If You've Had... Bulleit Bourbon Edition

January 12, 2017 Eric Burke

My Goodness! I can't believe that it has been almost a year since I last did one of these! I love these posts. They are just the most fun to do the tastings for. And if you like them too, then I have good news: I've got two more for sure on the editorial calendar and another two that will depend on the availability of products. So without further ado, I present the fourth installment of the If You’ve Had… series.

In case you missed it last time, the setup is like this: "If you've had Whiskey A then Whiskey B is..." hotter, spicier, sweeter, more floral, etc. Each section is written as compared to one of the whiskeys. So if you've had that one, but not the others then that section will be of the most use to you. Remember there are no value judgments here. You get to decide based on what you know of Whiskey A if Whiskey B sounds like something you'd want to try.

Up tonight is the Bulleit Bourbon family. Bulleit Bourbon, Bulleit 10-Year-Old Bourbon, and Bulleit Barrel-Strength Bourbon.

If you’ve had Bulleit Bourbon then…

Bulleit 10 Year is: less floral and drier on the nose. The mouth has more complex flavor with more peppery heat, baking spice, and cocoa notes. The finish is longer with more baking spice.

Bulleit Barrel-Strength is: similar on the nose though more concentrated while showing more baking spice and oak. It shows more floral notes in the mouth and is hotter due to the higher alcohol content. The finish is longer, warmer and shows more floral and baking spice.

If you’ve had Bulleit 10 Year Old Bourbon then…

Bulleit Bourbon: shows more cinnamon candies and less cocoa on the nose. The mouth is much less floral with a finish that is slightly shorter and less spicy.

Bulleit Barrel-Strength is: sweeter and less floral on the nose but shows more cinnamon. The mouth is sweeter and hotter with less oak presence. The finish is longer and warmer.

If you’ve had Bulleit Barrel Strength Bourbon then…

Bulleit Bourbon is: similar on the nose, though it does show more black tea. The mouth is much less hot, with less spice but seems sweeter because of that. The finish is shorter.

Bulleit 10 Year is: Oakier on the nose. The mouth has less heat but more oak and cocoa notes. The finish is shorter, with less heat, but is more floral.

BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts Etsy store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. Thanks!

Bulleit 10 Year Old & a Rant About Agglomerated Cork

January 10, 2017 Eric Burke

In light of recent allegations made by the daughter of Tom Bulleit of his homophobia and mental and physical abuse toward her, I have made the decision that BourbonGuy.com can no longer endorse products bearing the Bulleit name. An update has been added to reflect this change in policy.

Do you know what I hate?

Agglomerated cork closures on whiskey bottles. Never heard of agglomerated cork? Neither had I until I looked up what the closures made of compressed cork granules were named. But now that I have a fancy name for them, I hate them even more.

What is agglomerated cork? Well, it's just what I listed above. It's a closure made out of real cork, except instead of being a solid piece of cork, it's created from the ground up bits that are left over from making a solid piece of cork. Think of it as the particle board of the cork world. It's a bunch of different pieces of cork glued back into a cork shape.

Now, from my research, there seem to be some really good reasons to use particle cork. It apparently keeps air out a little better than solid cork. And, lo and behold, it is also much cheaper than solid natural cork. Both of these are excellent things. One keeps the whiskey in the bottle in better shape, for a longer time-frame, and the other helps keep the price down.

So why do I hate them so much? Easy. Every broken cork I've ever had to fish out of a bottle of whiskey has been particle cork. For my money, if you have to use a low-cost option, go with a screw cap. I know. I know. It doesn't have the same aesthetics. (And as such it won't help you justify the higher cost you've put on that pretty bottle.) So if a screw cap is out of the question, maybe a synthetic cork? I've had them break as well, but normally it is the glued-on top separating from the closure, not the closure itself breaking in half.

In any case, particle cork is my least favorite closure. And yes, I am geeky enough to have both a favorite and a least favorite closure. But fortunately, as I look at my shelf, I see particle cork is the least well represented, used by only Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, Wild Turkey Rye, a rum, and the three open bottles of various Bulleit expressions on my shelf. Which brings me to the bottle that set off this entire learning experience.

Bulleit 10-year-old Bourbon

Purchase Info: $42.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN.

Details: 45.6% ABV. Aged ten years.

Nose: Floral with cotton candy, caramel, and baking spices.

Mouth: The mouth follows the nose. Floral, caramel, baking spices, cocoa nibs, and oak.

Finish: Long and warm with lingering floral notes.

Thoughts: This is a tasty, though drier, version of Bulleit. It is very floral and tends toward bitter (in a cocoa nib sort of way). This reminds me of some of the blends I came up with while doing my Four Roses blending experiment a while back, which isn't terribly surprising since there is probably a still good proportion of Four Roses juice in here.

Is this worth twice as much as the regular release of Bulleit. That depends on how you feel about dry and bitter versus sweet bourbons. But personal preference aside, I have to say that in an era of increasing prices and disappearing age statements, it is nice to see a ten-year-old bourbon for under $50.

2019 update:

As stated above I have made the editorial decision that I can no longer endorse or recommend products from the Bulleit family of labels. This is an extension of the policy in my Statement of Ethics where I do not allow homophobic comments. In this case I’d rather not continue to help enrich a man alleged to have physically abused his own daughter over her sexuality. The review has been left intact for transparency’s sake.

Well hey there, bourbon-lover. I just wrote a great big thing about cork yet; I have nothing made from cork for sale over at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Is this some sort of mistake? Did my marketing team miss the boat? No. It just goes to show that I am not driven by advertising. Even when I'm advertising for myself. And that I have no marketing team. Anyway, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com you can head on over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and buy something. It's a great way to make sure I can pay all my bills.

Bulleit Barrel Strength Bourbon

January 5, 2017 Eric Burke

I visit Kentucky, on average, a couple of times a year. Often it isn't the destination, but I find a way to make most of my Eastbound road trips route through it. I'd try to route the other road trips through there as well, but I haven't figured out how to frame the argument that Kentucky really is on the way to Colorado from Minnesota.

Every time I visit Kentucky, I'm struck by the same thought: "How broke would I be if I lived here?" I mean there are bourbon events, bourbon bars, even bourbons that are only available there. If I had all of that around me all the time...

Well, I'd probably still be a hermit. But I do think that my budget for the occasional special bottle or dram would strain a little harder than it does in Minnesota. What, with all the temptation and all.

I think about things like this, like moving to a warmer climate, a lot at this time of year. Don't get me wrong, all things considered, I like Minnesota. But I hate winter. I mean I really hate it. And when the temperature dips, not just below freezing, but into the sub-zero range it gets a bit rough. (That's somewhere around -20 C for those of you who use that other measuring system). Today I had to bundle into boots, hat, heavy coat and gloves just to get the mail.

That got me to thinking about one of the Kentucky-only bottles that I'd picked up on my last trip south and I decided it was time to take another look at it.

Bulleit Barrel Strength Bourbon

Purchase info: $48.99 for a 750mL bottle. The Party Source, Bellevue, KY.

Details: 59.6% ABV. Non-age stated.

Nose: Rich with ripe cherries, cocoa nibs, herbal mint, and oak.

Mouth: Peppery heat with caramel/vanilla, oak, JuicyFruit gum, cloves, mint, and anise.

Finish: Long and lingering with fruit, mint, cinnamon, and anise.

Thoughts: This is hands down the best whiskey in the Bulleit family. The more concentrated flavors from the higher proof really shine in the glass. Toss in a price in the $40-50 range and this is a real winner. I can't recommend this enough.

2019 update:

A Photo Tour of the Bulleit Experience at Stitzel-Weller

October 27, 2016 Eric Burke

I'm not going to say bad things...I'm not going to say bad things...I'm not going to say bad things...arghhh!

Ahem. Oh, hi.

I love history. I love bourbon. And on those occasions where the two intersect, I normally get very happy.

Normally.

There are times and places where people have decided to make money off of the historical presence a place has. I have no problem with that. Then there are times where people know what history is in a place and choose to ignore it. It makes me sad, but I can't find my way toward being upset with them. But when you co-opt someone else's history, make up a bunch more and then toss in a heaping helping of deception? Then I get upset.

I'm not going to go into the details (because Diageo is a big company with probably more lawyers on staff than people I know). Well, except to say that after I heard the tour guide say that the black fungus that grows on all distilleries was just "active alcohol" that had settled on the trees and buildings and that you couldn't take photos near the still or in the rickhouse because it was against the law...well, I decided to watch the time between truths. At one point I made it almost a half hour between accurate statements. And while they didn't explicitly say that all of Bulleit on shelves was distilled with one pot still (that you couldn't photograph), they did strongly infer that it was the case.

But, as a person who loves history and knew which things were right and which were wrong, I still enjoyed being there, wandering around and seeing all the buildings. And so, here are photos from the parts I enjoyed. I'd say read Sally Van Winkle Campbell's book, visit the gift shop and then decide if you can put up with all the BS you'll hear on the tour. If you can, take a tour. If you can't then just enjoy being there.

Hey look! Actual old history...with a curiously named newer building in front of it. This is the view from outside the gift shop.

The campus as viewed from the first stop on the tour. the gray building is where "their still" is. The warehouse behind it is the one you get to step into. You can see almost the entire tour from here.

If you've heard of Stitzel-Weller and the Old Fitzgerald Distillery, you've heard of this sign.

Inside the gray building. You can't take photos of the still room, but just outside of that are pieces of the old distilling setup. It's like a small museum where almost everything they tell you has been made up on the spot by tour guides.

I read in "But Always Fine Bourbon" about how all of those windows were open every morning and closed every evening by hand.

You could take a photo from outside the doorway. For your safety and because it's "against the law" to take one from four inches farther in. Sure it is. I'm sure it has nothing to do with whose name might be on the barrels that you can't see from th… — You could take a photo from outside the doorway. For your safety and because it's "against the law" to take one from four inches farther in. Sure it is. I'm sure it has nothing to do with whose name might be on the barrels that you can't see from the doorway...anyone else notice that it looks like these have been sanded on the ends?

The tour to this point. The building on the right is the gift shop. Tour started there. The black buildings in back are more warehouses. That was the first stop where we "learned" what the black fungus...err..."active alcohol?" was. The brick and gr… — The tour to this point. The building on the right is the gift shop. Tour started there. The black buildings in back are more warehouses. That was the first stop where we "learned" what the black fungus...err..."active alcohol?" was. The brick and gray building to the left is where "their still" is.

The cooperage. I wonder how many hours it took a set designer to decide just where to put that barrel. It would have been an "ah HA" moment to behold when the inspiration came to lay it on its side.

The tour ended in the same building it started in. This time you got to walk in through Pappy's...I mean Tom Bulleit's...office. Then the tour guide makes fun of him, says how much she loves him and we do a tasting. It's fine.

2019 update:

Blade and Bow Bourbon

October 25, 2016 Eric Burke

I state in my Statement of Ethics that if I accept a review sample, I will disclose it at the beginning of the article. Please consider it disclosed. I’d like to thank Taylor Strategy for providing this sample to me with no strings attached.

A Glass of Whiskey. They didn't send a bottle to photograph, so this is what they get. ;)

The first time I tried Blade and Bow, I was at the 2015 Kentucky Bourbon Festival All-Star Sampler. I tried it mostly to satisfy my curiosity. In hindsight, it was a pretty poor place to try it. I'd had one or two other bourbons, I'd had some delightful food, and I was probably giving it less attention than I normally would to a bourbon I had never tried before.

I had a taste of it again this year when I visited the Bulleit Experience at Stitzel-Weller. It was after the tour, and it was going head-to-head with Bulleit Barrel Strength. Also not a fair comparison since the proof of a barrel strength bourbon will obliterate a 90-ish proof every time.

I didn't walk away with a great impression of the Blade and Bow from my two previous experiences with it, and so it was with no small amount of interest that I accepted an offer from a Diageo PR rep for a sample of the Blade and Bow. I was very curious to see what I would think of this bourbon when it wasn't trying to live up to unfair competition or circumstances.

You know something a little more "real-life." Because seriously, I try not to have a lot of different bourbons in one night and I especially tend to be mindful of the barrel-proof ones.

Blade and Bow

Purchase Info: This was a review sample provided by Taylor Strategy.

Details: 45.5% ABV

Nose: Caramel, peanut, green oak and a hint of mint

Mouth: Peppery on the mouth with honey, peanut, nutmeg, clove and oak.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Lingering bubblegum, peanut, and mint.

Thoughts: Even today, on my first sip, I wasn't impressed by this one. But, as I got lower in my glass, my opinion changed. It grew on me. I was regretting the tiny sample bottle they sent as I would have loved to have just one more splash.

I like this bourbon and if it were half the price, I would probably want to buy it as part of the regular rotation. At around $50 per bottle though? This is going to be a change of pace bourbon for me, at best. It's tasty enough, it's just not a bourbon I'd regularly be willing to drop half a Benjamin on.

My trip to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival 2016

September 22, 2016 Eric Burke

Every September, I hop in the car and head to Kentucky. It's my yearly trip to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. It lasts a week, and I go for a week but, our paths don't usually cross until Wednesday night. Sure, the ticketed events can be fun, but there are plenty of other things to do in Kentucky, BourbonFest is just the excuse. Here was my week.

I "camped."

It's a small trailer with a fridge, shower and a nice bed. But it had a firepit and you smelled of campfire every night when you went to bed. I say that counts. And the KOA is about halfway between Bardstown and Louisville. Which makes it easy to get to either of them.

a cart full of bourbon I can't get at home.

I Shopped

This photo is at the Party Source, near Cincinatti, I was meeting an Internet friend In Real Life for the first time. But I did plenty more of this in both Louisville and Bardstown.

A Bourbon on the bar at the Silver Dollar

I Had a Drink

The Silver Dollar is by far my favorite place to grab a drink in Louisville. Tons of good bourbon—great house picks—and a little brisket and mac 'n cheese to go with it.

I Visited Distilleries. Distilleries Big...

...And Distilleries Little.

I visited Distilleries real,...

The Bulleit Experience at Stitzel Weller Distillery

...Distilleries fanciful,...

The ruins of Old Crow Distillery at Glenn's Creek Distillery

...And Distilleries Abandoned

All of these distilleries brought an opportunity to have fun that I wouldn't have given up. Maybe it was wandering through the ruins of an abandoned whiskey factory after getting geeky with the guys that ended up capturing it's yeast, seeing a historic distillery that's been wrapped in Disneyland-style make-believe or just running into Fred Noe at Jim Beam.

The bar at the Kentucky Bourbon Marketplace

I had a drink.

Because, seriously, did you expect me to spend the entire week there and only stop once? This one was at the Kentucky Bourbon Marketplace. A store with a bar attached to it. They won the contest for the official Festival Cocktail this year. It was quite tasty.

The Woodford Reserve table at the All-Star Sampler

I did still go to the All-Star Sampler.

Why do I keep going to this. Firstly, I almost always meet friends there. It's gotten a little expensive at $75 per person this year, but there aren't that many events where I know I'll see a good chunk of my Kentucky friends in one place and maybe even meet one or two more while I'm there. I also broadcast live from the event on Periscope.

Plus you might get to try something new...

The new Packaging for Elijah Craig Small Batch

...or just something that looks new.

I had Breakfast at Four Roses during Let's Talk Bourbon

There was actual food too. Eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits, gravy, cheese grits, pastries, fruit, coffee, water, juice, and more. Plus you got to listen to question and answer sessions with Al Young and Master Distiller, Brent Elliott.

The Master Distiller's Auction to raise money for the Getz Museum

I didn't buy anything at the Master Distiller's Auction.

But I still had a lot of fun watching people pay multiple thousands of dollars for whiskey. We bid a few times, but only helped drive the price higher. I bought very little out on the lawn outside the museum either, but I did broadcast a taste of it on Periscope as well.

I spent time with friends, old and new.

There were very few days when I didn't spend at least a little time with friends while I was there. Dinner, drinks, cake, talks over lunch or into the night. These were my favorite times during the trip. They are the reason I keep going back.

Well, that and the Bourbon.

Johnnie Walker Select Casks - Rye Cask Finish

August 11, 2016 Eric Burke

As many of you know, I am on record as not preferring Scotch Whisky. It isn’t that I have anything against Scotland or it’s people. It’s just that I haven’t found one of their whiskies that I’ve been particularly drawn to. I’ve tried to say that “I haven’t found one that I prefer to bourbon,” as opposed to I don’t like Scotch. But as I tried more and more of them, I was starting to think that maybe I really just didn’t like Scotch Whisky.

At least until I was the “Resident Expert” at a local reader’s whiskey tasting. (If you can’t hear the sarcasm dripping off that quoted part, I assure you it’s there*). I was paid some money to tell a group of the hosts friends how I taste whiskey, how that is different from when I drink whiskey and to help answer any questions they might have on the topic of whiskey. On top of the cash, I also got to try any of the whiskey that was on the table of the guests. There were some nice ones there in both bourbon, scotch and rye, but one that I was particularly drawn to try was a blended Scotch finished in Rye barrels. And I liked it.

It sounded familiar, so when I got home, I searched though my samples and realized that I had a sample of the same whisky on my shelf that a friend of mine had given me. Because I had been out drinking whisky for money all night (and my wife had driven me there and picked me up—safety first!) I poured that sample for my wife. She liked it too.

Strange. I liked it even though I didn't think I cared for Scotch Whisky. She has actually gone on record saying that she doesn’t Scotch and yet she liked it. Hmmmm…

Johnnie Walker Select Casks - Rye Cask Finish

Purchase info: $25-ish at Marketplace Liquors, Menomonie, WI (I lost the receipt).

Details: 10 year old, age-stated, 46% ABV.

Nose: Toasted marshmallows, mint and hints of oak.

Mouth: Sweet with wintergreen, clove, slight caramel and a nice tingle on the tip of the tongue.

Finish: Warm and sweet with lingering wintergreen, clove and caramel.

Thoughts: I’d call this a whisky for Rye Whiskey drinkers that want their rye a little softer and more refined, but with less oak, than the typical aged American Straight Rye. It’s soft and gentle but with many of the flavors that one associates with rye. The typical mint has softened to wintergreen, but the clove and some caramel are still there. On the other hand, there is so much influence from the finishing barrels that I get none of the flavors that I typically associate with either blended or malt Scotch Whisky. Which to me is a good thing. But if you are a looking for that, this might be an issue.

So, I still can’t say if I can make a Grand Pronouncement about if I like Scotch Whiskey or not. But I have, at least, found one that I do like. And I like it quite a bit.

*Sarcasm not because I don’t appreciate being called an expert, but because I don’t feel like one. It feels like I still have way too much to learn.

Crown Royal Black

July 19, 2016 Eric Burke

Every so often, I'll be in a liquor store and I'll feel the need to buy something...else. I'm buying bourbon and maybe beer. But then something will catch my eye that I just have to have. One time it was a miniature bottle of Phillips Gin-Ka, a gin-vodka blend that I have no intention of drinking, but whose packaging was too hilariously cute to pass up. Once it was brandy in a bag that was on clearance because...brandy in a bag. (Come to think of it, those might have been the same time...). Hell, one time it was even be a bottle of "individually barreled" bourbon (see the previous post).

But occasionally when this happens, it is something perfectly normal that catches my eye. Something so normal and so ubiquitous that I just never bothered to try it before. Something like Crown Royal Black. I saw this sitting in a bucket near the register at a local liquor store and bought it on a whim. It's been sitting on the shelf for a couple months now, as I keep turning to other products that are new and exciting. But since I finally noticed it on the shelf, let's get down to it.

Crown Royal Black is available almost everywhere. And although I've had some very good products with the Crown Royal name on them, I've also had some real snoozers. The Black version is their run at bourbon drinkers. On their website, they claim it has deeper oak notes on the nose and bourbon notes on the finish. It is bottled at a higher proof then the original release.

Crown Royal Black

Purchase Info: I really have no idea what store it was at, but it was probably a buck or two for each 50 mL bottle.

Details: Canadian Whiskey, 45% ABV

Nose: Brown sugar, cedar, baking spices.

Mouth: Peppery without being too hot. Black pepper, dried fruit, brown sugar, baking spices and oak.

Finish: Medium length. Cinnamon spice candy which transitions into mint.

Thoughts: If anything can be said to "taste Canadian" it would be this. But unlike your stereotypical Canadian whiskey, this has enough spice to keep you interested and enough sweetness to make you want another sip. And it's fine. Nothing special, but I like it. If your choices are between this and the regular Crown, this is an upgrade. Other than that though, this would probably almost never be my first choice of pour. I mean, don't get me wrong, if someone was nice enough to pour me a glass, I'd be happy enough to drink it. I just doubt that I'll be picking up a full bottle anytime soon.

Blog

If you’ve had Bulleit Bourbon then…

If you’ve had Bulleit 10 Year Old Bourbon then…

If you’ve had Bulleit Barrel Strength Bourbon then…

Do you know what I hate?

Bulleit 10-year-old Bourbon

2019 update:

Bulleit Barrel Strength Bourbon

2019 update:

2019 update:

Blade and Bow

I "camped."

I Shopped

I Had a Drink

I Visited Distilleries. Distilleries Big...

...And Distilleries Little.

I visited Distilleries real,...

...Distilleries fanciful,...

...And Distilleries Abandoned

I had a drink.

I did still go to the All-Star Sampler.

Plus you might get to try something new...

...or just something that looks new.

I had Breakfast at Four Roses during Let's Talk Bourbon

I didn't buy anything at the Master Distiller's Auction.

I spent time with friends, old and new.

Johnnie Walker Select Casks - Rye Cask Finish

Crown Royal Black