Metallica Unveils Blackened x Willett Kentucky Straight Rye 11

Nowadays rye whiskey, tomorrow the entire world? Metallica-backed whiskey brand Blackened is building its very first foray into Kentucky with a new rye in collaboration with cult craft distillery Willett. Blackened x Willett Kentucky Straight Rye 11 combines the prowess of an established distiller with the impressive “sonic enhancement” procedure that was pioneered by the late, great Dave Pickerell, one of the brand’s founding partners. The launch is the very first in Blackened’s new “Masters of Whiskey” sequence, which will characteristic collaborations with other distillers in the upcoming. It’s also the 1st rye for the model.

 

 

Pickerell was a close friend of the Kulsveen family members, which owns and operates Willett he even lent experience when they were starting off to distill back in 2011. The partnership with Metallica arrived a couple decades later on. When Blackened was launching in 2018, the Kulsveens welcomed Pickerell back to the distillery to shoot a marketing online video, and later opened their doors to the band, giving them a behind-the-scenes tour, presenting them evening meal and sharing cigars.

What is so distinctive about Blackened x Willett Kentucky Straight Rye 11

Although Pickerell passed away in November 2018, his successor, former Stranahan’s grasp distiller Rob Dietrich, has continued the relationship, functioning with Willett master distiller Drew Kulsveen to craft this new launch. Blackened x Willett marries two straight ryes—one with a significant-rye-content material mashbill, the other with a decrease proportion of the grain—selected from Willett’s Family Estate barrels, ranging in age from 4 to 8 many years old.

Immediately after marrying—blending the whiskeys collectively to kind a balanced whole—the rye was then positioned into madeira casks for a finish of up to 14 months. Like Blackened’s main American whiskey, which blends bourbon and rye from a quantity of states, this end was carried out making use of the brand’s proprietary Black Noise method. Pickerell formulated the innovation exclusively for Blackened.