The Whiskey Reviewer A World of Whiskey, Poured Every Weekday
By Richard Thomas
Rating: B+
Bulleit 10 Year Old Bourbon
(Credit: Richard Thomas)
One of the mysteries that engrosses bourbon nerds these days is just what is in a bottle of Bulleit. The company used to source it’s whiskey from Four Roses, but the demands of the Bourbon Boom meant that company needed it’s production capacity for its own products, and they terminated the supply contract with Bulleit sometime in 2013/2014. Since the brand was based on the quite distinctive Four Roses mid-to-high rye recipe (28% rye) and Bulliet draws on five to eight year old whiskeys, this is the year that what is in those bottles must have begun transitioning to a new supply of stock whiskey. Bulleit’s own in-house whiskey won’t be available for years, as the distillery didn’t come online until this year.
Excepted from that transition is Bulleit 10 Year Old, which because of its age must necessarily be made with the Four Roses stock. Bulleit 10 Year Old is also a reasonably available, reasonably priced 10 year old bourbon, and that at a time when a lot of 10 year olds are either not easy to find (Henry McKenna) or fetching high prices (Michter’s).
The Bourbon
Bulleit 10 has a lighter look than I expected from a middle aged whiskey, with a light amber coloring. Coating the glass yields skinny legs.
The nose is what I expect from an older bourbon with a higher (if not actually “high”) rye content: spicy with cloves, cinnamon, anise and a hint of dill; a dry, tea-tannin note; and a current of barrel-driven caramel flowing around the edges. A sip shows the flavor follows pretty directly from there: spices, dry pepper, a little vanilla sweetness, and a touch of barrel char. The finish runs with dry pepper and barrel char.
What the extra aging does to the old Bulleit profile is bring the barrel char out more, enhancing it by adding some dryness to the whiskey. So, if you like your bourbon with barrel char, this is a bottle to keep on your shelf.
The Price
A bottle of Bulleit 10 Year Old should set you back about $45.
