{"id":3068,"date":"2017-04-12T13:19:45","date_gmt":"2017-04-12T17:19:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/?p=3068"},"modified":"2017-04-12T18:31:13","modified_gmt":"2017-04-12T22:31:13","slug":"bulleit-bourbon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/2017\/04\/12\/bulleit-bourbon\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulleit Bourbon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bulleit (pronounced like the projectile) is a Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey, owned by the international drinks conglomerate Diageo.<\/p>\n

Self-identified as a “high-rye” whiskey, it has a relatively higher rye content in the mash bill compared to most bourbons (about twice the typical level). This gives it a spicier and earthier flavour profile. I don’t see an official age statement, but there are reports online of it being aged for at least six years. Note there is also an older age-statement version available, the Bulleit 10 year old bourbon.<\/p>\n

The standard no-age-statement Bulleit seems to be something of a staple in bars for the high-rye class of bourbons (just like Buffalo Trace for a low-rye bourbon, Rittenhouse for a straight rye, and Maker’s Mark for a wheater). Its low cost and high rye content – both particularly well-suited to cocktails – are likely a good part of the reason.<\/p>\n

Note that despite the “Frontier Whiskey” moniker, Bulleit is a rather new operation. Until just recently<\/a>, they didn’t even have their own distillery – this bourbon is made under contract by Four Roses Distillery (edit: that may no longer be the case, see discussion here<\/a><\/em>). That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as Four Roses has a good reputation. Bulleit also publishes the full mash bill specs for this bourbon (68% corn, 28% rye, 4% malted barley). It is bottled at a decent 45% ABV.<\/p>\n

Here is how it compares to other bourbons of similar price in my Meta-Critic Database (and the other Bulleit products):<\/p>\n

1792 Small Batch Bourbon: 8.59 \u00b1 0.41 on 15 reviews ($$)
\nBuffalo Trace Bourbon: 8.58 \u00b1 0.41 on 19 reviews ($$)
\nBulleit Rye: 8.29 \u00b1 0.63 on 16 reviews ($$)
\nBulleit 10yo Bourbon: 8.56 \u00b1 0.39 on 12 reviews ($$$)
\nBulleit Bourbon: 8.38 \u00b1 0.37 on 21 reviews ($$)<\/strong>
\nEagle Rare 10yo: 8.55 \u00b1 0.32 on 20 reviews ($$)
\nElijah Craig 12yo: 8.67 \u00b1 0.28 on 21 reviews ($$)
\nEvan Williams Single Barrel: 8.71 \u00b1 0.24 on 15 reviews ($$)
\nFour Roses Bourbon (Yellow Label): 8.21 \u00b1 0.34 on 11 reviews ($)
\nFour Roses Single Barrel Bourbon: 8.70 \u00b1 0.32 on 18 reviews ($$$)
\nFour Roses Small Batch Bourbon: 8.48 \u00b1 0.42 on 13 reviews ($$)
\nGeorge Dickel No.12: 8.26 \u00b1 0.45 on 15 reviews ($$)
\nKnob Creek Small Batch 9yo Bourbon: 8.61 \u00b1 0.40 on 21 reviews ($$)
\nOld Forester: 8.11 \u00b1 0.43 on 11 reviews ($$)
\nOld Forester Signature (100 Proof): 8.36 \u00b1 0.40 on 8 reviews ($$)
\nOld Grand-Dad Bourbon (80\/86 Proof): 8.04 \u00b1 0.51 on 10 reviews ($$)
\nOld Grand-Dad Bourbon 100 BiB: 8.37 \u00b1 0.54 on 9 reviews ($$)
\nRussell’s Reserve Small Batch 10yo Bourbon: 8.54 \u00b1 0.29 on 14 reviews ($$)
\nWild Turkey 101 Bourbon: 8.46 \u00b1 0.43 on 18 reviews ($$)
\nWoodford Reserve bourbon: 8.40 \u00b1 0.35 on 18 reviews ($$)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As you can see, standard Bulleit bourbon does reasonably well for this class and price point. As an aside, the bourbon drinkers on Reddit have put up a good beginners and intermediate guide<\/a> to understanding bourbon styles – I recommend you check it out, to see how the various bourbon options above compare.<\/p>\n

I recently picked up a sample bottle of standard Bulleit during my travels in the U.S (shown on the right). As a nice touch, the glass bottle actually has the same type of raised lettering as the full-size bottles, with a lot code printed on the back. A nice touch!<\/p>\n

Here’s what I find in the glass:<\/p>\n

Nose<\/strong>: Sweet, and no mistaking this is a high rye bourbon, with all the baking spices. Lots of caramel, brown sugar and vanilla up front. Relatively fruity for a bourbon, with orange (citrus) but also banana, apple, and plums (different mix than usual). This fruitiness reminds me a bit of a Crown Royal Hand Selected Barrel<\/a> I once tried, reinforcing that rye whisky connection. Oak barrel char. Some acetone mars the finish (acetone often goes hand-in-hand with excessive fruitiness, I find). Better than I expected overall.<\/p>\n

Palate<\/strong>: Caramel and vanilla again. Woodier than the nose would have suggested. Same general fruitiness as the nose. The spices pick up a little bit – but more in terms of pepper and light spices (e.g. nutmeg), not the typical heavy rye spices. Ok mouthfeel, not too watery. A bit of mouth pucker once you swallow (i.e., astringent). Some oaky bitterness creeps in at the end – or is that citrus again?<\/p>\n

Finish<\/strong>: Shortish. Dry bitterness is the main characteristic that holds the longest, along with the light spices and some initial light sweetness.\u00a0 This is its weakest feature, honestly.<\/p>\n

\"Bulleit.Bourbon\"This is a decent high rye bourbon. It was doing particularly well on the nose and initial palate, but couldn’t really hold it together very well on the way out. As such, I would personally give it a score very much in keeping with the Meta-Critic average presented above (i.e., slightly below average for the class). But that still represents good value for money at this price point. I can see why it is a popular pour.<\/p>\n

For reviews of this standard expression, there are some fairly positive reviews by Josh the Whiskey Jug<\/a>, Serge of Whisky Fun<\/a> and John of Whisky Advocate<\/a>. Rather luke-warm or negative are Nathan the Scotch Noob<\/a>, Oliver of Dramming<\/a>, Thomas of Whisky Saga<\/a> and Richard of Whiskey Reviewer<\/a>.\u00a0 Not really a lot of scores in-between (except for my own).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bulleit (pronounced like the projectile) is a Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey, owned by the international drinks conglomerate Diageo. Self-identified as a “high-rye” whiskey, it has a relatively higher rye content in the mash bill compared to most bourbons (about twice the typical level). This gives it a spicier and earthier flavour profile. I don’t see an official age statement, but<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,113,18],"class_list":["post-3068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whiskies","tag-bourbon","tag-bulleit","tag-nas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3068"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3718,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3068\/revisions\/3718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}