Tom Bulleit

Tom Bulleit

 There is family history behind Bulleit Whiskey. The Bulleit Distilling Company was a dream hatched by Thomas E. Bulleit Jr., back in 1987. Tom had a successful law practice, but followed in his great-great-grand father’s footsteps, Augustus Bulleit, risking everything to fulfill that dream.

 Augustus Bulleit owned a tavern around the 1830s in Louisville, KY. He experimented and finally developed his unique high-rye whiskey between 1830 and 1860 after much experimentation. Its characteristics can be labeled as distinct, bold and lightly spicy.

 It is by design that the label is placed on the bottle at an angle. Augustus thought this would provide a bigger front to display the name clearer. Tom Bulleit carried on this tradition. While transporting his whiskey barrels from Kentucky to New Orleans, Augustus disappeared without a trace in 1860. It remains a mystery to this day.

Tom, the son of a preacher and World War II veteran, served during the Vietman War in the USMC, taking the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) at that time. He later earned law degrees from University of Louisville and Georgetown University.

Bulleit Bourbon can be described as a bartender’s brand. Tom started hand-selling his bourbon early on in California. San Francisco seemed to be drawn to a demand for his spirit from bartenders who tried to serve their customers’ orders for a rye cocktail. Tom listened and developed Bulleit 95 Rye.

Tom has modified the original mash of about 66% corn and 33% rye to today’s mash of 68% corn, 28% rye and 4% malted barley. Its high rye (~28% rye) liquid has a clean, smooth finish thanks to Kentucky’s limestone-filtered water. The lengthy aging and proprietary yeast give it a unique, spicy flavor.

When he was relaunching the brand, Tom was going to name it Thoroughbred bourbon, but was talked out of it by advertising agencies. He eventually settled on Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, with a slogan of “When men were men and whiskey was bourbon”. This was later nixed. The Bulleit Distilling philosophy is simple: wait until the bourbon is ready.

Seagram bought the Bulleit brand in 1997 and began to distill in Lawrenceburg, KY., providing wide distribution across the US at that time. Diageo acquired the brand and eventually opened a new distillery in Shelbyville, KY in 2017. The current labels of Bulleit include Bulleit bourbon, Barrel Strength, Bulleit 10 year and Bulleit rye.

 Tom Bulleit was elected to the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame in 2009.

https://www.bulleit.com/en-gb/the-story

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulleit_Bourbon

 https://www.mensjournal.com/food-drink/bulleit-bourbon-facts-whiskey-fans-should-know

 https://www.legion.org/information-center/news/magazine/2011/october/bulleit-proof

Contributed by: Joe Grimoldi, Memphis, TN