Willett Distillery has launched Willett Pot Still Reserve Cask Strength, a full-proof version of its small batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. The Bardstown, Kentucky producer confirmed on 23 September 2026 that the wheated bourbon will arrive in the pot still-shaped bottle designed by the late Even Kulsveen.
The expression will be released twice each year, timed to the Spring and Fall Equinox. The schedule is intended to reflect two seasonal turning points, spanning mint and juleps in spring through richer autumn pours as the weather cools.
Willett Pot Still Reserve Cask Strength is built from a mash bill of 65% corn, 20% wheat and 15% barley. The bourbon enters the barrel at 115 proof. The final proof will vary by release and will be printed on each bottle.
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READ THE STORYThe bottle remains central to the release. Conceived by Even Kulsveen, the decanter is an exact replica of the patented Willett pot still built by Vendome Copper and Brass.
The design has long been a recognizable silhouette on back bars and retail shelves, linking the whiskey to the equipment and family behind the distillery.
“The Pot Still bottle is part of Willett’s identity, and it carries the vision of Even Kulsveen every time it is placed on a shelf or poured at a bar,” said master distiller Drew Kulsveen. “Releasing this bourbon at cask strength gives whiskey drinkers a new way to experience the wheated mash bill—full proof, full bodied and presented in a bottle that means so much to our family,” he added.
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Willett Pot Still Reserve Cask Strength will be available nationally at $67 (£50). Each release will be identified by its batch-specific proof.
The distillery has deep roots in Kentucky’s bourbon industry. Willett Distillery was established in 1936 by Thompson Willett, but the family’s whiskey legacy began long before.
Located in Bardstown, the distillery gained considerable fame as an independent bottler that packaged and released other distilleries’ products under the Willett name.
The standard Willett Pot Still Reserve was first introduced in 2008.
