Willett Distillery

I went on a tour of four distilleries over two days. Willett was the first and by far the most rustic, intimate and personal.
There are big plans for Willett. Construction and landscaping are going on all over the grounds. A new B&B is slated to open and there are a lot of projects happening with the on-​site crews.
But we were there to see how bourbon is made. The tour takes you through each step with the experience that brings you the closest to the way the marketing wants you to view bourbon makers. This place is small and family run. Rather than large, automated systems, there was literally a guy filling and then rolling out barrels. One of the construction crew gave my wife a four leaf clover they found while excavating. Small tour groups with thorough explanations and an excellent walk through. You can even taste the fermenting brew at its different stages.
A quick tasting upstairs, a commemorative glass and we were on our way. Willett genuinely seems boutique and rustic. This is definitely worth your time if you want to see the marketing come to life.

While not part of the official Bourbon Trail this distillery is a must see! We’ve visited twice in the last 6 months and this is definitely our favorite distillery to tour.

A must stop on your bourbon trail trip! Short and sweet tour. Excellent quality bourbons for tasting.

Loved this place. Boutique like distillery. Family owned and operated and it doesn’t seem like they want to explode into a Jim Beam or a Maker’s Mark size. They love what they do and seem to want to keep doing it at the same size/​pace. I love that.
Great tour of the place for $ 7.5. Super friendly guide who told us all about the family. The tasting had 6 – 7 different kinds we could try but only 2 per person is legal (though other distillery gave us more). This was my favorite whiskey on the trip and bought a bottle back home.

Excellent service and true pride in their product at this quaint and beautiful distillery!
We had the pedal to the metal to make it here before they closed on our road trip. We were late… They were «closed» but luckily our hostess squeezed us in for a quick tasting!
Afterwards, while my buddies shopped around, I asked our hostess a quick simple question about a building I had seen. Even though it was too late for a tour, she was so excited to tell me about that particular building and everything else she could think of while we stood in the dirt lot.
I thought the small operation of Willet made for a quaint and intimate feel at this distillery.

Great tour of this small craft distillery, our guide was very knowledgeable of the history and product. We are anxious to see the end results of all the construction on the property. They even acknowledged our daughters 21^st birthday which was a month ago, way to pay attention to your guests. The Bourbon was great as well.

VERY good staff. We thoroughly enjoyed our lesson and tasting!

This was a great distillery tour with knowledgeable staff! This distillery is fairly small compared to others on the Bourbon tour but a beautiful facility.
We started off the tour with a history of the family and how the company got started. We then got to see where they distill and how the whole process works. After that we went to the other building where they barrel the bourbon. This included hearing about how the barrels are charred and how much bourbon goes in.
We then went to the rick house and got to see many barrels in the aging process. The tour finished with a tasting of the bourbons they make at Willett. Overall, our tour guide was very knowledgeable and answered everyone’s questions. The facility was very clean and great for photos!

As Info this place is not open on Sunday’s during January or February but that is not what their website tells you.

Willett has such an authenticity about it. I hope it stays this way and I will gladly pay a premium price for the bourbon to protect that.
The buildings are beautifully crafted and everything is on a very small scale when compared to it’s counterparts also offering tours. The tour was a good balance between the bourbon process, property history and tasting.
What makes Willett different from the other distilleries is the selection of premium bourbons, especially the family estate line. I brought home a twelve year single barrel rye. Let’s just say I’ll be saving that bottle for a very special occassion. This isn’t exactly stuff you can waltz into even the finest of liquor shops to find.
Heads up if you are planning a visit within the next year… they are opening a bed and breakfast! From the looks of the progress it will be a very charming addition to this quaint distillery.

Of all the craft distilleries you could visit in Kentucky, this should be #1 on your list. The road leading up to the distillery is a bit rocky, but once you get there the land is pretty impressive. Unlike some of the other distilleries that pull their water from the nearby rivers, Willett has their own limestone spring. Our tour was led by the master distiller’s wife, and she really went out of her way to educate us about every stage of the distilling process. It was our first time seeing a mash operation in progress (and of course dipping a finger in for a little sample), as well as seeing an active-​use barreling operation.
The samples of their bourbons were fantastic, and a few iconic Willett bottles made it all the way home with us. If you’re looking for a good craft distillery, with a strong focus on education and a local, family operation, this should be your first stop on the craft trail…

This is a really cool spot. Small batch distillery. Very friendly staff!

This distillery is very close to Heaven Hill and Willett is definitely my favorite between the two. Although it’s smaller, this is a true Kentucky Bourbon Trail experience. It’s a family run business with less than 50 employees and only 3 master distillers. They only make 20 barrels a day, Monday through Saturday. So if you want to see a distillery in action, don’t come on a Sunday.
The mash barrels were empty, which was neat and the first time that I’d seen an empty one. I never realized how massive they are. The coils around it stabilize the temperature by pumping water from the creek, through the coils. They still use the same original scale, from 1935. So that side of the tour was neat and informative. After the barrels are filled, they each weigh 500 – 525. I’m not quite sure the purpose of weighing them is, but that’s the first time that I remember seeing that.
When we walked up, there was a line to purchase tickets and the tour was about to start. The cashier or the employee at the register went out of her way to acknowledge us at the back of the line and told us to go ahead and start the tour and pay later. That was nice. Our tour guide was laid back and awesome. True examples of southern hospitality… A Kentucky experience.
The tasting… How could I have almost forgotten the tasting. The first sample was of their bourbon in a bottle named and shaped from a still (sorry I can’t remember the exact name) then the other tasting we were allowed to choose from their many options, after our tour guide explained the flavored of each one. I chose one that had a chocolate finish. I’m kicking myself for not getting a bottle to take home.
This one isn’t on the major Bourbon Trail passport, it’s on the craft distillery passport/​tour… either way, remember to get a Bourbon Trail passport stamp.
Stayed tuned for their bed and breakfast to open.

By far our favorite stop on our bourbon trail weekend!!!
We already liked Willett bourbon, but the distillery made us fall in love.
The family owed and run distillery is situated on an old farm, and the hand crafted aspect of their experience really amazed me.
It’s so beautiful and I was specifically in awe of their converted farmhouse with gorgeous windows in the fermenting room upstairs.
They are also building a bed and breakfast at the distillery site– I can’t wait to go back!

I was incredibly disappointed by our visit here. My husband and I were visiting from California, and Willet was our first stop in Kentucky. We had literally just driven for 4 hours to get there and arrived at 10:15am. It is pouring rain, and we walked in. No one greets us or acknowledges us.
I eventually walk up to the front to say hello, letting them know we are visiting from California and how excited we are to be there. The woman who greets me is very passive and rude. She responds by saying «well you missed the first tour, and there are no tastings without a tour.» I was a little confused by this since I had spent a lot of time researching places before we put them on our agenda. There is no mention of tastings not being an option separate from the tour. We were on a tight schedule, so waiting for their HOURLY tour schedule was not an option since the next tour would start 45 minutes afterwards.
She didn’t seem to care at all that we had gone our of our way to visit them, so we decided to just leave. After having gone to many other distilleries after this unfortunate first stop, I confirmed that this was a very unusual experience and that they definitely deserve a 2 star review.
I’m very disappointed by their lack of kindness, and I would not return.

This was a very nice tour with tastings at the end. Janelle did a great job answering all of our questions during the tour and the tasting and in helping us decide which tastings we wanted to try based on what we liked. The gift shop was really nice and I liked their selection of women’s t-​shirts (they had lots of reasonably priced v-​necks). Overall, the staff made the tour a wonderful experience.

We love this little gem.
The fiancé and I took a trip out to Louisville for a day trip through the bourbon distilleries and this was on our «must hit» list. We are big fans of the place any way. We didnt do any tasting or tours but we headed straight for the gift shop.
On Sundays, they wouldnt sell anything liquor before 1pm, Just FYI. We ended up purchasing a bourbon and a rye (man, we love our ryes) — but we were very tempted to go for the super pricey one at the top shelf behind the locked cabinet.
We’d definitely return if we were back in the area… maybe do a tasting that time.

Total kudos to Mitch, our tour guide, for handling our question-​filled shit show of a crew. I bet you slept well that night, Mitch…
I’ve visited five distilleries on the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky and Willet is my favorite by far. Why?
–a true family business with all members of the crew involved with everything from marketing to tastings
–stunning property with multiple expansion projects in the works including a bed and breakfast (can you say Manhattans on the property?)
–smaller, more intimate business — you can feel it in their approach (think of it as visiting a small family winery or craft brewery) Lots of heart.
–the Noah bourbon was my favorite bourbon of the day (including other distillery tastings)

They are the highest end stop we made on the bourbon trail. Not that they let you taste the 12 – 23 year single barrel products or anything.
This young «craft distillery» to borrow a term from another review, doesn’t exactly make any of their own product yet. That sounds crazy that they are lauded as one of the best or highest end distilleries when they didn’t start any of that until like the last 3 years?
Willett would buy essentially white dog with different mash bills and age them in their own barrels. Using an older name «Kentucky Bourbon Distilleries» on some of their products, they have just been aging and claim that 70% of the flavor comes from their part of it. Other places claimed 40% of the whiskey’s flavor comes from distillation, but maybe choosing their mash bill or differing opinions make up for that discrepancy.
It seems to be a smaller operation. The tour guide seemed to know the family and a handful of family members seemed to run the business and have a small staff helping them. Impressive tour with a great group photo spot in front of their new still. You can even taste some of the mash/​beer before distillation. At the actual tasting, everyone gets to try 2 of the options. They give everyone willett pot still, and some in my group interpreted this as 2 choices after that one. They got away with it for a total of 3 great drinks here.
Harder to keep track of — Noah’s Mill, Rowan’s Creek, old bardstown, kentucky vintage, johnny drum
Willett named — Willett pot still (iconic pot still shaped bottle), and their awesome stuff that they call «Willett Family Estate.» Essentially all the delicious things they have made. Bourbons and Ryes. Sometimes they don’t make large quantities or they age them for up to 23 years, so these can get very expensive.
They had a younger rye whiskey here that was amazing. It may be a tad of a strong flavor for sipping but in a manhattan, it would be divine.
I didn’t even realize how expensive some of these products were. This tasting was as good as Jim Beam’s with all of the great higher end options!
One of the bottles had very strong notes of chocolate I’d never experienced before in whiskey.
In every way, this was a craft distillery and a great tour. I’m eager to see what is next for them as the whiskey made since 2012 gets old enough to reach the market. Make this a definite stop on your tour if you care at all about flavor.

This craft distillery was one of the best stops on our Bourbon Trail trip. Pretty grounds, an enthusiastic tour guide, and excellent bourbon — plus, you get a nice tasting glass to take home for an extra $ 3. The tour here is educational and comprehensive and the distillery feels more authentic than many of the larger facilities we toured, a little rustic, but attractive.
The hard part comes when you get to the tasting room. Coming into this trip, I wasn’t sure what to expect at these tastings. I’m a major lightweight and was nervous about over-​serving myself. I needn’t have worried. Distilleries are only allowed to give each visitor two small tastes (about .5 — 1 tablespoon worth of bourbon in each sample.)
Willett makes some terrific bourbon, so picking just two of their offerings is tricky business. However, going with a group of four let us try a little bit of everything! We came home with a bottle of their deliciously peppery/​herbal Family Estate Rye. We also dug the Rowan’s Creek, which was delicate, with smoky vanilla toffee notes. The Noah’s Mill was another favorite, a ridiculously smooth bourbon with a deep, chocolatey character. If this hadn’t been our first stop, we would have left with an obscene amount of bourbon.