Willett Family Estate 12 Year Single Barrel Bourbon #1584 123.4 Proof 750ml (Lincoln Road Pick)

Barrel #1584 at 123.4 proof — a twelve-year Willett Family Estate single barrel distilled on 7 November 2001 and chosen as a Lincoln Road private pick.

Most sourced-era Willett bottles give an age and a barrel number. This one gives a date: 7 November 2001, printed on the label. That level of specificity is unusual, and it fixes the whiskey to a single day of production at a Kentucky distillery Willett bought from rather than operated.

Willett did not resume distilling at Bardstown until 2012, so twelve-year stock under the Family Estate label predates its own production entirely. Through that period Willett's role was selection — buying mature barrels, tasting through them, and bottling the exceptional ones one cask at a time at full strength.

At 61.7% ABV this is toward the powerful end of the sourced barrels, the signature of a cask that spent twelve years somewhere warm and dry enough to lose water faster than alcohol.

Tasting Notes

• Nose: Deep caramel, vanilla bean, dark fruit, seasoned oak and warm baking spice.
• Palate: Rich and full-bodied — brown sugar, vanilla, dark cherry, toasted oak, cinnamon and layers of caramelized sweetness.
• Finish: Long and warming, with lingering mature oak, vanilla, dark fruit and spice.

Specs

• Brand: Willett Family Estate
• Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Release: Single barrel, private selection
• Age: 12 years
• Barrel: #1584
• Distilled: 7 November 2001
• Proof: 123.4 (61.7% ABV)
• Private selection: Lincoln Road
• Origin: Sourced Kentucky bourbon — not distilled by Willett
• Size: 750ml

Explore the full Willett collection or browse all bourbon at Wooden Cork.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why does an exact distillation date matter? Because almost no bourbon carries one. An age statement tells you how long the whiskey sat; a distillation date tells you precisely when it was made, which lets a collector place the barrel against a specific period of a distillery's production. On sourced-era Willett it's rare enough to be a selling point on its own.
• Did Willett distil this bourbon? No. Willett's own distillation restarted in 2012 and this whiskey was made in 2001, so it came from another Kentucky producer and was selected by Willett for the Family Estate program. The distillery isn't named on the bottle.
• What is a Lincoln Road pick? A private barrel selection made for Lincoln Road, meaning this specific cask was chosen by a buyer rather than released through standard distribution. The whiskey is Willett's to bottle; the choosing was theirs, and it's recorded on the label.