Speakeasy Kentucky Straight Bourbon 750ml

Willett Distillery has roots that stretch back to 1792, when William Willett Jr. settled in Nelson County the same year Kentucky became a state, and later generations of the family worked as master distillers across the region. Thompson Willett formally founded the distillery on the family farm outside Bardstown in 1936, and it produced whiskey through the mid-twentieth century before American tastes shifted away from bourbon. Even Kulsveen and his wife Martha Willett Kulsveen took over the property in 1984, and after decades as an independent bottler, the family restarted distilling on-site in 2012 under the fifth generation of Willetts and Kulsveens.

Speakeasy Kentucky Straight Bourbon is distilled, aged, and bottled entirely at Willett, built from a mash bill of 79 percent corn, 7 percent rye, and 14 percent malted barley, a higher barley proportion than most bourbons carry. The whiskey enters the barrel at 125 proof and is bottled without an age statement at 98 proof, or 49 percent ABV, landing well above the standard 80-proof entry point common to many bourbons on the shelf.

The nose brings toasted caramel, vanilla, and a touch of oak. On the palate, toffee and baking spice lead, with a hint of dried fruit adding depth beneath the sweetness. The finish runs long and warm, closing on notes of sweet corn and gentle lingering spice, a profile shaped by that higher barley content in the mash.