A New Rye in Town
- Article written by Jeffrey Herrington
and featured in the spring 2011 issue
of "The Bourbon Review"
Once considered one of bourbon’s best kept secrets, Bulleit Bourbon and its over 150-year-old family recipe have evolved into a major player in the whiskey game. This “Frontier Whiskey” boasts an unparalleled heavy rye mash bill that gives it its distinctive smooth character, delivered to its customers in its highly-recognizable and celebrated medicine-shaped bottle.
On the heels of what founder Tom Bulleit calls a “great” 2010, Bulleit continues to thrive in its advantageous position as one of the fastest growing bourbon in the world. “Not only is Bulleit Bourbon gaining traction here in the States” Tom says, “We’re also seeing significant expansion into the European and Asian markets.”
The brand’s international influence is never more evident than with our neighbors to the north where Bulleit is Canada’s number one selling bourbon.
“We had the opportunity last summer to attend both the Victorian Whiskey Festival in British Columbia and Whiskey Live in Toronto and had really good shows” Tom says when asked about Bulleit’s presence in Canada. “We also received a 93 by the Globe Newspaper in Toronto, which is amongst the highest scores they’ve ever awarded.”
As the Bulleit brand continues to establish itself on a global scale, Tom Bulleit and the rest of the team at Diageo Inc. are looking to gain a foothold in the rye whiskey market with the release of Bulleit Rye, the brand’s new straight small batch rye whiskey.
A GRAIN OF RYE - 95% OF THE BULLEIT RYE-WHISKEY MASHBILL
“Seven years ago I was working with Richard Nichols who at that time was Vice President of the North American Whiskey portfolio for Diageo and we decided that if Bulleit Bourbon was to launch any new products we wanted to be sure and maintain our Frontier Whiskey, adhering to my great great grandfather Augustus’ recipe” Tom says when speaking of the plan put into place all those years ago. “We decided then that we would take a gamble on rye and began the distillation process with the hope that rye-whiskies would continue to gain in popularity as they were showing signs off doing so at the time.”
To qualify as a rye whiskey the mash bill must be at least 51 percent rye, whereas to be classified as bourbon you need a mash bill that is at least 51 percent corn. To qualify in the sub-category of straight small batch ryes, which the new Bulleit Rye falls into, the mash bill must be at least 80 percent rye, which Bulleit Rye meets and exceeds with its very heavy 95 percent rye mash bill.
“When w e’re talking about creating this rye from start to finish we’re focus ing on three distinct areas” Tom explains. “One, you have the ingredients. And as I mentioned we are talking about a product with a very heavy rye mash bill. But it’s also worth noting the role that the 5 percent malted barley plays in allowing us to continue a natural ingredient distillation process. In addition to the grains our rye-whiskey contains a proprietary yeast strain and limestone filtered water from an ancient glacial aquifer.”
“When we’re talking about the chemistry aspect of making this rye whiskey we are talking about using the heart of the whiskey, known as the middling” Tom continues. “And then we come full circle to the aging process, which is all about the barrels we age the whiskey in. For our Bulleit Rye we use new white American oak barrels with a number 4 char, aged 5-7 years.”
BULLEIT RYE'S DISTINCTIVE GREEN LABEL
Bulleit Rye will be produced in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, which as Tom notes has historical significance.
“Rye-whiskies have traditionally been made above the Mason-Dixon Line, which Lawrenceburg, Indiana is. And bourbons historically have been produced below the Mason Dixon Line. Lawrenceburg, KY, where we make our bourbon is below that line.”
Rye-whiskey’s roots date back to Colonial days when Scottish and Irish settlers in Pennsylvania and Maryland tapped into the hearty rye supply, distilling it in log still houses which historians estimate exceeded five thousand in number. Our nation’s first President George Washington distilled rye at his estate in Mount Vernon. And despite the Whiskey Rebellion in the early 1790s, in which an excise tax on distilled spirits spurned a number of farmers to move their still operations to Kentucky where they would help create the corn-based whiskey known as bourbon, rye remained the overwhelming whiskey of choice in this country for many years.
Flash forward to a little over a century later and Prohibition. The spirits landscape had undergone a dramatic transformation by the time of its repeal, with only the larger, more established distilleries able to maintain a presence and survive the decade plus ban on alcohol. The small scale operations that had played such a big part in rye’s rise in popularity had all but disappeared. By the end of the World War II rye had become an afterthought, kept alive mainly by the bourbon companies and their small brand offerings. It would remain that way until its comeback in the early 1990s.
Leading that resurgence were the bartenders and mixologists who came to appreciate the added flavor rye-whiskey brought to whiskey cocktails, in particular classics like the Manhattan, the Sazerac and the Old Fashioned. A mixologist creates new cocktails, not just mixes them.
THE "SAZERAC," A CLASSIC COCKTAIL CONCOCTED BY EVERY GOOD MIXOLOGIST
Tom Bulleit and his daughter Hollis, an ambassador for the Bulleit brand regularly have the opportunity in their travels to connect with these creative individuals. The Bulleit team ascended on popular cocktail festivals last year like the Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans and to mixology institutions in San Francisco such as Bourbon and Branch, 83 Proof and Rickhouse as well as places like Milk & Honey, Employees Only, Death & Co. and PDT in New York City.
TOM AND DAUGHTER HOLLIS, ENJOYING THE INTRODUCTION OF THEIR NEW PRODUCT
“We take very seriously the feedback we receive from the bartending/mixology community” Tom says. “For quite a few years now bartenders have asked me personally to produce a rye-whiskey that reflected the spirit and heritage of the Bulleit brand. We are confident that our new Rye does just that.”
The only hindrance to this rye-whiskey revival has been its availability. Rye-whiskey today accounts for a little less than one percent of total U.S. whiskey production in a market heavily dominated by bourbon and Tennessee whiskey. Apparently that message has not been communicated to the growing number of rye enthusiasts who sometimes find themselves in a wild-goose-chase like hunt for one of their favorites. That’s not to say that distilleries aren’t trying to play catch-up. The Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., better known as DISCUS has predicted that new brands from distilleries, large and small, will be the catalyst for a 30 to 40% growth of rye-whiskey.
“Distilleries being able to maintain an adequate supply is an ongoing issue right now” Tom says. “But with our new rye we feel confident that we have taken the appropriate measures to ensure that we will not only be able to ship into most of the markets we’re in now with our bourbon, but that we will also be able to keep those establishments adequately stocked with the product.”
By the time you are reading this article it is more than likely that Bulleit Rye-Whiskey is already on the shelves of your local destination whiskey retailer. Next time you stop by take the opportunity to familiarize yourself with one of our country’s most enduring traditions. --TBR--
TOM APTLY DECLARES, "IT'S GOOD!"
