Willett Pot Still Reserve
Encyclopedia
Willett Pot Still Reserve Bourbon is a bourbon whiskey
produced in Bardstown, Kentucky
by Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, Ltd.
(KBD). It is a Single Barrel Kentucky
Straight
Bourbon Whiskey introduced in 2008 and bottled at 47% abv
, with 8-10 year aging. It is sold in glass 750ml and 1-liter bottles. Each bottle is sealed with a label identifying the individual aging barrel
, the number of the bottle within the series of bottles for that barrel, and the total number of bottles from the barrel(example: "Bottle No. 116 of 242 from Single Barrel 149"). The KBD company is identified on the product label as the Willett Distilling Company, which was the original name of the company until its name was changed in 1984.
Willett Pot Still Reserve is bottled in a decorative decanter that received a double gold award for packaging design at the 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. In addition to the double gold medal for packaging, the product was also awarded a gold medal for taste at the event.
Malt Advocate Magazine rated Willett Pot Still Reserve at 90 "outstanding" on a 100 point rating scale in its Q2 2008 issue (Vol. 17, #2).
Although the company has the word distillers in its name (and similarly uses "distilling company" and "distillery" in the various company names that it prints on labels), KBD has not actually been operating as a distillery in recent history (at least in the period between the early 1980s and May 2009). The company generally does not identify where in Kentucky its products are actually distilled, although it has been reported that most of their products have been distilled by the Heaven Hill Distillery
, which has its company headquarters located close to KBD. The two companies are located about a half mile from each other along the same road in Bardstown, Kentucky
.
in its name, it has been reported that part of the distillation process for the product was performed using the more common column still
distillation method — with a pot still used only for the doubler stage.
The product is named after the Willett family which founded the Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD)
company that produces it. KBD began as the Willett Distilling Company. John David Willett (born in 1841) had been the master distiller for the Moore, Willett & Frenke Distillery, which he had formed with his brother-in-law Thomas S. Moore of Bardstown, and a Mr. Frenke of Louisville. In 1876, Willett fell ill and sold his interest in the company. The resulting company became the Mattingly Moore Distillery. John David Willett would, however, live on for another 38 years after this transaction. He died in 1914.
Starting at the age of 15 with a five-year stint at at the Mattingly Moore Distillery, his son A. Lambert Willett (born in 1883) picked up his father's profession. Lambert Willett then worked for the Max Selliger & Co. Distillery for twenty years – eventually becoming one-third owner and superintendent of the plant. A. L. "Thompson" Willett, Lambert’s son (born in 1909), also joined him at the plant as assistant superintendent. Lambert Willett later purchased a farm and, together with his sons and especially led by Thompson Willett, founded the Willett Distilling Company on the site. Thompson and Lambert Willett used John David Willett's bourbon recipes as the basis of the whiskey that they would distill there and brand as Old Bardstown.
The construction of the Willett Distilling Company began in the Spring of 1935 (just after the 1933 repeal of alcohol prohibition in the United States
), and the company produced its first batch of 300 bushels (about 30 barrels) on March 17, 1936. Five years after founding the Willett Distilling Company, Lambert Willett left Max Selliger & Co. to pursue the family business full time. Lambert Willett and at least four of his sons held substantial positions of responsibility at the company. Lambert Willett died in 1970.
A. L. "Thompson" Willett, the son of Lambert Willett, was the president of the Willett Distilling Company. At one time, he was also the president of the Kentucky Distillers Association, and he also held a number of other positions of prominence in the community. Thompson Willett's daughter Martha Harriet Willett and other members of her generation of the family worked for the company as well, and in 1972 she married Even G. Kulsveen of Hamar, Norway, who would later purchase the company.
During the 1970s energy crisis
, the company switched from producing whiskey to producing ethanol for gasohol fuel. This strategy soon failed when fuel prices returned to lower levels, and the distilling facilities were completely shut down in the early 1980s.
Kulsveen purchased the company and the property on July 1, 1984, and renamed the company to Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), Ltd. For some time, KBD continued to produce bourbon from the aging barrels that the Willett distillery had produced before they had stopped distilling. As time moved on, KBD increasingly began to purchase its bourbon from other distilleries and operate as an independent bottling company
. Kulsveen continues to operate the facility to this day, and the next generation of the family, including their son E. A. "Drew" Kuslveen, their daughter K. M.-B. "Britt" Chavanne and her husband Hunter Chavanne, are also now involved in the company. Drew Kulsveen manages production, and Britt and Hunter Chavanne cover sales and marketing.
The company introduced the Willett Pot Still Reserve single barrel bourbon in 2008.
Bourbon whiskey
Bourbon is a type of American whiskey – a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from corn. The name of the spirit derives from its historical association with an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky . It has been produced since the 18th century...
produced in Bardstown, Kentucky
Bardstown, Kentucky
As of the census of 2010, there were 11,700 people, 4,712 households, and 2,949 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 5,113 housing units at an average density of...
by Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, Ltd.
Kentucky Bourbon Distillers
Kentucky Bourbon Distillers , Ltd., also known as the Willett Distilling Company, is a private family-owned and -operated company that markets bourbon and rye whiskey. The company is located on the outskirts of Bardstown, Kentucky on a site that began as a farm owned by the family...
(KBD). It is a Single Barrel Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
Straight
Straight whiskey
Straight whiskey is whisky created by distilling a fermented cereal grain mash to create a spirit not exceeding 80% alcohol content by volume and then aging the spirit for at least two years at an abv concentration not exceeding 62.5% at the start of the aging process.Filtering and dilution...
Bourbon Whiskey introduced in 2008 and bottled at 47% abv
Alcohol by volume
Alcohol by volume is a standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage .The ABV standard is used worldwide....
, with 8-10 year aging. It is sold in glass 750ml and 1-liter bottles. Each bottle is sealed with a label identifying the individual aging barrel
Barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container, traditionally made of vertical wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. Traditionally, the barrel was a standard size of measure referring to a set capacity or weight of a given commodity. A small barrel is called a keg.For example, a...
, the number of the bottle within the series of bottles for that barrel, and the total number of bottles from the barrel(example: "Bottle No. 116 of 242 from Single Barrel 149"). The KBD company is identified on the product label as the Willett Distilling Company, which was the original name of the company until its name was changed in 1984.
Willett Pot Still Reserve is bottled in a decorative decanter that received a double gold award for packaging design at the 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. In addition to the double gold medal for packaging, the product was also awarded a gold medal for taste at the event.
Malt Advocate Magazine rated Willett Pot Still Reserve at 90 "outstanding" on a 100 point rating scale in its Q2 2008 issue (Vol. 17, #2).
Although the company has the word distillers in its name (and similarly uses "distilling company" and "distillery" in the various company names that it prints on labels), KBD has not actually been operating as a distillery in recent history (at least in the period between the early 1980s and May 2009). The company generally does not identify where in Kentucky its products are actually distilled, although it has been reported that most of their products have been distilled by the Heaven Hill Distillery
Heaven Hill
Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc., is a private family-owned and operated distillery company headquartered in Bardstown, Kentucky that produces and markets the Heaven Hill brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and a variety of other distilled spirits. Its current distillery facility, called the...
, which has its company headquarters located close to KBD. The two companies are located about a half mile from each other along the same road in Bardstown, Kentucky
Bardstown, Kentucky
As of the census of 2010, there were 11,700 people, 4,712 households, and 2,949 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 5,113 housing units at an average density of...
.
Product name and history
Although the product has the term pot stillPot still
A pot still is a type of still used in distilling spirits such as whisky or brandy. Heat is applied directly to the pot containing the wash or wine . This is called a batch distillation ....
in its name, it has been reported that part of the distillation process for the product was performed using the more common column still
Column still
A column still, also called a continuous still, patent still or Coffey still, is a variety of still consisting of two columns invented in 1826 by Robert Stein, a Clackmannanshire distiller, and it was first used at the Cameron Bridge Grain Distillery in Fife, Scotland. The design was enhanced and...
distillation method — with a pot still used only for the doubler stage.
The product is named after the Willett family which founded the Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD)
Kentucky Bourbon Distillers
Kentucky Bourbon Distillers , Ltd., also known as the Willett Distilling Company, is a private family-owned and -operated company that markets bourbon and rye whiskey. The company is located on the outskirts of Bardstown, Kentucky on a site that began as a farm owned by the family...
company that produces it. KBD began as the Willett Distilling Company. John David Willett (born in 1841) had been the master distiller for the Moore, Willett & Frenke Distillery, which he had formed with his brother-in-law Thomas S. Moore of Bardstown, and a Mr. Frenke of Louisville. In 1876, Willett fell ill and sold his interest in the company. The resulting company became the Mattingly Moore Distillery. John David Willett would, however, live on for another 38 years after this transaction. He died in 1914.
Starting at the age of 15 with a five-year stint at at the Mattingly Moore Distillery, his son A. Lambert Willett (born in 1883) picked up his father's profession. Lambert Willett then worked for the Max Selliger & Co. Distillery for twenty years – eventually becoming one-third owner and superintendent of the plant. A. L. "Thompson" Willett, Lambert’s son (born in 1909), also joined him at the plant as assistant superintendent. Lambert Willett later purchased a farm and, together with his sons and especially led by Thompson Willett, founded the Willett Distilling Company on the site. Thompson and Lambert Willett used John David Willett's bourbon recipes as the basis of the whiskey that they would distill there and brand as Old Bardstown.
The construction of the Willett Distilling Company began in the Spring of 1935 (just after the 1933 repeal of alcohol prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
), and the company produced its first batch of 300 bushels (about 30 barrels) on March 17, 1936. Five years after founding the Willett Distilling Company, Lambert Willett left Max Selliger & Co. to pursue the family business full time. Lambert Willett and at least four of his sons held substantial positions of responsibility at the company. Lambert Willett died in 1970.
A. L. "Thompson" Willett, the son of Lambert Willett, was the president of the Willett Distilling Company. At one time, he was also the president of the Kentucky Distillers Association, and he also held a number of other positions of prominence in the community. Thompson Willett's daughter Martha Harriet Willett and other members of her generation of the family worked for the company as well, and in 1972 she married Even G. Kulsveen of Hamar, Norway, who would later purchase the company.
During the 1970s energy crisis
1970s energy crisis
The 1970s energy crisis was a period in which the major industrial countries of the world, particularly the United States, faced substantial shortages, both perceived and real, of petroleum...
, the company switched from producing whiskey to producing ethanol for gasohol fuel. This strategy soon failed when fuel prices returned to lower levels, and the distilling facilities were completely shut down in the early 1980s.
Kulsveen purchased the company and the property on July 1, 1984, and renamed the company to Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), Ltd. For some time, KBD continued to produce bourbon from the aging barrels that the Willett distillery had produced before they had stopped distilling. As time moved on, KBD increasingly began to purchase its bourbon from other distilleries and operate as an independent bottling company
Independent Bottlers
It has become customary for distilleries to sell barrels of whisky to blenders and independent bottlers as a means of making additional income. In fact, some distilleries exist solely to serve independent bottlers, and do not market any brands themselves....
. Kulsveen continues to operate the facility to this day, and the next generation of the family, including their son E. A. "Drew" Kuslveen, their daughter K. M.-B. "Britt" Chavanne and her husband Hunter Chavanne, are also now involved in the company. Drew Kulsveen manages production, and Britt and Hunter Chavanne cover sales and marketing.
The company introduced the Willett Pot Still Reserve single barrel bourbon in 2008.
See also
- Bardstown, KentuckyBardstown, KentuckyAs of the census of 2010, there were 11,700 people, 4,712 households, and 2,949 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 5,113 housing units at an average density of...
- Bourbon whiskeyBourbon whiskeyBourbon is a type of American whiskey – a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from corn. The name of the spirit derives from its historical association with an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky . It has been produced since the 18th century...
- Column stillColumn stillA column still, also called a continuous still, patent still or Coffey still, is a variety of still consisting of two columns invented in 1826 by Robert Stein, a Clackmannanshire distiller, and it was first used at the Cameron Bridge Grain Distillery in Fife, Scotland. The design was enhanced and...
- Kentucky Bourbon DistillersKentucky Bourbon DistillersKentucky Bourbon Distillers , Ltd., also known as the Willett Distilling Company, is a private family-owned and -operated company that markets bourbon and rye whiskey. The company is located on the outskirts of Bardstown, Kentucky on a site that began as a farm owned by the family...
- Pot stillPot stillA pot still is a type of still used in distilling spirits such as whisky or brandy. Heat is applied directly to the pot containing the wash or wine . This is called a batch distillation ....
- Single barrel whiskey
- Straight whiskeyStraight whiskeyStraight whiskey is whisky created by distilling a fermented cereal grain mash to create a spirit not exceeding 80% alcohol content by volume and then aging the spirit for at least two years at an abv concentration not exceeding 62.5% at the start of the aging process.Filtering and dilution...