Willett Family Estate 2 yo Rye
Bringing Back the Sexy
0 1092
Review by @Victor
- Nose22
- Taste25
- Finish22
- Balance23
- Overall92
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My first title for this review was: Impossibly Fruity 2 Year Old Star
Anyone who has tasted a few Willett Family Estate bourbons and ryes knows that they are part of the aristocracy of American whiskey. They have been very hard to find and in great demand for many years. For me merely the sight of that Willett family crest on the bottle label elicits the Pavlovian anticipation of whiskey nirvana. The Willett distillery closed in the 1980s and for almost all of the intervening years Willett bourbon and rye was procured, or 'sourced' whiskey, which was then aged by the Kulsveens. Even Kulsveen married into the Willett family and bought the defunct distillery many years ago. What Kulsveen did with aging of his sourced whiskeys was phenomenal. But that era is transitioning to a new one now
The Willett distillery was put back into production a couple of years ago, and now, for the first time in decades following the closing of the original Willett distillery, Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD) is selling their own distillery's aged product. This new product is a "small batch" Cask Strength 2 year old Straight Rye Whiskey. KBD reports that they marry two rye mashbills together, but do not give the exact proportions used. It is clear from what they do say, though, is that the rye content is in excess of 60%, and probably on the order of 67%. A # 4 char (heavy) is used. Two years aging is the minimum for a designation as 'straight rye whiskey'. The bottle has been newly opened
Nose: 15 minutes in the glass from this new bottle produces a great sea of dark fruit flavours: like grape wine, black cherries, and plums. There is that crispness from spice which comes from rye grain to enliven the fruitiness, but the fruitiness is the dominant theme. Sweetness manages to emerge to balance the usual dryness characteristic of US Rye whiskeys. A very good nose
Taste: Wow! Big Double Wow! I have never tasted so much fruit in a whisk(e)y this young. This palate is HUGE with the taste of fruit, and both the fruit and the spice are much bigger on the palate than they were in the nose. Fantastic! (Tasting and re-tasting I upped my score from 24 to 25)
Finish: the very big flavours diminish gradually, drying toward the end
Balance: the sweet-dry balance is very good here. This is almost impossibly rich, flavourful, and good for a 2 year old whiskey. I would NOT have believed how wonderful this rye is without having tasted it for myself. I have tasted very very few whiskies remotely as fruity as this one is, at any age. This compares to, but falls slightly short of, the North American release of Macallan Cask Strength for fruitiness. @Onibubba, you were so very right when you told me to buy a bottle of this one
(Water added fused the nose flavours together and fused and slightly diluted the palatal flavours)
The Willett Distillery up and running and producing excellent product, even at 2 years old, is some of the best US whiskey news in many years. For goodness sakes, try some of this if you get the chance
Find where to buy Willett whisky
@Victor. You have a knack for finding the finest. When I started reading your review and it said 2y, I was doubtful. Macallan Cask in a Rye sounds amazing. I love the Rye and Macallan Cask, I think I'll Vatt the two together. I'd still like you to try the Taos Lightning 5y Rye to see what you think.