Bulleit...Rye?

[ThomasH]

Was at the local store today and no Bulleit 95 yet but did get to chat with a rep from Diageo who was also suprised it hadn't showed up yet. He called and made it known my local store wants a case ASAP so hopefully it will be here soon!

Thomas

[callmeox]

Was at the local store today and no Bulleit 95 yet but did get to chat with a rep from Diageo who was also suprised it hadn't showed up yet. He called and made it known my local store wants a case ASAP so hopefully it will be here soon!

Thomas

95 was first added to the April price list, so it can't hit the shelves until 4/1 at the earliest. As of a few days ago, there was none in the state warehouses yet. Due to how the store allocations are done it probably won't hit the shelves until the second week even if it were to hit the warehouses today.

[CorvallisCracker]

Still not on the OLCC list. If we ever do get it here, I expect it will be over $30. Oh well.

[ThomasH]

I didn't expext it to be in Ohio just yet but checked while in the area anyhow. Sometimes things do show up early in stores. The store I frequent is in the top 5 in sales in all Ohio so there is no doubt it will be one of the first to get it when it is out!

Thomas

[HRay]

The LDI 95 rye is such a different style from something like Rittenhouse because it's made to be an ingredient in a blend. I find it flavorful and interesting but not well balanced. It just wants a bit more corn. Though it's not LDI, I get the same thing from WhistlePig and for the same reason. It was made to be a flavoring whiskey, an ingredient, not a drink in its own right. Age seems to help, as the Templeton and High West versions of the LDI rye are much older than the Bulleit and the Bulleit is older than the Redemption.

What do you think the ages of the Templeton, High West, and Bulleit ryes are? Were they all aged in Indiana?

[cowdery]

High West got whiskey from several distilleries and I believe their LDI whiskey was not one of the older ones. Templeton is at least 4 years old but I suspect they're doing some of the aging in Iowa. Bulleit is also at least 4 years old. Redemption is at least 2 years old. Except for Templeton I believe they were all fully aged in Indiana. I know the Bulleit and Redemption were. I don't know about High West.

[jburlowski]

FWIW, in the current issue of The Bourbon Review, Tom Bulleit says that Bulleit Rye is "aged 5 - 7 years".

[p_elliott]

FWIW, in the current issue of The Bourbon Review, Tom Bulleit says that Bulleit Rye is "aged 5 - 7 years".

I'm not sure I would buy that piece of information unless they are aging it somewhere else themselves.

[cowdery]

And they're not, at least according to Diageo. They told me it's aged 100% at LDI.

With me, age claims unsupported by a label age statement tend to go in one ear and out the other unless I have some proof, like watching the barrels being dumped.

[squire]

I agree Chuck, some years back, '76 I think, I was a guest at a Bourbon tasting at our club. Our host represented a small Kentucky distillery and put on a good show addressed to mostly Scotch and Martini drinkers. When the "how old is your whisky" question was asked we were assured that all their product was fully aged and there was no age statement because they just let it rest and bottled it when it reached the point of perfection so age was immaterial. We were further assured the whisky we were sampling was 13 years of age. Well, I guess we drank it all because I've never heard or read since of that brand being bottled at anywhere near that age.

[The Boozer]

Picked up a bottle today. Nose full of spearmint, nice spicey flavor. Does lack some balance as Chuck said, due to the lack on corn. Surprised it has a sweetness at the backend. Decent medium dry finish. Give it a thumbs up.

[timd]

Grabbed some Bulleit Rye. Can't differentiate it from the Redemption Rye much at all, but it was $5 cheaper, so that's a good thing.

I think Redemption has more toilet cleaner/pine-freshness to it than Bulleit, but Bulleit has more body - that's about it that I can suss out

Anybody else find them to be virtually identical?

[cowdery]

I haven't tried to distinguish them but they are very similar. I'm surprised the two additional years of aging doesn't seem to have made much difference.

[kickert]

My experience with LDI juice has yielded a similar conclusion... additional age doesn't do as much as you would expect.

[OscarV]

I have seen Bulleit Rye here in MI for a couple of weeks and it is 25 bucks.

Ain't got none and I ain't interested.

[ThomasH]

I haven't seen any in my area yet. I will get a bottle as I like rye a lot, second only to WTRR101, Weller 12 and Hancock's Reserve!

Thomas

[tmckenzie]

Somtimes longer aging on rye, does not enhance it much I think. Until you get to 10 yrs or better. Seems like it sticks around 2 years. Just an observation.

[ThomasH]

This officially showed up in my area today. Will be getting a bottle tommorrow!

Thomas

[CorvallisCracker]

Is on the OLCC price list for May. $28.95.

[timd]

Somtimes longer aging on rye, does not enhance it much I think. Until you get to 10 yrs or better. Seems like it sticks around 2 years. Just an observation.

I think there's a nice shift at the 6-8 yr mark, but agree that after 10 is where the real magic happens.

For me, more than age (within reason, of course), it seems to be the ABV that drives the flavor with Rye more than most any other spirit. Look at the higher proof bottlings like Handy, WT101, Ritt BIB, etc - a 40% Rye, IMHO usually falls short of a 45% or higher. Just not a spirit meant to be lower ABV'd

Of course I'd always be happiest with an older rye at a very high ABV... but who wouldn't?

[ThomasH]

Finally got my bottle of Bulleit rye today, a week late due to a liquor store/ODLC snafu. The liquor store got the bottles last wednesday. I went to get one Thursday and was told they didn't get any. They did get it but couldn't put it out because it wasn't activated in the ODLC's computer system. The joy of of dealing with a state liquor monopoly!

Thomas

[Luna56]

On my second pour now, having snagged a bottle today.

It starts out assertively, no question you're drinking a rye. It hits you up front with everything it's got. Grassy, spicy, peppery rye edge. It never really develops but that edge is there from start to finish.

A little time in the glass deepens the flavors a bit but the edge remains undiminished. The middle is a bit, for lack of a better word, "messy". I'd like to see this hooch after 10 years in a new barrel. If the assertion upthread about aging in used barrels is true I wonder that maybe that choice was made to lessen the influence of tannins on an already "edgy" juice.

Bulleit bourbon has always tasted a bit crude to me and this rye carries a lot of what I have come to know as the profile of Bulleit whiskey. But I kinda dig this somewhat coarse, unrefined rye. What I don't like about the bourbon I like in the rye. One more pour is in order. Cheers to Bulleit.

Cheers!

[cowdery]

Set that rumor to rest. Only new barrels were used.

[Luna56]

Glad to know it, Chuck, thanks.

Fat pour of it now, it's growing on me.

Cheers!

[Parkersback]

I had my first taste of this at a bar tonight, and was pleasantly surprised.

My experience with rye is pretty limited--RittBIB, OO, VWFRR are the three I've had recently. This is way better than OO, and is apples and oranges with Ritt. (I'm still getting to know the VW).

Ritt always strikes me as sweet for a rye, like a toffee with a slightly spicy finish. Bulleit was way fresher: minty, piney, maybe a bit of citrus. I gave it to my wife and asked her what she tasted and she said, "Cherries."

I liked it and might buy a bottle to give it a tasting at home. But the price is tough: $32, as compared to $20 for RittBIB. I'd give the nod to Ritt no matter what, but that it's 1/3 less makes Bulleit that much less appealing.

I get the sense that they aren't selling to me, a whiskey nerd, so maybe they don't care that I won't buy this much. But I might buy regularly if it was $25.