The Woman Behind the Barrel: Britt Kulsveen and the Living Legacy of Willett Distillery
There are few places in American whiskey where the past and present occupy the same room so completely as they do at Willett Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. The rickhouses still creak with the weight of aging barrels. A belt-and-pulley fan system from the turn of the last century still hums through the distillery walls. And at the helm of it all stands Britt Kulsveen — President, Chief Whiskey Officer, and fifth-generation steward of one of bourbon's most resilient and storied families.
Her story is not the typical narrative of a whiskey executive who arrived at a boardroom table through an MBA program and a string of corporate titles. It is something rarer and more American than that: a family trade passed across generations, surviving Prohibition, industry collapse, a Category 4 hurricane, and the shifting tides of global taste — all to emerge today as one of the most respected independent operations in Kentucky bourbon.
Roots That Go Back to the 1800s
To understand where Britt Kulsveen fits in the Willett story, you have to start well before she was born. The Willett distilling legacy traces its roots to the mid-1800s, when John David Willett served as Master Distiller for the Moore, Willett & Frenke Distillery in Bardstown, as well as four other Kentucky distilleries during his lifetime. Distilling, in other words, was never just an occupation for this family — it was a calling that ran through the bloodline itself.
In 1936, just three years after the repeal of Prohibition, John David Willett's son Aloysius Lambert Willett and grandson A.L. "Thompson" Willett purchased a farm on the highest point in Nelson County to begin construction on what is now the Willett Distillery. The distillery was built on the family's 130-acre farm, and they filled their first barrel of whiskey on March 17 — St. Patrick's Day — 1937. That inaugural batch was rolled into Warehouse A using the recipes of John David Willett himself, establishing the Old Bardstown brand that would carry the family's name for decades.
The Willett family history includes a line of distillers dating back to the 1700s, making this not merely a legacy business but one of the deepest generational commitments in American spirits. Few families anywhere in the country can claim a connection to craft that runs so long or so unbroken — though the distillery itself would face a near-fatal rupture in that continuity before the Kulsveen name entered the picture.
Collapse, Reinvention, and an Immigrant's Vision
By the late 1970s and early 1980s, the American bourbon industry was in freefall. Tastes had shifted dramatically toward clear spirits — vodka and gin claimed the cocktail culture that bourbon had once dominated. After the Willett Distillery closed in the late 1970s amid industry decline, Even and Martha saw an opportunity to revive it. The "Even" in that sentence is Even G. Kulsveen, a Norwegian-born immigrant who had married into the Willett family and who would prove to be the bridge between the distillery's founding generation and the one that now runs it today.
Born in Norway, Kulsveen made his way to the United States and eventually settled in Bardstown, Kentucky. Through his marriage to Martha Willett, daughter of the Willett family, he became tied to one of bourbon's most historic names. What he brought to that marriage — and to that distillery — was a combination of business acumen, genuine passion for quality spirits, and an immigrant's willingness to bet everything on something he believed in.
In 1984, they purchased the property and founded Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, Ltd. Though the distillery had ceased production during this time — of both its whiskey and the ethanol it had produced for gasoline in answer to the nation's energy crisis of the decade prior — Even and Martha pushed on with the family legacy, changing the name of the distillery to Kentucky Bourbon Distillers Ltd and releasing the estate's remaining stocks.
When those stocks ran dry, the Kulsveens did not fold. Together, they leveraged existing bourbon stocks, embraced creative packaging, and opened export markets, sustaining the family business during a period when American whiskey struggled amid growing diversification in beverage alcohol. Even Kulsveen's expertise in international trade became an unexpected lifeline. Immediately, his expertise in export markets became an imperative value. Popularity for brown spirits in the United States was on the decline while numerous foreign markets were growing. Asian markets demonstrated a thirst for whiskey and an appreciation for artistic packaging. Even positioned Willett to provide the best of both.
During the 1990s and early 2000s, they bottled whiskey for the likes of Black Maple Hill, Michter's, and numerous other brands — most of which sold for modest prices at the time, years before bourbon's resurgence. It was during this era, in the 1990s, that the family debuted its Small Batch Boutique Bourbon Collection under the KBD label, which included Rowan's Creek, Noah's Mill, Kentucky Vintage, and Pure Kentucky — all independently bottled and reflecting the sourcing of fine whiskey stocks that could never be obtained today. Bottles from that era are now considered collector pieces, commanding secondary market prices that would have been unimaginable when they were first filled.
A Childhood Soaked in Bourbon
Britt Kulsveen grew up inside all of this. Not as a spectator, but as a child whose earliest sensory memories were shaped by the rhythms of a working distillery. Some of Kulsveen's earliest childhood memories revolved around Willett, the now 90-year-old spirits business that has been a constant in her family. Sights and smells — and even tastes — of the operation were ingrained into her memory.
In her own words, the experience was total and inescapable. "One of the things I love about bourbon is it's a fully engaged sensory experience," she has said, noting that her childhood, if she had to describe it in a single scent, was machine oil and bourbon. Even the family's holiday traditions centered on the product. At family Thanksgivings, her grandmother made yeast rolls from scratch. Britt's job was to make the icing — Old Bardstown, her grandfather's flagship bourbon — mixed with powdered sugar.
And yet, despite growing up so thoroughly embedded in the business, though she was immersed in Willett Distillery from an early age, she says it never occurred to her to get involved with the brand. If anything, she thought of getting in on the distribution side of things. It took an act of nature to redirect her path.
From LSU to Bardstown: The Hurricane That Changed Everything
Britt Kulsveen is a graduate of Louisiana State University, where she studied political science and responsible consumption. She also studied distillation at L'allemond Ethanol Tech in Montreal, Quebec. The combination of those two academic tracks — political science and the technical science of distillation — speaks to the dual nature of what running a family distillery actually demands. It requires understanding the regulatory environment, the policy landscape, and the technical craft all at once.
After graduating, she remained in Louisiana. She stayed in Louisiana until 2005, when she was blown back to Bardstown, Kentucky, by Hurricane Katrina. Spending more time at home meant spending more time around her family's business, Willett Distillery. What might have been a temporary relocation became a permanent homecoming, and those shifted plans turned into a full-scale commitment to the family enterprise.
Even's daughter, Britt Kulsveen Chavanne, and her husband, Hunter Chavanne, joined the business towards the end of 2005. Her brother Drew had already arrived, joining their father at the beginning of 2003. The next generation was assembling at exactly the right moment — just as the American bourbon revival was beginning to gather steam and the Kulsveen family was preparing to bring distilling back to the Bardstown property after more than two decades of dormancy.
Bringing the Stills Back to Life
The return to active distillation was the defining chapter of the family's modern era. In January 2012, after three years of renovations to the distillery — including the installation of a brand new copper pot still — the Willett/Kulsveen family distilled its first whiskey at the new plant. Since 2010, the family had been restoring the main distillery building, cistern room, and warehouse on the property. They still use the belt-and-pulley fan system, which dates to the turn of the last century, and which runs through the distillery and visitors' center.
The copper pot still they installed has a story of its own. Manufactured originally for the old Kentucky brand Waterfill and Frazier, the still wound up in Mexico during Prohibition, where it was used to make contraband. Drew's father, Even Kulsveen, bought it for a steal. That still now sits at the heart of some of Willett's most prized expressions. In 2015, they released Willett Family Estate Rye Whiskey, the first whiskey available that was distilled on the iconic copper pot still. A year later, on March 17, 2016 — the anniversary of that first barrel in 1937 — the first bourbon to be distilled on the copper pot still was released, the Willett Family Estate Bourbon Whiskey.
Today, the distillery operates three still types — column, doubler, and a copper pot still — across eight aging warehouses. In addition to producing the traditional family whiskey recipes, Drew has developed his own set of mash bills, earning him three consecutive James Beard Award nominations. That kind of culinary-world recognition for a distiller is rare and signals just how seriously the craft side of things is taken at this operation.
The President and Chief Whiskey Officer
On June 14, 2018, the company announced the promotion of Britt Kulsveen to President and Chief Whiskey Officer, replacing her mother Martha Harriett Willett Kulsveen as President. The timing was not accidental. The announcement came on National Bourbon Day — a day that also happened to be Britt's birthday, as well as Flag Day — a convergence of significance that seemed almost engineered for someone whose identity had become so thoroughly intertwined with Kentucky bourbon.
"This is a tremendous honor and I'm incredibly thankful for the teachings and traditions that have been passed down from generations of strong Willett women, especially my mother, that have guided my personal and professional life," Britt Kulsveen said. "The importance of gratitude, kindness and serving others have been instilled in my beliefs since birth and are firmly rooted in my plans for our distillery's future. Like our Bourbon, the Willett brand of Southern hospitality is unique, timeless, authentic and welcoming without prejudice."
Kulsveen is the great-granddaughter of founder A. Lambert Willett and succeeded her mother, Martha Harriett Willett Kulsveen, as President. In doing so, she continued what the official announcement described as a Willett tradition of strong female leadership — a lineage in which women have held real authority over the direction of the business, not just ceremonial roles. "For the last 13 years I have observed daily demonstrations of Britt's natural leadership abilities. We couldn't be more excited for the future of the Willett Distillery with Britt at the helm," Drew Kulsveen said.
A Division of Labor Built on Trust
The sibling partnership at the core of Willett's current operation is defined by clearly drawn roles and genuine mutual respect. Kulsveen serves as the brand's president and CWO — Chief Whiskey Officer. In these roles, she's able to cultivate the culture and human development side of the business, while her brother Drew works as master distiller. That division — one sibling focused outward on people, brand, and experience; the other focused inward on process, product, and production — reflects a complementary balance that has served the operation well through a period of enormous growth.
Willett itself remains a modest, family-owned operation, with a master distiller at the helm, Drew Kulsveen, who knows every employee by name. "I try to make a point every day that I'm on the property to say hi and talk to as many people as possible — not necessarily always about work, but about them, their families, their kids," said Kulsveen.
Britt's vision for the distillery extends well beyond production. Kulsveen sees Willett as being in the business of hospitality, adding that the brand has a "ferocious" level of care baked into everything it does. That philosophy has manifested in concrete investments in the guest experience. Under her watch, the distillery has not only expanded its offerings but, in 2019, opened "The Bar at Willett" as well as an enhanced visitor experience, showcasing the family's generous welcome to over 55,000 guests annually. Drew's wife Janelle is focused on leading the growing guest experience at Willett Distillery, hosting visitors at the newly expanded gift shop, coffee shop, and tasting rooms with that special Willett variety of southern hospitality.
As President and Chief Whiskey Officer, she is responsible for all day-to-day operations, compliance, strategy and development, including a new onsite restaurant and bed and breakfast. The scope of that responsibility is considerable for what remains, by design, a family-scale organization. It requires someone who can hold the ceremonial weight of a 90-year heritage in one hand and the operational complexity of a growing modern distillery in the other.
Independence as Identity
In an era when major spirits conglomerates have steadily absorbed craft distilleries at a pace that has reshaped the landscape of American whiskey, Willett's commitment to independence stands out as something almost contrarian — and deeply principled. Over the years, bigger distilleries have courted Willett, but the family remains firmly independent — one of the last remaining large distilleries in the U.S. to do so. The Kulsveens have continually reinforced the stance that the brand values autonomy and quality over scale and is not remotely interested in being purchased.
Thanks to their success, Willett has been courted by bigger distilleries and larger conglomerates, yet remains committed to keeping ownership within the Kulsveen family. That commitment has not come without pressure. The bourbon boom of the past two decades has made Willett's brand equity extraordinarily valuable on paper, and the secondary market for its limited releases consistently confirms that the label carries a premium among serious collectors. Walking away from acquisition offers requires a degree of conviction about family and craft that is easy to claim and far harder to demonstrate over decades.
The family's business philosophy has always balanced respect for tradition with an openness to innovation, ensuring that Willett's whiskeys resonate with both connoisseurs and new generations of bourbon drinkers. That tension — between preservation and evolution — is exactly the challenge Britt Kulsveen navigates daily. Too much reverence for the past and the brand stagnates. Too much disruption and you lose what made it worth preserving in the first place.
Expanding the Footprint While Protecting the Core
The investments Willett has made under Britt Kulsveen's leadership reflect a careful, deliberate expansion strategy. In December 2022, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced that Willett Distillery would invest nearly $93 million to build warehouses and other production facilities and create 35 new jobs in Springfield, Kentucky. A nearly $100 million capital commitment from a family-owned operation is not a modest wager. It signals the kind of long-range thinking that only makes sense if you intend to stay independent — to fill barrels today whose contents won't be ready to pour for another decade or more.
Over the years, the company has bottled whiskeys that range from two years of aging maturity up to 28 years. That range — from entry-level accessibility to deeply aged rarities — reflects a brand strategy that doesn't chase a single consumer profile but instead tries to build relationships with drinkers at every stage of their whiskey education. The Willett Pot Still Reserve, with its iconic bottle shaped to replicate the actual copper pot still on the property, serves as an ambassador to newer enthusiasts. The single-barrel Family Estate releases, each carrying the specific barrel number, warehouse location, and rick position, are for those who want the full experience.
With its future supply connected to its own stills, Willett plans to be one of the most transparent brands in the business, fully disclosing many operational traits, including mashbills. That commitment to transparency is meaningful in an industry that has historically been cagey about sourcing, production methods, and the details that serious consumers most want to know.
Carrying the Weight of Legacy — and Recent Loss
The Kulsveen family has also faced profound personal loss in recent years. The bourbon world mourned the loss of Even G. Kulsveen, Executive Director of Willett Distillery, who passed away at the age of 79. A devoted family man and a steady leader, Kulsveen shaped the course of modern American whiskey in ways that will endure for generations. His induction into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame, accompanied by the Parker Beam Lifetime Achievement Award, came with a description of him as "a beloved icon who patiently resurrected one of the state's most historic distilleries and returned the family-owned brand to global prominence."
Britt's leadership is unquestionably grounded in gratitude, kindness, and hospitality — values she attributes to the legacy of strong Willett women, in particular her mother, Martha Harriett Willett Kulsveen, whom she succeeded, and who passed away in May 2025. The loss of both parents within a relatively short span of time would test any family enterprise. For a business whose identity is so thoroughly bound up in those individual personalities, the transition carries weight beyond the organizational. Britt Kulsveen now carries forward a lineage that stretches back nearly two centuries, with the most recent chapters written by parents who dedicated their lives to it.
What Willett Means for American Whiskey
Willett's story matters to the broader American whiskey landscape for several reasons that go beyond the quality of the liquid in its bottles. It demonstrates that independent, family-owned distilleries can survive and thrive through industry collapses, generational transitions, and the seductive pressure of corporate acquisition — provided the people at the helm have the right combination of conviction, competence, and patience.
Willett has long remained a family affair, with a fifth generation currently at the helm by way of master distiller Drew Kulsveen and his sister, Britt Kulsveen, who is the distillery's president and chief whiskey officer. In an industry increasingly dominated by large multinational portfolios, that kind of fifth-generation independent stewardship is genuinely uncommon. Britt Kulsveen stands at the helm of one of Kentucky's most storied bourbon families. A fifth-generation steward of the craft, the great-granddaughter of A. Lambert Willett is now tasked with carrying forward the vision of her ancestors.
The Willett model also illustrates how a family operation can successfully navigate the sourcing era without compromising its credibility. During the decades when the distillery wasn't producing its own whiskey, the Kulsveens maintained rigorous quality standards in selecting and bottling third-party barrels. That discipline built the brand equity that now supports a fully operational, estate-distilled product line. The reputation was earned before the stills were even running, a fact that speaks to the integrity of the family's approach to the business throughout its most difficult years.
For collectors and enthusiasts, Willett also represents one of the few operations where the connection between brand and family is genuinely traceable and unbroken. When you hold a bottle of Willett Family Estate bourbon, the chain of custody runs directly from the still to the rickhouse to the hand of a Kulsveen — one of the same people who will take your call if you visit the property, who grew up breathing the air of those warehouses, and whose family name is on the label not as a marketing device but as a simple statement of fact.
The Road Ahead
Britt Kulsveen's tenure at the top of Willett is still relatively young in the context of an operation that thinks in decades and generations. As of 2022 or possibly earlier, Britt Kulsveen became a member of the Kentucky Distillers' Association's board of directors, signaling her growing influence not just within the family business but across Kentucky's distilling industry as a whole. She continues to serve on the KDA board alongside leaders from some of the state's most significant operations, representing independent family ownership in a room that often tilts toward scale.
The nearly $93 million warehouse expansion project in Springfield, the ongoing development of the on-site hospitality program, the continued aging of whiskeys that won't see a bottle for years — all of it points toward a leadership philosophy that prioritizes long-term health over short-term extraction. That kind of patience is rare in any industry and almost extinct in one experiencing the kind of explosive demand that American bourbon has seen over the past two decades.
"As President and Chief Whiskey Officer, I pledge to honor these fundamental family values as we continue to shape our distillery, our signature industry, and our beloved Commonwealth for generations to come," Kulsveen said at the time of her promotion. Those words read less like a press release and more like a declaration of intent from someone who has genuinely internalized what it means to hold something larger than yourself in trust. For Britt Kulsveen, Willett is not a brand she manages. It is a living inheritance she is responsible for passing on — and every barrel she puts down, every visitor she welcomes, and every decision she makes from the president's chair is a piece of that promise kept.
