A distillery as synonymous with American whiskey as its hometown of Bardstown, Kentucky, Willett boasts a long history of both distilling and independent bottling, and with the 2012 revitalization of the original estate, the Willett family’s fifth generation of producers has ushered in perhaps the brand’s most exciting era yet.

The Willett family’s role in American distilling is a long and well-documented one, finding its first Kentucky touchstone in 1792 when William Willett, Jr. moved from Maryland to Nelson County—the same year that Kentucky became a state. By the mid-1800s, his son John David Willett was a partner in Moore, Willett, & Frenke Distillery, and would serve as a master distiller at four other distilleries in his lifetime. Two generations of family distillers later, in 1936, Thompson Willett became the founder and president of Willett Distillery, which was erected on the family farm in Bardstown shortly after Prohibition’s repeal.

Willett Distillery launched Old Bardstown Bourbon in the 1940s, and the flagship brand was followed by Johnny Drum Bourbon in the 1960s. As the growing bourbon category solidified its place in America’s very identity, Willett Distillery collected accolades for the mash bill recipes still used by the family today.