It is a great Friday afternoon in Indianapolis, made greater by drinking one of our favorites, Bulleit Rye. Also helping make it great is the addition of another guest taster, Rod.
Bulleit Rye comes in the same cool, corked medicine bottle look that the original Bulleit Bourbon comes in, the only difference being the green label. It is 95% rye and is bottled at 90 proof with no age statement.
This is very available, almost every liquor store should have it, and goes for around $28.
NOSE
Ron: I detected citrus, spice, wood, and Rye upfront on the nose. Also detected a bit of licorice.
Rod: I first want to thank Ron and Todd for inviting me to sit in on one of their tastings. Hope it won’t be the last. I got an aroma of burnt oranges, honey and vanilla.
Todd: This has one of the most unique noses that I have come across. I have enjoyed Bulleit Rye for a while and I swear I could pick it out of a line up by aroma alone. Heavy Rye, some type of herb, and oranges.
TASTE
Ron: I got some of the same on tasting, mainly the wood, Rye, and the citrus. Could also taste floral and pepper notes.
Rod: Very spicy, I could taste the vanilla and honey that I had got on the nose. Also could taste a little orange/nectarine.
Todd: Overall a very smooth drink with a strong Rye essence along with citrus, pepper and cedar. Only recently started drinking Rye, really liked this one. Actually liked better neat.
FINISH
Ron: A nice medium to long finish with hints of clove/cinnamon.
Rod: An okay finish that didn’t seem all that complex.
Todd: A very long, satisfying finish with hints of spice and citrus.
OVERALL
Ron: Overall an easy to drink spicy rye that comes up a little short on the finish.
Rod: I find this pretty complex, getting spice up front with notes of rye, oak and the same orange that I got on the nose. Also get a little floral and some times a little mint.
Todd: Overall this is one of my favorite drinks. I love it’s uniqueness. My wife who doesn’t really like Bourbon that much, likes this.
Nose 4.5 out of 5
Taste 8.75 out of 10
Finish 3.75 out of 5
Total 17.5 out of 20 barrels.
This is a great introduction to Rye Whiskeys. It has a good price point, easy drinking, cool presentation, can be found most places and is good neat, on the rocks, or in cocktails. In fact, a lot of the Bourbon based bars that have been popping up around here use this for a lot of their drinks. It makes a great Manhattan.
The only thing holding it back from a higher score is the finish. We give this a very high recommendation.
Go buy a bottle.