Pure Kentucky XO Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Grain to glass
- Non-chill filtered
- Core range
- Proof
- 107
- Age
- Not stated
- Style
- BourbonKentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Street price
- $48.99
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“A 107-proof marriage of Willett's two bourbon recipes, mostly the low-rye one.”
Tasting notes
- nose
- salted caramel and fudge, vanilla wafer, brown sugar, grilled corn and mixed nuts over charred oak
- palate
- chewy; caramel and vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg, chocolate brownie and peanut brittle, with black peppercorn
- finish
- short to moderate; oak, chocolate and pepper, with spearmint and a sugary icing note as it fades
Mash bill
A blend of several whiskeys, so no single grain split.
A blend of two recipes: 85% from a mash of 72% corn, 13% rye and 15% malted barley, and 15% from a mash of 52% corn, 38% rye and 10% malted barley. The larger share is the Willett family's original low-rye recipe; the smaller is its high-rye recipe, added to sharpen the spice. Each is barreled and aged on its own before blending.
- Cask
- New charred American oak, char #4
- Best served
- neat or in an Old Fashioned
Why it's craft
Pure Kentucky XO once carried a 12-year statement on whiskey bought from other distilleries; around 2020 Willett moved it, with its other small-batch brands, to bourbon distilled in Bardstown. The Kulsveen family, who own and run the distillery Thompson Willett founded in 1936, distill on both a column still and a Vendome copper pot still. The bourbon is bottled at 107 proof without chill filtration.
Willett Distillery
Family-owned · Est. 1936 · Tours