A maximum of 10 points will be available for each distillery visit…with 2 points available for “presentation” (basically the first impression the place puts on based on the sites, sounds, friendliness, etc), 3 points for the “experience” (whatever tour or tasting we did…which can include just doing a flight at the bar), 3 points for the Gift Shop (this will encompass all the gift shop has to offer EXCEPT for the final category), and 2 points for bottles exclusive to the distillery.
As we drove home from our spring trip to Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail, my wife asked when we would “do this again.” At first I thought she meant a vacation…but she meant another trip to the Bourbon Trail and more distillery visits. Turns out I found the perfect woman! We planned another trip for late October, almost as an one-year wedding anniversary trip.
For this trip, the intention was to stay (at least mostly) within the general area of Bardstown, Kentucky, hit more of the distilleries that neither of us had visited previously, while maybe stopping into a couple familiar places for “stop and shop” visits. The first day out we headed to the Willett Distillery, in Bardstown within view of the Heaven Hill campus.
PRESENTATION
Willett is a smaller distillery property than most other we had visited, but it was kept as beautiful as some of the others, most notably Maker’s Mark. I really felt like the initial impression it made was very much like that, although with fewer trees. There are rick houses scattered around their little hilltop, a pond in the middle, and a very welcoming Visitors Center building where you could shop or get a cocktail before your tour. There’s a restaurant upstairs and I’ve read it is fantastic…but it isn’t open on Tuesdays, so we didn’t get a chance to try it.
2/2
EXPERIENCE
We took the Distillery and Production Tour with Tasting. It involved a decent amount of walking around different buildings to see the different facilities, being able to see the Heaven Hill rick houses from the upper floor windows of one of the buildings, and getting to get our picture taken in front of the huge pot still that lends its image to one of the most iconic bottles in the bourbon industry. Some tastings were done while we walked and a few others were held until the end. By the time we got done, we were able to try Old Bardstown, Pure Kentucky, Pot Still Reserve, Rowan’s Creek, and Noah’s Mill.
3/3
GIFT SHOP
The gift shop was well-stocked on their products, although their intention to not compete with local liquor stores was fairly obvious as most of them were $2 to 5 more than you would pay elsewhere. There was a lot of other fun apparel and items to purchase, and I would guess it would be very tempting if you were a big Willett fan…but I’m really just a “moderate” fan. They make some excellent stuff, but at this time I wasn’t interested in wearing their name on a t-shirt or hat.
3/3
EXCLUSIVES
This is an area I felt they really dropped the ball on…there was absolutely no Bourbon or other whiskey at the shop that I couldn’t buy elsewhere (and for less money). If they had even had some twist on a regular product…maybe a Rowan’s Creek single barrel or Noah’s Mill cask strength…I would have bought it. As it was, we walked away empty-handed.
0/2
I am glad to have visited Willett, and I absolutely do mean to pick up a bottle of Rowan’s Creek sometime soon (I already bought Pot Still Reserve), but I don’t see a reason to return unless we can get into the restaurant, which seems to be a popular experience all by itself.
Total 8/10 – Bourbon fans should see this place at least once. You might not come out a “mega fan,” but at least you can get your picture in front of a giant pot still.
