Bulleit Bourbon is a high-rye Kentucky straight bourbon, made from a mash with 28% rye, around double the share in most bourbons. This is the 700mL bottle sold outside the US.
About This Bourbon
The recipe is 68% corn, 28% rye and 4% malted barley, and the rye shows as dry, peppery spice on top of the corn's caramel sweetness. That spice keeps it distinct in sours and stirred drinks. Today it is made at the Bulleit Distilling Co. in Shelbyville, Kentucky.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Vanilla, orange zest and caramel, with a thread of smoke and cherry.
- Palate: Medium-bodied and spicy, with rye pepper, maple and toasted oak.
- Finish: Dry and fairly short, with lingering spice.
Serving & Food
Built into a Whiskey Sour or a Boulevardier, the rye keeps the drink from turning sweet. Neat, a large cube tames the pepper. Buffalo wings suit it, the heat and vinegar matching the bourbon's spice.
How to Enjoy
A cocktail bourbon for the home bar, with enough character to sip on ice.
Product Details
Brand: Bulleit
Style: Kentucky straight bourbon
Mash Bill: 68% corn, 28% rye, 4% malted barley
Region: Shelbyville, Kentucky, USA
Volume: 700mL
About the Distillery
The Bulleit story goes back to Augustus Bulleit, who made a rye-heavy whiskey in Kentucky in the 1830s. His great-great-grandson Tom Bulleit, a Kentucky lawyer, revived the name in 1987 with a modern recipe that kept the rye high.
Seagram bought the brand in 1997, and it passed to Diageo, which opened a dedicated Bulleit distillery in Shelbyville in 2017. The range now includes Bulleit 95 Rye and, from 2026, a bourbon and rye blend called Bulleit '87.