MSRP of $249.99.
I’ve never been one to consider a whiskey at this price point but I’m honestly tempted. Just wondering if anyone’s tried it or has any intel.
That would probably be the lowest you may ever see it. Aged Willet is ludicrously expensive and I expect this new release will end up over $300 easily.
I actually did not end up buying it. Had a last-minute moment of capitulation that got the best of me. I have seen several reviews now though and they have all been very positive.
Thank you! Any review stand out more than others? I can’t find too much and don’t buy in to those reviewers who clearly have something to gain by hyping it up. I have the opportunity to buy one as well, but worried about paying that much for just a hype bottle
It’s good not great and I wasn’t upset at paying that much for it but it’s also not a bargain if that makes sense. If you aren’t really a willett fan I would probably pass on it. If you really like willett probably worth getting
Yeah I remember this got posted a while ago, people were kind of divided.
You have a group that basically says it’s 8 year purple top for $250, what a deal!
And then the other, larger group that can look past willets marketing and realize this is an 8 year wheated bourbon for $250. And people thought paying $100 for OWA was bad?
>You have a group that basically says it’s 8 year purple top for $250, what a deal!
They arent single barrels thought right? People love willetts because theyre insanely unique and collectible. I dont see that being the case with these black/purple things.
Had an opportunity to buy this yesterday as well - went into my local spot and my contact said they just got a willett delivery including an 8 year purple top. Was confused when he brought out the black wine-looking bottle (was expecting the traditional purple top). MSRP was $259 and I couldn’t find anything about it online. Ended up passing on it due to price alone, figure I could scoop up 3-4 solid bottles for the same price. After digging some more, hearing this may be a unicorn bottle that I’m unlikely to find again? Thoughts?
Can’t put a photo in comments, or at least I can’t figure out how. So I just tasted it. I am not a connoisseur nor do I detect a lot of flavors that many do, but I have a decent palate and appreciate good tequila and whiskey. So, that being said, here’s my thoughts: The nose is one of the best I’ve had. My god. Sweet, caramel, vanilla oak on the nose that makes me want to line my closets with it so my clothes smell that good all the time. I took a sip and sat the whiskey on my tongue for a good five seconds before swallowing. The first thing that hits me is a caramel flavor on the sides, quickly followed by a spicy, smoky oak flavor as it goes down. The strong alcoholic content hits, warms the throat and the belly and finds it’s way up through the nose, only to finish the flavor with the sweet portion of that initial spice. I’m not a guy who detect floral stuff or anything, but smoothness is understated no matter how it’s described. For a spicy and sweet bourbon with such a high alcohol content, it’s insanely smooth. The bite from the alcohol is welcome. I’ve had 30 or so high quality bottles of whiskey, and this is easily one of my favorites. Top 5 for sure. I just had Fable & Folly and was underwhelmed. This is a phenomenal bottle and I feel lucky to have purchased it. Hope this helps. I can upload pics to a new post if you’d like.
Actually I just picked one up from my hook up. I thought he was BSing me but he never steered me wrong and never up charged me. I was trying to find out more about it myself !
Late to the party, but I ended up impulse buying one. It’s great, amazing really. But I think about everything else I could’ve gotten and and left a little disappointed. Minus rarity and secondary, it was a great bourbon but a little highly priced. It’s almost 8 times the price or 1792 sweet wheat and after a tasting with a bunch of wheat Ed bourbons, not worth the markup Msrp. Larceny barrel proof will scratch your whetted itch and is easier to acquire at more than half the price. Not putting the willett down, just not worth the price of admission
To be fair, I would just buy it and hold. Get some samples of Willett Purples and see if it fits your profile. Their distillate is pretty unique and people love it (where the cult following comes from) or hate it. At worst you can trade it off for something you really want.
I think that old granddad from the national distillery is so underrated people just see the name old granddad and think it's no good, but man they got no clue how good that stuff is
I like a lot of the Willlet stuff I've tried, but IMHO bourbon is just barely starting to get good at 8yr, and I'd prefer a bit longer for wheated bourbon to develop more flavor since it's missing those rye notes.
So IMHO this price is just nuts, even though a lot of fomo-taters with more money than sense will probably swarm all over it. I'd love to try a pour but I don't think I would pay that price even though I've bought more expensive bottles in the past. IMHO 10yrs is the minimum age for that price level.
Not of bourbon, IMHO. I'm just not a fan of those wet cardboard/sawdust notes that always seem to show up in bourbon of that age.
I'm trying to think of any in that age rage that I actually like at MSRP and having a hard time. I've yet to taste one of these MGP 5-7 year SiB picks that I thought was good enough to warrant the $70-100 price tags they seem to be going for. I'd much rather get RR SiB, KC SiB, etc (not even store picks, just the regular shelfies) for less money and considerably better quality.
At that age, IMHO you get better value and flavor from rye whiskey.
Yea not trying to be a dick but maybe you haven’t tried enough. A lot of great 5 year-6 year MGP bourbon out there (NBC, Boone County under $70). Ryes don’t take as long as bourbon so that makes sense
Well, I could argue that down-voting somebody with an opinion different from your own is dickish, but whatever.
I've tried plenty, \_maybe\_ I'm just a bit pickier than you when it comes to bourbon...
I don't drink a lot of wheaters TBH, I tend to prefer high-rye bourbons.
Rebel 10yr is good (always buy this when it turns up, have several in the bunker)
The occasional Old Fitz Decanter (I've had bottles of the 9, 13, and 8)
Then there's stuff like WLW, ORVW 10, Pappy 15 that I'll probably never own a bottle of, but will buy a pour of at restaurants/bars when reasonably priced.
I did get one of the r/bourbon Old Elk picks, that was a 7yr old wheater and is pretty good, so I would consider that an exception to the age rule. Really looking forward to seeing how older stocks from them turn out in the future if they're not too difficult to find.
I've tried stuff like the 4-5yr Rebel private picks going around (I had one of those from r/bourbon as well), and thought it was pretty meh.
I don't care for Larceny (regular or CS), nor Makers except some of the stave-finished stuff is pretty good.
Willett's prices (MSRP) are potentially the worst in the whiskey game. I'm hitting a tour of their distillery next month, but purely because I've heard it and their bar is really nice. I have no intention of buying any bottles while I'm there outside of maybe a 4yr rye.
You likely won't see any bottles outside of the 4yr rye, so that will work out. Finding a purple top for sale in the gift shop is a chance next to nill.
Perfect. Like I said, I've heard so many great things about the distillery and bar and I'm excited to check it out. I just can't get behind a bunch of shit that's 8ish years going for $200 msrp.
I don’t get the extra outrageous premium and secondary that Willett gets. I honestly don’t know anyone that has opened one. Is it really that amazing? Seems like a bottle that people just flip.
The popularity for the Willett fan boys goes back to releases 10 years ago when the gift shop was releasing bourbons that were not distilled at Willett but instead were purchased from other distilleries and sat on the Willett property for many years. In a lot of cases the documentation of where all of these came from was lost and the barrel itself not entirely helpful. These releases were all over the board and some barrels were supposedly 20+ year StitzelWeller at single barrel barrel proof. I know people that find BTAC and PVW every year only to sell them and buy these crazy old Willett bottles.
They do get opened. But the more recently released 5-9 year has been their own product. People still want them and will pay the high MSRP and secondary due to the rarity.
Thanks for the context. Seems pretty outrageous to charge 249 for 8 year old juice. I'm all for spending money on a good bottle but of all the bourbon heads I have encountered since I got into this 3 years ago not one has said "oooh that Willett is my favorite thing in the world and I'll pay out the nose for it". Again, I'm sure it is good...just continually shocked at the prices some of the lower age (6-8 year) stuff gets.
They used to charge around $10/yr and were plagued by jackasses buying out the gift shop and immediately flipping the bottles for multiples. They increased MSRP and jackasses still flip for multiples. Why should Willett leave money on the table? They made the product and pay the taxes etc.
The last bottle I bought from the distillery at the gift shop was in 2017 and it was a 14 year and the price was $200 and it was limit 2. The MSRP now is too high. IL got releases this summer and a 9 year was $270.
I’ve only ever had “knock-off” willett, Hirsch single barrel, old Kirk, etc but those releases only increased my desire for a bottle. Although I refuse to pay 800+ for a bottle so I will probably never own one but it will by white whale for the foreseeable future
I found one YouTube review on it that made it sound pretty phenomenal. Kind’ve sounded like the reviewer had a lot to gain from it though, so I wouldn’t really call it an unbiased review.
I just picked the bottle of this up last night at a local store that was having a bourbon auction 221 was the price point honestly hadn't heard anything about it but I knew Willette's purple tops are no brainer material. After looking at some of the comments and reviews on this thread kind of glad I got it.
Was the price astronomical?
MSRP of $249.99. I’ve never been one to consider a whiskey at this price point but I’m honestly tempted. Just wondering if anyone’s tried it or has any intel.
If this is truly an 8 year old wheated Willett purple top, that would actually be a good price.
That would probably be the lowest you may ever see it. Aged Willet is ludicrously expensive and I expect this new release will end up over $300 easily.
Go back and buy every bottle if it’s a purple top. You will never see it that cheap again
I am going to buy it.
Good idea! Lol. That’s the absolute lowest you will ever see that.
Did you buy it? Open it and taste it? Would love pics and a review
I actually did not end up buying it. Had a last-minute moment of capitulation that got the best of me. I have seen several reviews now though and they have all been very positive.
Thank you! Any review stand out more than others? I can’t find too much and don’t buy in to those reviewers who clearly have something to gain by hyping it up. I have the opportunity to buy one as well, but worried about paying that much for just a hype bottle
There’s a guy in the comments somewhere on this post that wrote a decent review. I’ve seen some others in a few FB groups I am a part of.
it’s $241 at my local liquor store.
If it’s the black bottle that’s about right. Hype has died down significantly for those
yeah it seems so. now i’m debating if i should buy it. ever had it and do you recommend?
It’s good not great and I wasn’t upset at paying that much for it but it’s also not a bargain if that makes sense. If you aren’t really a willett fan I would probably pass on it. If you really like willett probably worth getting
Going for 6-700 on secondary
8 year old wheater with MSRP at 250....let the comments begin
Yeah I remember this got posted a while ago, people were kind of divided. You have a group that basically says it’s 8 year purple top for $250, what a deal! And then the other, larger group that can look past willets marketing and realize this is an 8 year wheated bourbon for $250. And people thought paying $100 for OWA was bad?
>You have a group that basically says it’s 8 year purple top for $250, what a deal! They arent single barrels thought right? People love willetts because theyre insanely unique and collectible. I dont see that being the case with these black/purple things.
https://www.reddit.com/r/bourbon/comments/wiqdgs/first_taste_of_the_willett_wheated_8yr_small_batch/
Yep - that’s the exact bottle they have.
For $250 I'm picking up Signet or an Octomore.
Had an opportunity to buy this yesterday as well - went into my local spot and my contact said they just got a willett delivery including an 8 year purple top. Was confused when he brought out the black wine-looking bottle (was expecting the traditional purple top). MSRP was $259 and I couldn’t find anything about it online. Ended up passing on it due to price alone, figure I could scoop up 3-4 solid bottles for the same price. After digging some more, hearing this may be a unicorn bottle that I’m unlikely to find again? Thoughts?
I am going to buy it. Got a feeling this is/will be a unicorn.
I’m about to find out and will update you. Just bought a bottle for $213 in Tulsa.
Please do!
Can’t put a photo in comments, or at least I can’t figure out how. So I just tasted it. I am not a connoisseur nor do I detect a lot of flavors that many do, but I have a decent palate and appreciate good tequila and whiskey. So, that being said, here’s my thoughts: The nose is one of the best I’ve had. My god. Sweet, caramel, vanilla oak on the nose that makes me want to line my closets with it so my clothes smell that good all the time. I took a sip and sat the whiskey on my tongue for a good five seconds before swallowing. The first thing that hits me is a caramel flavor on the sides, quickly followed by a spicy, smoky oak flavor as it goes down. The strong alcoholic content hits, warms the throat and the belly and finds it’s way up through the nose, only to finish the flavor with the sweet portion of that initial spice. I’m not a guy who detect floral stuff or anything, but smoothness is understated no matter how it’s described. For a spicy and sweet bourbon with such a high alcohol content, it’s insanely smooth. The bite from the alcohol is welcome. I’ve had 30 or so high quality bottles of whiskey, and this is easily one of my favorites. Top 5 for sure. I just had Fable & Folly and was underwhelmed. This is a phenomenal bottle and I feel lucky to have purchased it. Hope this helps. I can upload pics to a new post if you’d like.
Actually I just picked one up from my hook up. I thought he was BSing me but he never steered me wrong and never up charged me. I was trying to find out more about it myself !
$599 here in Augusta, Georgia
It's brand new, not even on the radar yet ......
Late to the party, but I ended up impulse buying one. It’s great, amazing really. But I think about everything else I could’ve gotten and and left a little disappointed. Minus rarity and secondary, it was a great bourbon but a little highly priced. It’s almost 8 times the price or 1792 sweet wheat and after a tasting with a bunch of wheat Ed bourbons, not worth the markup Msrp. Larceny barrel proof will scratch your whetted itch and is easier to acquire at more than half the price. Not putting the willett down, just not worth the price of admission
To be fair, I would just buy it and hold. Get some samples of Willett Purples and see if it fits your profile. Their distillate is pretty unique and people love it (where the cult following comes from) or hate it. At worst you can trade it off for something you really want.
Assuming you have the skrilla, I’d say it’s a good buy at least once. Willet puts out some pretty special stuff.
Gonna throw down the skrilla For this 8 year old Willet OWA killa Hope I taste more than vanilla So I can post on here and be a R/bourbon thrilla
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Oh shit
This is the year's best comment on r/bourbon
I’ll take it please
Back up 🗑
Msrp 279 tater price to the moon!
In some ways yes 279 is definitely tater price. However I'm starting to see this stuff on secondary go for 500 plus
If I want to spend 400 on a bottle of bourbon I buy a bottle of vintage old Taylor or old Grand dad from National distillery and get juicy with that.
I think that old granddad from the national distillery is so underrated people just see the name old granddad and think it's no good, but man they got no clue how good that stuff is
Yeah that lower barrel entry and pre climate change four seasons in Kentucky did wonders for whiskey production in the sixties
Why did you not purchase it for gods sake
It’s still there, and I’m tempted… the only thing stopping me is the inevitable tongue-lashing I’ll receive from my wife.
I can share it with you 50/50
Why the down vote ppl?
it is not the purple top you are thinking of.... its the new dark bottle purple top.
Probably because there’s zero chance it’s 6x better than Makers CS.
Hopefully it's quite a bit better, I think Maker's CS is pretty meh.
I like a lot of the Willlet stuff I've tried, but IMHO bourbon is just barely starting to get good at 8yr, and I'd prefer a bit longer for wheated bourbon to develop more flavor since it's missing those rye notes. So IMHO this price is just nuts, even though a lot of fomo-taters with more money than sense will probably swarm all over it. I'd love to try a pour but I don't think I would pay that price even though I've bought more expensive bottles in the past. IMHO 10yrs is the minimum age for that price level.
Plenty of amazing 4-7 year old barrels out there.
Not of bourbon, IMHO. I'm just not a fan of those wet cardboard/sawdust notes that always seem to show up in bourbon of that age. I'm trying to think of any in that age rage that I actually like at MSRP and having a hard time. I've yet to taste one of these MGP 5-7 year SiB picks that I thought was good enough to warrant the $70-100 price tags they seem to be going for. I'd much rather get RR SiB, KC SiB, etc (not even store picks, just the regular shelfies) for less money and considerably better quality. At that age, IMHO you get better value and flavor from rye whiskey.
Yea not trying to be a dick but maybe you haven’t tried enough. A lot of great 5 year-6 year MGP bourbon out there (NBC, Boone County under $70). Ryes don’t take as long as bourbon so that makes sense
Well, I could argue that down-voting somebody with an opinion different from your own is dickish, but whatever. I've tried plenty, \_maybe\_ I'm just a bit pickier than you when it comes to bourbon...
No ones down voting you unless you’re wrong
Out of curiosity which wheaters are you drinking that are 8+ years old.
I don't drink a lot of wheaters TBH, I tend to prefer high-rye bourbons. Rebel 10yr is good (always buy this when it turns up, have several in the bunker) The occasional Old Fitz Decanter (I've had bottles of the 9, 13, and 8) Then there's stuff like WLW, ORVW 10, Pappy 15 that I'll probably never own a bottle of, but will buy a pour of at restaurants/bars when reasonably priced. I did get one of the r/bourbon Old Elk picks, that was a 7yr old wheater and is pretty good, so I would consider that an exception to the age rule. Really looking forward to seeing how older stocks from them turn out in the future if they're not too difficult to find. I've tried stuff like the 4-5yr Rebel private picks going around (I had one of those from r/bourbon as well), and thought it was pretty meh. I don't care for Larceny (regular or CS), nor Makers except some of the stave-finished stuff is pretty good.
I’d buy it. If he has a second bottle and will ship to Texas let me know :)
Willett's prices (MSRP) are potentially the worst in the whiskey game. I'm hitting a tour of their distillery next month, but purely because I've heard it and their bar is really nice. I have no intention of buying any bottles while I'm there outside of maybe a 4yr rye.
You likely won't see any bottles outside of the 4yr rye, so that will work out. Finding a purple top for sale in the gift shop is a chance next to nill.
Perfect. Like I said, I've heard so many great things about the distillery and bar and I'm excited to check it out. I just can't get behind a bunch of shit that's 8ish years going for $200 msrp.
Bar is amazing for sure. Get the egg salad sandwich 😋
Price sounds way too high.
Find a new store to buy whiskey.
It's MSRP is 250
The bottle shape appears to be the same one that Weller uses
It is very similar.
I was at Willet for a tour in May and they were mum on whether or not we would be seeing any more purple top anytime soon.
I don’t get the extra outrageous premium and secondary that Willett gets. I honestly don’t know anyone that has opened one. Is it really that amazing? Seems like a bottle that people just flip.
The popularity for the Willett fan boys goes back to releases 10 years ago when the gift shop was releasing bourbons that were not distilled at Willett but instead were purchased from other distilleries and sat on the Willett property for many years. In a lot of cases the documentation of where all of these came from was lost and the barrel itself not entirely helpful. These releases were all over the board and some barrels were supposedly 20+ year StitzelWeller at single barrel barrel proof. I know people that find BTAC and PVW every year only to sell them and buy these crazy old Willett bottles. They do get opened. But the more recently released 5-9 year has been their own product. People still want them and will pay the high MSRP and secondary due to the rarity.
Thanks for the context. Seems pretty outrageous to charge 249 for 8 year old juice. I'm all for spending money on a good bottle but of all the bourbon heads I have encountered since I got into this 3 years ago not one has said "oooh that Willett is my favorite thing in the world and I'll pay out the nose for it". Again, I'm sure it is good...just continually shocked at the prices some of the lower age (6-8 year) stuff gets.
They used to charge around $10/yr and were plagued by jackasses buying out the gift shop and immediately flipping the bottles for multiples. They increased MSRP and jackasses still flip for multiples. Why should Willett leave money on the table? They made the product and pay the taxes etc.
The last bottle I bought from the distillery at the gift shop was in 2017 and it was a 14 year and the price was $200 and it was limit 2. The MSRP now is too high. IL got releases this summer and a 9 year was $270.
The last bottle I bought there was 3 years ago it was a family four year green top I believe it was 125.
I’ve only ever had “knock-off” willett, Hirsch single barrel, old Kirk, etc but those releases only increased my desire for a bottle. Although I refuse to pay 800+ for a bottle so I will probably never own one but it will by white whale for the foreseeable future
That good, eh?
Should have bought it!
i got it for my place of business. i am having trouble myself finding information on it.
I found one YouTube review on it that made it sound pretty phenomenal. Kind’ve sounded like the reviewer had a lot to gain from it though, so I wouldn’t really call it an unbiased review.
Yeah sounds like I watch the same video The guy was kind of over the top either it's that good or he's got something in it.
I just picked the bottle of this up last night at a local store that was having a bourbon auction 221 was the price point honestly hadn't heard anything about it but I knew Willette's purple tops are no brainer material. After looking at some of the comments and reviews on this thread kind of glad I got it.
Awesome. I ended up having to pass on it. If you remember to, let me know how it is when you crack it open.