About Willett

For the Willett family, distilling craft whiskey is a family tradition. John David Willlett began distilling at the Moore, Willett & Frenke Distillery just outside of Louisville, Kentucky, during Reconstruction. In 1898, his son, A. Lambert Willett — who was just 15 years old at the time — began apprenticing with his father. Eventually, Lambert purchased a farm on the outskirts of Bardstown, Kentucky, and began construction of the Willett Distilling Company in the spring of 1935. While Willett Distilling Company eventually changed its name to Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, the family tradition lives on. Even Kulsveen, the owner of KBD, is Willett’s son-in-law.