Willett Family Estate 14 Year Single Barrel Bourbon #5571 116 Proof 750ml

Barrel #5571 at 116 proof after fourteen years — a Willett Family Estate single barrel from the sourced era, hand-numbered 53 of just 118 bottles.

Willett did not resume distilling at its own Bardstown plant until 2012, which means a fourteen-year bourbon bottled under the Family Estate label predates Willett's modern distillate entirely. Through that period Willett's role was selection: buying mature barrels from other Kentucky producers, choosing the ones worth bottling on their own, and releasing them one cask at a time under its own label.

The distillery of origin is not identified on the bottle. Enthusiasts have attributed barrels from this era to various well-known Kentucky producers, but without documentation none of that belongs on a listing — what's certain is that this is mature sourced Kentucky bourbon, selected and hand-bottled by Willett in Bardstown.

Barrel #5571 yielded 118 bottles. This is number 53, hand-written on the label alongside the barrel number and proof.

Tasting Profile

Mature sourced Family Estate barrels are prized for depth and substantial oak influence — caramelized sugar, vanilla, dark fruit and seasoned oak developing into baking spice, leather and tobacco with a long finish. Single-barrel whiskey varies cask to cask, so this describes what the era and the age are known for rather than notes taken from this bottle.

Specs

• Brand: Willett Family Estate
• Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Release: Single barrel
• Age: 14 years
• Barrel: #5571
• Proof: 116 (58% ABV)
• Bottle: 53 of 118
• Origin: Sourced Kentucky bourbon — not distilled by Willett
• Selected and bottled by: Willett, Bardstown, Kentucky
• Size: 750ml

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

Frequently Asked Questions

• Did Willett distil this whiskey? No. Willett restarted distillation in Bardstown in 2012, so a fourteen-year bourbon under the Family Estate label is necessarily sourced from another Kentucky producer. Willett selected the barrel and bottled it; the distillery of origin isn't named on the bottle and we won't guess at it.
• How limited is barrel #5571? 118 bottles in total, which is small even for a single barrel. Fourteen years of evaporation is why — a cask that starts around 250 bottles' worth can be down to half that by the time it's dumped.
• Why are sourced-era Willett barrels collected? They represent a finite, closed chapter. The stocks Willett was buying and selecting through that period are gone, the bottles were released one barrel at a time in very small numbers, and nothing produced since can be added to the set.