American whiskey icon and master distiller emeritus for Michter’s Distillery, Willie Pratt, passed away Dec. 28 at age 78. Following more than four decades in multiple roles at Brown-Forman, he retired at age 65 until Michter’s president, Joe Magliocco, hired him to consult for the emerging whiskey company. In joining the company as its master distiller in 2007, Pratt helped Michter’s become one of the country’s most recognizable whiskey brands.
“Willie wanted to stay active after retiring, and I reached out to him about doing some part-time work,” Magliocco said to me as we chatted about Pratt’s legacy this week. “And as you know, in this business, part-time soon becomes 24-7. But he thrived on the work because he was passionate about making great whiskey.”