Willett 8 Year Old Wheated Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 750ml

The Willett 8 Year Old Wheated Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — known simply as Willett Wheat — is a 108 proof (54% ABV) milestone for the Bardstown distillery: an eight-year, estate-distilled wheated bourbon from Willett's own 65% corn, 20% wheat, 15% malted barley mash bill, non-chill filtered and presented in an opaque black-glass bottle unlike anything else on the Willett shelf.

The whiskey's timeline tells the story of Willett's rebirth. Distilled in spring 2013 — barely a year after the family returned distilling to the property it has owned since 1936 — the bourbon entered Char #4 American oak at 115 proof and waited more than eight years before its first bottling in summer 2022. It reached shelves that fall as one of the oldest wheated whiskeys Willett's modern stillhouse had produced, and promptly became one of the house's most allocated releases.

Wheated bourbons swap rye's spice for soft grain sweetness, and reviewers found exactly that here: Bourbon Culture described a nose “overwhelmingly sweet with lots of caramel sauce and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.” Critical recognition followed — Fred Minnick ranked Willett Wheat No. 43 in his Top 100 American Whiskeys of 2022. Fifth-generation Master Distiller Drew Kulsveen's stillhouse built it start to finish: distilled, aged, and bottled on the family property in Bardstown, one of the highest points in Nelson County, Kentucky.

For collectors, this bottle answers a long-running question — what would Willett's own wheated whiskey taste like at real maturity? — and does it in a package that departs from every other bottle on the Willett shelf. An estate-born wheater at collector-grade proof, from the family that made barrel selection an art form before it ever fired its modern stills. Bourbon Culture also flagged a quirk collectors love: distilled in spring 2013 and bottled in summer 2022, the whiskey inside is closer to nine years old than its stated eight.

• Size: 750ml
• Proof: 108 (54% ABV)
• Age: 8 years (distilled spring 2013; first bottled summer 2022)
• Origin: Bardstown, Kentucky (estate distillate)
• Distillery: Willett Distillery
• Whiskey Type: Wheated Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Mash Bill: 65% corn, 20% wheat, 15% malted barley; barreled at 115 proof in Char #4 American oak
• Bottling: Non-chill filtered; opaque black-glass bottle
• Accolades: No. 43 — Fred Minnick's Top 100 American Whiskeys of 2022