The Road To Bulleit: 48 Hours of American Single Malt
Once upon a time, I swore I’d stop taking 6 a.m. flights. It seems was a breakdown in communication between my brain and my keyboard, though, as I once again found myself in the car at 4 in the morning headed for the airport. But, I didn’t really mind. A couple of weeks prior, Bulleit had reached out to invite me to experience its newest whiskey at the distillery in Shelbyville, Kentucky.
Never one to turn down the opportunity to work from an airport, plane and hotel bar, I was in and ready to check out what they had cooking. The whiskey was none other than the new Bulleit American Single Malt whiskey, and they had a busy 36 hours planned for us.
They had also sent along a bottle to review before the trip, which was a welcome courtesy. Nothing is worse than missing out on parts of a press trip because you’re trying to hammer on your keyboard to get a review out the moment embargo lifts. I tasted it, liked it quite a bit and was stoked to learn more in Kentucky.
When flying, I only have one rule: Never go through O’Hare. So, I boarded my first flight, caught a nap (the wifi was down) and was in Detroit shortly. My favorite part of the Detroit airport is the mental bet you place regarding whether the northern lights tunnel escalators are broken or working. They’ve been broken since October; I should have known. I hoofed it from one end of the airport to the other and was on my second flight in no time. I knocked out an hour of emails and some other work on the flight and was in Louisville before I knew it.
Arrival in Louisville
I’d be staying at the Hotel Genevieve — a new, hip spot on the NULU side of town — and I got settled in once I arrived. Some snacks awaited me, as did a pair of Bulleit ready-to-drink cocktails, so I knocked out a couple more hours of work with a drink in my hand while I awaited the arrival of my peers. I went Manhattan; I was feeling vermouth that afternoon.
Emails put to rest and some meetings taken, I snuck out for a quick taco at Galaxie — a Louisville favorite of mine — knowing dinner would be later in the evening. There was a slow trickle of fellow press and whiskey writers arriving, and I headed for the bar for a and catch-up before our bus ride to the distillery. Shelbyville is about 40 minutes north of Louisville, depending on traffic, and it wasn’t long until we were pulling up.
Touring Warehouses and Tasting Bulleit American Single Malt From the Cask
Two welcome cocktails were on the menu, an American Single Malt riff on the Paper Plane (whiskey, amaro, lemon) and a tropical riff on the classic mule (ginger beer, whiskey, lime). For science, I gave both a go, although the Single Paper Plane was far more photogenic.
Our large group was split into two groups: we’d be touring the distillery itself and the warehouses separately. I was group 2, and I quoted John Mulaney in my head before hopping on the bus to head to the other side of the Bulleit campus. We’d be checking out the warehouses and then the distillery itself.
I gleaned a couple of details and clues from folks on the bus and at the warehouse. The first release of Bulleit American Single Malt was five years old, and we’re told it was distilled in Kentucky. Batches 2 and beyond will have similar age statements and all come from stocks distilled at Shelbyville.
We tapped barrels of single malt and had the pleasure of tasting it at barrel proof — about 118-125 proof. While I enjoy the standard American Single Malt expression, the whiskey straight from the barrel was incredible. At proof, fresh from a new drill, Bulleit’s American Single Malt was loaded with bold fruits and honey, toffee and almost this cola-esque character. It was really, really great — surprisingly great, in fact. We mingled with the staff while learning more about Bulleit’s warehouse choices.
The barrels at Bulleit are palletized, which means they’re are positioned vertically on wooden pallets and stacked vertically, rather than stored horizontally as is traditional in ricking. Bulleit’s perspective explained that palletizing barrels gives them three advantages: a higher density of barrels in warehouses, improved safety the staff and increased efficiency, as the barrels can be moved by forklifts rather than requiring hands-on movement by workers.
It’s not clear to me whether that comes at the cost of air flow, a valuable piece of the whiskey maturation game, but I made a mental note to follow up with some folks and look into it further. Maturation science as it relates to the construction and layout of a warehouse is interesting to me and seems like an exercise worth investigating all on its own. I hadn’t seen a warehouse this densely stocked since Waterford, which was seriously impressive. I’ve seen a lot of warehouses since then.
We sort of dragged our feet, hanging out and tapping the barrel once more. Why not? At barrel proof, this stuff was seriously great. We hammered spiles into the barrel to plug up the holes that had been drilled and hopped onto the bus. We’d tour the distillery next.
On to the Distillery
Brought online in 2016, Bulleit’s Shelbyville facility is humble from the outside but humming on the inside. Capable of producing roughly 550 barrels of distillate per day, there’s a lot going on. A sea of fermenters feed the distilling platform, and they were fermenting malt that day!
One thing I appreciate about Bulleit’s facility is that it has the only cross section of a still for demonstration I’ve seen. It’s easy to explain grain, fermenting, mashing and even aging to some degree, but explaining how a still turns mushy fermented cereal water into distillate is really tricky.
Bulleit has five yeasts in-house. For its bourbon, it produces two mashbills and uses five different yeast strains. Much like Four Roses, this creates up to 10 different whiskey profiles for Bulleit’s in-house bourbon program. The American Single Malt is currently produced using just Bulleit’s Yeast #1 strain. This strain was found to be the best pair to malt, and the brand describes it as producing notes of leather and fruits, such as banana. The mashbill is, of course, 100% malted barley.
Courtney King, Bulleit’s distillery operations manager, walked us through the facility and gave us a run down on the column setup.
Each plate in the column still helps create a cleaner, purer distillate that filters out impurities. Bulleit is using a Vendome copper still, produced right there in Louisville. After distillation, the distillate is piped to barrel filling stations, where barrels are filled and palletized for aging.
Fifty-five thousand barrels per warehouse is no joke — it’s a significant amount of whiskey and you can see that they use custom pallets, as well. These things are heavy-duty and downright impressive.
After completing our tour, we headed back to the main visitor center and were turned loose to refill our glasses if we wished and get settled for dinner.
A neat bar was nestled in the back of the visitor center. The entire floor plan of the center is sort of an open loop; you can move from the tasting room to the back cocktail bar and the gift shop freely and check everything out. The building is pretty cool, and the back windows look out over a greenhouse where all herbs and garnishes used in house cocktails, etc., are grown.
You can buy just about anything at the gift shop. Shirts, aprons, backpacks, glassware — the works. The star of the show that night was Bulleit American Single Malt, though, and it was just about everywhere you looked.
A Delicious, Much-Needed Dinner
I poked around for a bit and then heard the word on the street that it was time for dinner. We found our seats — I’d be sitting next to a good friend, Frank (@bourbyourenthusiasm), and some Bulleit staff, and they got to pouring.
We started off with pecan smoked trout alongside Bulleit American Single Malt. Each dish was prepared and created by Michael Crouch, the head chef of a restaurant in the Louisville area, Watch Hill Proper. It looked like we were in for a good meal. I hadn’t eaten since lunch much earlier that day, so I was stoked.
After demolishing the trout, we munched through a salad course paired with a Bulleit Old Fashioned made with Bulleit Single Malt. From there, it was time for mains. Chef Crouch had prepared a 24-year-old short rib recipe perched on prepared barley. This was a very cool preparation — other than trail mix and the occasional health-focused breakfast cereal, I’d never really consumed barley in any context outside of drinking it in whiskey form. It was prepared as if it were a rice or risotto, perfectly seasoned. It complemented the savory, sweet, substantial beef rib masterfully. I may have to give this a shot sometime, coming from a risotto lover. The pairing was completed with a Bulleit Revolver, a coffee and single malt based cocktail served with barley syrup. That cocktail topped the rest of the evening for me.
Last but not least, we finished with a slice of chocolate tart and a refresher of Bulleit American Single Malt. Well and truly stuffed, we heard from a number of Bulleit team members, from a bar manager to a senior vice president at Diageo, down to members of the street team and marketing, as well.
Bulleit American Single Malt had been in the making for several years at this point, and the team explained the desire to release a whiskey that was new and innovative one and focused on new initiatives that Diageo is pursuing globally. Bulleit American Single Malt spotlights sustainability and recycling, as each bottle is made with recycled glass. That will be handy later.
Dinner wrapped up, and we headed for the shuttle back to the hotel. The ride from Shelbyville back to Louisville is only about 30 minutes or so. Many used the time to catch up with friends and colleagues. Others had themselves a quick nap after an evening full of great food and no shortage of beverages.
Day 2: Glassblowing, Candle-Making and Beyond
The following morning, I got up, got a walk in and caught up on a couple hours of work. Later in the afternoon following lunch, we’d be meeting up for some glassblowing to learn more about sustainability and recycling and then using emptied Bulleit bottles to produce candles.
The glassblowing experience was incredible. I’ve long had friends and acquaintances work with glass, and my old university office many years ago looked directly down into the glassblowing lab. But I’d never gotten to work with it myself.
We selected some colored glass that’d we’d mix with the clear glass in order to create a whiskey rocks glass. The entire rainbow, both opaque and translucent, were available. I went with orange. It was interesting to see that glass behaves as a liquid at various temperatures and that glass work is all about controlling temperature to control viscosity.
The color in glass comes from the sands and their purity. Purer, better sand becomes cleaner, clearer glass. When you introduce other chemicals, you can influence the color to be any color of the rainbow. We learned to roll, shape, blow and cool, and paddle the glass. The end result was pretty exciting.
In the afternoon, we used a sensory experience to build a candle to our liking, nosing and selecting a wide variety of scents and then blending to create a candle at Maddox & Rose. The glassblowing and candle-making were both unusual experiences and so cool as they highlighted new elements to whiskey making and bottling that go well beyond simply drinking whiskey.
There’s always more than enough whiskey available to drink on trips, so I was thankful for an innovative activity that added more information about the whiskey beyond the context of simply drinking it.
We had some free time in the afternoon, so I took a stroll through NULU to find a spot to get some work done. I managed to clear my inbox over a couple of hours at West Sixth Brewing, followed by a quick glass of wine and a catch-up with my friends at Nouvelle Bar & Bottle. If you like wine, Nouvelle is the place to go in Kentucky.
I met back up with the group for dinner at the Genevieve rooftop, where small plates awaited us, as well as a gnocchi bar. More places need a gnocchi bar. Killer idea.
The high point of the evening was wrapping up the trip with everyone, both friends, colleagues and Bulleit staff. I also realized that Genevieve has not just a bar, but a number of bars. A lobby bar, as most hotels do. A penthouse bar, as some hotels do. But, also an outdoor rooftop bar, which few hotels do. Neat stuff.
Enough wandering though, with a holler the Bulleit staff rounded us up. They had one last surprise for us before we took off.
The Return of Bulleit 12 Year Old Rye Whiskey
Several years back, Bulleit had a 12-year-old rye on the market. It got popular and dried up. It’s always been hard to find double-digit-age-statement ryes on the market, especially as of late. It was also affordable. Like, really affordable. So, when it went away, folks were understandably disappointed.
The rye is coming back, we learned, all standing with a glass raised on the rooftop of Genevieve. For $54.99, Bulleit is re-releasing its 12-year rye, and this was the grand reveal. I, for one, was stoked, as I knew several friends who mourned its discontinuation. The rye was rich, full of oak and spice with a pinch of brown sugar and toffee, a hint of green apple and a pop of acidity. Once again, it will be a proofed release, and for $55, it’s a killer value.
The announcement came as a shock, as I was focused on the American Single Malt. It never occurred to me that they’d drop another announcement on us, but no complaints here. A great end to a quick, fast-paced 48 hours with Bulleit.
Folks were starting to disperse, so I headed out into the night. I spend a lot of time in Louisville, so it’s a comfortable city for me to wander about in. It was a peaceful, damp night that felt crisp despite the warmer day. One of my favorite things is to watch Louisville change each year.
A new bar, Seven, had opened right down the street, next to my beloved Taj (a great place for divey ambiance and beers). I was told the new spot had a couple specials on the menu, and I quickly found one I couldn’t pass up. A vintage Negroni caught my eye. It made use of 1960s and 1970s Campari, Gordon’s Gin and Vermouth. It was phenomenal.
I always like negronis when I travel. They settle my stomach and provide a palate-cleansing bitterness I really like after a long day of different drinks and dishes. Satisfied with NULU’s newest bar, I headed back and prepared to head home the next morning.
For 48 hours in Louisville, we sure got a lot done, and I left stoked for the future of American Single Malt releases, not only from Bulleit but nationwide. Plus, I couldn’t wait to tell some friends about a once-lost rye making a comeback very soon.
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