Willett Single Barrel Release + Rare Whiskey Tasting at Mallard

Join Spirits Director Nick Farrell for a very special Willett tasting at Mallard on Sunday, September 20th! Join us at Mallard on Sunday, September 20th to celebrate the release of Neighborhood Restaurant Group’s first ever Willett Single Barrel pick - a complex 6-year old bourbon called “Red Card.” For $79, attendees will enjoy a specially curated six pour tasting of Willett offerings including two exclusive single barrels, Willett Black bottle wheated bourbon, and pours of Willett Small Batch “Purple Top” bourbon, “Green Top” Rye, and our Willett Single Barrel Bourbon, “Red Card.”. Ticket holders will experience an old fashioned made with our new single barrel and the Willett six pour flight, all the while learning about the history of Willett. Guests will also have the opportunity to purchase a bottle of our exclusive single barrel at a discounted price ($175 -> $165). THE WILLET TASTING LIST Willet Single Barrel "Red Card" Old Fashioned Willett Speakeasy Bourbon / ~4 Years / 98 Proof Willett Four Year Bourbon “Purple Top” / 125 Proof / Blend of Low and High Rye Mashbills Willett Family Estate Single Barrel Bourbon “Red Card” / 6 Year / 125.6 Proof Willett Family Estate Single Barrel Bourbon “High Rye American Pie” / 8 Year / 122 Proof Willett Family Estate Wheated “Black Bottle” / 8 Year / 108 Proof Willett Family Estate Four Year Rye / 117.3 Proof After the featured tasting flight, guests will also be able to taste pours of additional NRG exclusive single barrels and purchase bottles to take home, including our Russell’s “Trail-Mix-A-Lot” Single Barrel, Green River Single Barrel, Thresh & Winnow 10 Year Single Barrel Rye, Peerless Single Barrel, 1792 Full Proof Single Barrel, and more. Come learn the stories behind our amazing bourbons and ryes, and taste one of the best exclusive single barrel collections on the East Coast, and bring some of these amazing bottles home. More about the NRG Single Barrel "Red Card" Pick from Spirits Director Nick Farrell: Willett Family Estate Single Barrel Bourbon “Red Card” 6 Year 125.6 Proof Warehouse G 72 Corn / 13 Rye / 15 Barley Willett Single Barrels are the stuff of legend, with sourced original versions aged in their rickhouses going for $90,000 at auction (look up LaNell’s Red Hook Rye from 2006). We went down to the distillery last month to pick this barrel at the height of the World Cup. We were offered six different samples after the usual tour, and chose to taste the samples blind. Four years ago if you had told me we’d be doing this, I would’ve thought you were pulling my leg. With 8 of us sitting around a table, and 6 bourbons sitting in front of us at 10 AM on a Tuesday, we quickly acclimated our palates with a pour of something else before diving in. The beauty of picking was that all the samples were good, but we narrowed it down to two exceptional samples within a couple of minutes. The samples stood out for their oily mouthfeels and long, long finishes. Ultimately, we settled on this "Red Card" here, so named because we kept coming back to the bright red cherry notes we got on top of the peanuts and vanilla, almost like the cherry on top of a sundae. The Balogun Red Card controversy just so happened to be unfolding that day as well, but that’s beside the point. The hallmark here for me is that I can’t stop smelling and tasting it, and focusing on the cherry notes sell it short, because it’s so complex that you get something new every time you stick your nose in it or sip it. Fall leaves, toasted anise, clove, butterfingers, and even a little sage come through as well. Warehouse G is notable for being one of Willett’s oldest aging warehouses, sitting atop a hill and getting a good amount of cooling crosswinds. Some of Willett’s most famous barrels have come from G, including the unicorn LaNell’s Red Hook Rye. Red Card was the only sample from our six hailing from Warehouse G, and we were thrilled to have gotten this pick from such a storied location. This drinks like a higher rye bourbon, and it drinks like a winner.