Kentucky Vintage Small Batch Bourbon Sour Mash (Willett)

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 45% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

Kentucky Vintage is a sour-mash Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon. Willett blends two of its own bourbon recipes: 85% comes from a mash bill of 72% corn, 13% rye and 15% malted barley; the remaining 15% comes from a more corn-led recipe containing 79% corn, 7% rye and 14% malted barley. The first component enters the barrel at 125 Proof, the second at 107 Proof. The bourbon is bottled at 45% ABV, or 90 Proof.

The whiskeys made from the two recipes mature separately for four to six years in new American oak barrels with interiors charred to Char #4. They are blended only after maturation. Kentucky Vintage carries no age statement and is bottled without chill filtration.

Vanilla and ripe fruit shape the aroma, while buttery corn notes and oak create a contrast between sweetness and wood on the palate. Caramel and gentle spice notes round out this character.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: On the nose, sweet vanilla and ripe fruit combine with oak notes.
• Palate: The bourbon is buttery and sweet on the palate, with an impression of candied corn. Oak provides a counterpoint to the sweetness.
• Finish: Delicate wood notes and spice linger on the finish.

Distillery/Bottler:

Willett Distillery is located in Bardstown, Kentucky, in the United States. Thompson Willett began building the distillery in 1936 on his family's former livestock farm; the first whiskey went into Warehouse A for maturation in March 1937. Even and Martha Willett Kulsveen acquired the property in 1984. During the pause in production, Even's selection and blending of matured whiskeys laid the foundations for the Small Batch Boutique Bourbon Collection, which includes Kentucky Vintage.

Distillation resumed on the family estate in 2012. For Kentucky Vintage, Willett uses limestone-filtered spring water from its own grounds. Sour-mash fermentation takes approximately three to five days, using a proprietary yeast culture in stainless-steel vessels. This is followed by two distillations: one in a copper and stainless-steel column still and the other in a copper Vendome pot still whose shape draws on Willett's original patented still. Willett distils Kentucky Vintage, matures the whiskey and bottles it.

Facts: