Willett has long been known for their excellent bottlings of the best of the best casks, sourced from America’s best distilleries. It wasn’t until January, 2012, the distillery started distilling again. This 2 year old rye is the very first product made entirely by them after they resumed distilling. While two year may seem like very little, it has been long enough for this rye whiskey to develop a lot of character and depth of flavour. We are very excited to see what the future holds for the Willett distillery – there’s certainly a ton of potential.
Nose: Bananas, vanilla, caramel, crisp corn, slight rye spice, creamy oak, slight ester.
Palate: Dry oak and vanilla, cherries, spicy rye, smoky caramel, corn, more banana and a little old raisin. Slight crusty bread.
Finish: Medium, spicy, slightly grassy.
Overall: A very interesting release, extremely spritely and cask forward. A lot of rye spice and vanilla makes for a tasty and intense whiskey. Exciting to see what they produce in a few years... But for now, this is a very accomplished whiskey well worth every drinker's time.