to be the giant slayer. They’ve been releasing sought-after bourbons for decades, even if they only started putting out products they distilled themselves about 10 years ago.

Winner: Old Bardstown is advancing to round 2.

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12th Annual BourbonGuy.com Brackets: The “Man, It’s Getting Hard to Find Things Under $25” Edition

You know what time it is! The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament has already started, which means everyone is in Bracket Mode. It really is a wonderful time of year. Up here in the northernmost state in the contiguous U.S., the snow is still trying to fall, though the end is in sight. Gardeners have started their seeds, there are days when the windows can be opened, and, of course, there are brackets to be filled out—and busted.

No, not those silly basketball or hockey brackets. We’re talking Bourbon Brackets. And let me tell you, this really is my favorite time of year. In fact, I enjoy it so much that whenever I decide to hang up the ol’ keyboard, I already know what my last series of posts will be: brackets. But don’t worry—that’s a ways off yet. I’d like to make it to at least 15 years of publishing first.

And let me tell you, this year’s competition is a good one. Of the seven major bourbon producers that existed when I started this site (Beam/Maker’s, Buffalo Trace/Barton, MGP (now including Lux Row), Heaven Hill, Four Roses, Wild Turkey, and Brown-Forman), five are represented this year. The other two have been featured often enough that I used their spots for some newer faces.

The Selection Rules

This year’s selection process was simple:

• The bourbon had to be in a 750 mL bottle

• It had to cost under $25

That’s it!

For seeding, I sorted by proof first, followed by stated age (if applicable), and then used price as the final tiebreaker. Here’s what that got us:

Division 1

• Seed 1: Benchmark Bonded

  • A reader suggestion from last year. It's not available in Minnesota (that I’ve seen), so I grabbed it at Binny’s Beverage Depot in Chicago for $19.99 back in September of 2024. 100 proof.

  • Nonsense name: Baffled Toaster

• Seed 2: Rebel 100

  • The first of three wheated bourbons in the competition—and the cheapest of the three 100-proof bottles.

  • Purchased at Viking Liquor Barrel (Prior Lake, MN) for $17.09.

  • Nonsense name: Grumpy Cloud

• Seed 3: Jim Beam Black

  • The newly age-stated 7-year-old version, bottled at 90 proof.

  • Purchased at Total Wine (Burnsville, MN) for $20.99.

  • Nonsense name: Wobbly Cactus

• Seed 4: Old Bardstown

  • The only true craft whiskey in the contest, distilled by Willett in Bardstown, KY, and bottled at 90 proof.

  • Purchased at South Lyndale Liquor (Minneapolis, MN) for $21.99.

  • Nonsense name: Rusty Marshmallow

Division 2

• Seed 1: Jeppson’s 100 Proof

  • A sourced bourbon from the folks in Chicago who make Malört.

  • Purchased at South Lyndale Liquor (Minneapolis, MN) for $19.99.

  • Nonsense name: Gleaming Pancake

• Seed 2: Larceny Bourbon

  • The second of three wheated bourbons, coming in at 92 proof.

  • Purchased at Total Wine (Burnsville, MN) for $22.99.

  • Nonsense name: Soggy Parrot

• Seed 3: Maker’s Mark Bourbon

  • The final wheated bourbon in the contest—also the lowest proof (90 proof) and highest price of the three.

  • Purchased at Viking Liquor Barrel (Prior Lake, MN) for $24.97.

  • Nonsense name: Lumpy Telescope

• Seed 4: Old Forester 86 Proof

  • The lowest proof of the contest, making it the lowest seed.

  • Purchased at Viking Liquor Barrel (Prior Lake, MN) for $22.49.

  • Nonsense name: Zesty Doorknob

Keeping It Blind: The Setup

Of course, that list doesn’t eliminate inherent bias, does it? So, as usual, we took a few extra steps to keep the tasting blind—while still keeping track of what advanced.

Here’s how we set it up (it’s an oh-so-simple process):

1. I seeded the whiskey in the bracket as listed above.

2. I poured 200 mL bottles of each bourbon and labeled them with their nonsense names.

3. I made a separate bracket using only the nonsense names and handed it, along with the bottles, to my wife.

From there, she takes over.

• She doesn’t know what’s in each bottle (thanks to the nonsense names).

• She pours and keeps track of the winners.

• All I have to do is taste, write, and pick my favorite. It’s a pretty slick system.

The empty bracket is below, and as usual, there were plenty of storylines and surprises along the way—wheated matchups, high proof vs. low proof, price battles, and more. But that’s for the future. In the meantime, who you got? Let us know down in the comments!

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Willett Family Estate Bottled Small Batch Rye, 2-, 3- and 4-years-old

Just as the pandemic started gaining steam in the US and just as Minnesota was entering our lockdown phase, I finally decided to get off my butt, hop in the truck, and drop off a few of the whiskey samples for a buddy of mine. Talk about waiting until the last minute.

I left them on his front porch and in return he left something for me. It was a perfectly socially distanced exchange as we waved at each other through the windows. I had included a few of the more interesting items that I had picked up since we had last gotten together along with some of the fun things that producers had sent my way. He included a couple of samples of things he’d picked up along with two bottles of Willett Family Estate Bottled Small Batch Rye. He’d warned me that he was including “something that might inspire a trip to the store for a vertical tasting.”

To say I was shocked at two full bottles being in my sample bag was an understatement, but all I can say is that I really do have the best friends.

Willett Family Estate Bottled Small Batch Rye, 2-year old

Purchase info: This was a very generous gift from a good friend. Guessing it had been sitting in his collection since it was first released.

Details: 55.7% ABV. Two years old.

Nose: Cinnamon candies, orange zest, and cedar

Mouth: Cedar, orange zest, toffee, ginger

Finish: Medium length with lingering notes of "orange slice" jelly candies, cinnamon, and hints of cedar wood.

Thoughts: Very bright and energetic. Spice, citrus, and cedar throughout. I originally reviewed this way back in 2014. At the time, I thought it needed to more time to age, but these days, I’m ok with the bright energetic flavor of it. In fact, I really enjoyed it. It’s fun to see how our tastes evolve when you’ve had over half a decade between tastings of a product.

Willett Family Estate Bottled Small Batch Rye, 3-year old

Purchase info: This was a very generous gift from a good friend. Guessing it had been sitting in his collection since it was first released.

Details: 55.2% ABV. Three years old.

Nose: Toffee, cinnamon, orange zest, and cedar

Mouth: Cinnamon candies, "orange slice" jelly candies, toffee, Cedar, and a nutty note.

Finish: Long and warm with lingering nutty notes. Cinnamon and cedar with hints of dark chocolate.

Thoughts: You can definitely tell this started as the same whiskey. This is a lot sweeter as the sweet barrel notes are influencing the orange to make it more candy-like.

Willett Family Estate Bottled Small Batch Rye, 4-year old

Purchase info: $47.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50mL): $3.20

Details: 55% ABV. Four years old.

Nose: Dark Chocolate, toffee, cinnamon, and cedar

Mouth: Cedar, cinnamon candies, dark chocolate, toffee, and hints of mint

Finish: Long and warm with lots of cinnamon and cedar, some dark chocolate, and just hints of orange.

Thoughts: I found it interesting how by four-years-old the orange notes are practically non-existent. I'm getting just hints of them at the tail end of the finish. It is also interesting how that cedar note intensified.

In fact, the cedar was one of the dominant flavors throughout the vertical. If you are like my wife and you do not like that flavor, you won't like these. If you like it then you should pick up a bottle. Me? I don't love it, but I don't mind it either. It’s not my favorite rye whiskey note, but it is one I have enjoyed on more than one occasion.

Weirdly, I actually think the four-year-old is actually my least favorite of the bunch. Contrary to my 2014 assessment, maybe it didn’t need time to “grow up.” Compared to the brightness of the 2-year-old, the current 4-year-old feels muted. In fact, I actually prefer to blend the three rather than drinking any of them alone. The base of the four year old brings richness while the addition of the 2-year-old adds a bit of liveliness to the whiskey that I really enjoy.

Overall, as with many ryes, I’ll probably use these in cocktails more than I will neat. I like them but, I think I might have some blending to do in the near future so that I like them even more.

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The BourbonGuy.com "Stuck at Home" Bourbon Brackets: Round 1, Knob Creek vs. Johnny Drum and Old Forester vs. Very Old Barton

If you are like most Americans, you are stuck in the house right now. The novel Coronavirus has most of us living under a Stay-at-Home order. If you’re like me, this isn’t a huge change. I mean, I hardly ever leave the house anyway. Mostly what is has meant is that my wife is working from home. But she is in her office in the basement while I’m in my office upstairs. We hardly ever see each other during the day unless I am delivering her a coffee refill.

Huh, starting to sound like working from home has gained her an assistant. I wonder how much that pays…

Anyway, this is the first competition in the Stuck at Home Bourbon Brackets. The brackets created because I can’t leave the house to go whiskey shopping and I don’t want to sit on the phone asking the poor guy on the other end which of the many things I’ve never reviewed that he has on the shelf in order to place a delivery order.

First up, is our division one, number four seed Johnny Drum Private Stock versus number five seed Knob Creek.

Johnny Drum is a product of the Willett distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. Long known for their prowess in sourcing barrels, they started distilling their own juice early on in the last decade. Now that their own distillate has started to come of age, they are using that in some of their brands. Not having followed up with Willett lately, I have no idea if Johnny Drum is one of those.

Knob Creek is a product of the Jim Beam Distillery in Clermont, Kentucky. It was a founding member of the Small Batch Collection and one of the first Small Batch bourbons to be advertised as such. It is supposed to regain its nine-year age statement soon, though this particular bottle doesn’t have that yet.

Johnny Drum vs. Knob Creek

Note: These were tasted blind in the following order. The tasting notes may be a bit strange as these were tasted at the same time and may have influenced one another.

Whiskey 1-Knob Creek

Nose: Oak, mint, almond, nutmeg and a hint of brown sugar.

Mouth: Dry and spicy. Nutmeg, cinnamon, mint and dried grains.

Finish: Hot and of medium length. Mint, nutmeg, oak and a hint of fruit.

Whiskey 2-Johnny Drum

Nose: Toffee, strawberry jam, and a hint of oak at the end.

Mouth: Lots of caramel and cinnamon. Ripe red fruit.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium length. Lingering Strawberry jam.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts:

This is an interesting set. Both are good but one is sweeter and fruitier and one is much drier. Usually, when we do these head to head, the sweeter one wins. But in this case, I am enjoying the spicy dryness more than the sweet strawberry jam notes. I'm picking whiskey 1 to move on.

Reveal: Whiskey 1 is #5 Knob Creek. Whiskey 2 is #4 Johnny Drum. Knob Creek wins. I get Knob Creek for $25 and Johnny Drum is almost $10 more for a 750 mL. Neither of these are terribly expensive, but it is interesting to see the lower price come out on top. Though when the lower-priced option is from the largest producer of bourbon on the planet…maybe not so surprising.

Very Old Barton 100 proof vs. Old Forester 100 proof

Note: These were tasted blind in the following order. The tasting notes may be a bit strange as these were tasted at the same time and may have influenced one another.

Whiskey 1-Very Old Barton 100 proof

Nose: Mint, cotton candy, ginger

Mouth: Warm and spicy with cinnamon, vanilla, caramel, and oak

Finish: Warm and of medium length with a pleasant oaky bitterness.

Whiskey 2-Old Forester 100 proof

Nose: Toffee, mint, Cedar, vanilla

Mouth: Thick mouthfeel. Sweet with a lot of caramel, cinnamon, nutmeg, cedar

Finish: Warm and medium length with an antiseptic note of mint, caramel, and oak.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts:

The antiseptic notes on whiskey two just aren't sitting right with me today. On another day the thick and sweet mouthfeel might be enough to carry the day. But today at least, Whiskey One is tasting oh-so-good. Whiskey One advances.

Reveal: Whiskey one is Very Old Barton 100 proof. Whiskey two is Old Forester 100 proof. Very Old Barton wins. Talk about an upset! When I travel to Kentucky, Very Old Barton 100 proof is often available for less than $15. When available, it is my “drinking back at the campsite” bourbon while I stay in Kentucky. $12.99 is a whole other level of value. I put it in the brackets because I was originally basing this competition on 100 proof versions of what was in the Bottom-Shelf Brackets, but I really didn’t expect it to hang with the more expensive competition. I should have guessed that this delicious bourbon wouldn’t disappoint.

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Pure Kentucky

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So I'm watching the NFL draft tonight. I'm nominally a Green Bay Packer fan, but honestly, I don't really care that much about NFL football anymore. Growing up, the NFL was all I cared about. But today? I think I watched two games last season and one was the Super Bowl.

These days college football is the only sport I care about. I'm so obsessed that I even read off-season blog posts about recruiting. But that is just the off-season because honestly caring about recruiting is creepy. During the season, even if your team isn't in the running for a championship, there are those players that everyone talks about. Those that you just know are going to be playing on Sundays. And that's why I'm watching the NFL Draft. It is fun to watch the kids that you've been following all year see their dreams come true. After today though, I'll probably only see them play occasionally. 

Sometimes a person likes something that it seems like they shouldn't, if you don't know the whole story.

And you could say that statement makes tonight's whiskey fit the theme. This is a bourbon that I've walked past for years. But I finally bought it. I tend not to like bourbons that are overproof. This is 107 proof. Even though I almost always like the single barrels that Willett puts out, I've been much less high on the brands they blend barrels to make. But...

I'm getting ahead of myself. 

Pure Kentucky

Purchase info: $35.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Details: Non-age stated. 53.5% ABV.

Nose: Caramel, nougat, cinnamon, clove, mint and a nutty note.

Mouth: Nice heat as you might expect from 107° proof. Thick and chewy mouthfeel. Flavors follow the nose with caramel, cinnamon, clove, pepper, and mint.

Finish: Warm and long with lingering nougat, baking spices, and nuttiness. 

Thoughts: To finish the thought from above even though I've been less than high on other brands that Willett blends barrels to create, I like this one. It is thick and chewy. The proof is high, but not too high. There is good caramel. It reminds me a bit of the Willett distilled Old Bardstown, though I don't know if it has any Willett distilled juice in it. I'm going to say that I like this in spite of all the things that say I shouldn't. I liked my first bottle of Willett-distilled Old Bardstown but wasn't a huge fan of the second one from a year later. This reminds me of that, but I still like it. The proof is a little high for me to drink neat, but that is how I like this one. It's a nice change of pace bourbon.

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Willett Pot Still Reserve

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I'm still periodically working my way through the line-up of Willett bourbons. This time it is the one with their name right on the very distinctive bottle. Willett Pot Still Reserve. 

You've seen it. It's the one that looks like the squat pot still with a long straight neck. It is a very distinctive bottle. And one that drew my eye as a bourbon novice. I first had this in the Old Talbot Tavern in Bardstown, Kentucky. It was my first time in Kentucky, and I was enjoying my first bourbon flight. As it was a build-your-own flight, I was excited to choose the one in the fancy bottle. 

Aaaand...I didn't like it. 

Or at least I didn't like it as much as I expected to. And like so many of the non-Family Estate line, I gave up on it. I liked it enough to give it as a gift to those people who would be impressed by an ok bourbon in a pretty bottle, but I didn't buy any more for myself. And that kinda drove my wife crazy since she wanted to try it.

When I decided to explore the Willett line, I decided early on that I was going to wait on this one. I really didn't want to plunk down the cash for a pretty bottle when I could be giving their other brands a chance instead. 

But, here's the thing...this is not a bad whiskey. I initially made a judgment on it early on in my bourbon journey. A night that featured it tried as part of a heavily poured five bourbon flight. Not fair at all. 

So let's see how it stands up on its own in an appropriate setting. 

Willett Pot Still Reserve

Purchase info: $37.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Details: 47% ABV. Batch 16C13.

Nose: Nutty and minty with brown sugar and a note that reminds me of a sweetened fruit-flavored breakfast cereal, think Trix or Fruit Loops.

Mouth: Mint, black pepper, brown sugar and malty cereal notes. 

Finish: Fairly short with malty cereal and black pepper. 

Thoughts: Well, here it is. I like this bourbon. I really do. I'm happy to have a pour of it if my wife brings me a glass of it on her turn to grab us a drink. But, to be honest, I still don't consider this a good value. At almost $40 a bottle, I want something more than what this presents. There are a lot of other bottles at the price point that I would purchase first. So it ends up where it started with me. It's good enough that I will still buy it for people who are more impressed with an ok whiskey in a beautiful bottle than a fantastic whiskey in a plain one, but I will drop my money on a different bourbon for myself. 

This is recommended for people who enjoy bourbons with a more grain and cereal forward flavor profile. People who, I will admit, are normally not me.

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