Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whiskey: Fine Upscale Bourbon
Written: Sep 25 '05 (Updated Sep 25 '05)
Product Rating:
Pros: Smooth enough to drink straight, no harsh afterburn
Cons: Needs to be better known
The Bottom Line: Bulleit is a fine choice for someone who has shied away from bourbon in the past due to its reputation for harshness. Smooth and drinkable. Fine for sipping.
North Central Kentucky is the home of that most American of drinks, Bourbon. While Bourbon has traditionally been a strong tasting drink, in recent years distilleries have worked to introduce premium brands to upscale consumers. These brands are characterized by a smoothness that is absent from the old “white lighning” based whiskey that most drinkers associate with bourbon and are smooth enough to drink in a snifter like fine cognac or scotch. Bulleit is one such brand.
Like many liquors, there is much legend and little fact available when researching Bulleit Bourbon. The website mentions Augustus Bulleit (pronounced “bullet”) who first began making whiskey in 1830. Bulleit’s whiskey was popular in the Western expansion and went west in many a covered wagon. By 1860 Bulleit died and his whiskey became only a memory. In 1987, descendent Tom Bulleit revived the ancestral business and began making Bourbon under the family name once again. Since 1997, Bulleit Bourbon has been a product of Seagrams.
To commemorate the family heritage, Bulleit comes in a clear glass bottle with raised lettering, presumably similar to those made a century or more ago. The bottle is shaped like an old fashioned medicine bottle with a long body and a short neck and is sealed with a cork rather than a screw cap. The raised letters say “Bulleit Boubon Frontier Whiskey,” again harking back to the heritage established by Augustus Bulleit a century and a half ago. A narrow orange label is wrapped around the lower part of the bottle leaving most of the clear glass flask bare.
Bulleit is an attractive orange color, is 90 proof, and has a smoky oak taste, from the oaken casks used to age the whiskey. There is a hint of vanilla flavor, also.
Like its fellow upscale entries in the premium bourbon category, Bulleit does not have that harsh, throat clenching bite associated with traditional whiskey like Grannie’s “corn squeezins.” You can therefore safely drink Bulleit straight, either at room temperature or over ice. Bulleit can also be used in your favorite mixed drink, be it Manhattan, Mint Julep, or your favorite mixer. I sometimes drink it like they do in Chicago, straight up with a beer chaser. But just straight at room temperature is perfectly fine with me.
I hope you’ll try some of these premium bourbons, like Bulleit, which are far smoother than the old fashioned bourbon you might have tried before.
90 Pts: International Review of Spirits It has been aged seven years and has a high rye component in the mash which gives the bourbon a rich, oak arom...More at CityWineCellar
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