Review 188: Bulleit Rye

Bulleit Rye is one of these 95% rye ryes produced by Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana (LDI). If you know me, you know I love high-rye ryes. For instance, WhistlePig is 100% rye and an all-time favorite. So, I've got pretty high hopes for this affordable and available whisky!

Bulleit Rye

Color: Amber +0

ABV: 45% 

Aroma Neat:
Dried Spearmint Leaves, Dry Cork, Floral Honey, Chalk, Vanilla, Dusty Oak, Rye Flour, Cooked Grains. 

Super-minty and pleasingly dry. Pre-made julep? Less spicy than expected, given the rye content.

Aroma Water:
Dried Mint, Cloves, Black Pepper (slightly), Creamy Vanilla, Bananas, Coconut, Honey-Rye Bread (delicious, +1 to the rating!), Sweet Tobacco, Root Beer/Grape Soda (a new one).

Some spices comes through with water. Not a particularly spicy rye, this. American oak notes (vanilla, banana, coconut) are now as or more prominent than the mint. Much more articulate than neat. Although the mint assault was nice...

Taste Neat:
Vanilla, Cooked Bananas, Dry Mint, Mineral Water/Honey (another new one...), Talcum Powder, Barrel Char, Sourdough Bread, Spent Grain.

An unsurprisingly dry and mineral palate, which I quite like. It would be fair to say it's on the simple side. Simple does not always mean boring, though!

Taste Water:
Copper/Rust, Seasoned Oak, Minerality, Bitter Dark Chocolate (slightly), Peppermint Sprigs, Peppery/Clovey Tobacco, Heavy Char.

Still dry and mineral. Now a little more spicy.


Finish:
Ash, Charred Oak, Tobacco, Dried Mint, Rye Flour, Smoke (faintly).

Ashy and woody through the finish with dried leaf notes (the tobacco and mint kind!). Some grain lingers, which adds a nice dimension.

Conclusion:
Dry, minty nose.

Dry, minty/woody/grainy palate.

Lingering, minty/gristy/burned finish. Oh yes, and dry.


Rating: 84/100

For some reason, this strikes me as WhistlePig and Wild Turkey 101 put together. To compare to another staple rye, Bulleit is more spirit forward and less "bourbony" than Rittenhouse BiB. However, both are good examples of rye's diversity. Bulleit is certainly an excellent sipping whisky and more than holds its own in cocktails (made a mean sazerac with this!). It's not particularly complex, which is a bit of a shame, but it delivers such a satisfying minty/dry rye blast that I don't really care. It's darn good stuff.

Josh