Bulleit Bourbon

One look at a bottle of Bulleit is enough to tell you that this is a product that has taken the frontier spirit of the first American pioneers to heart. Packaged in an old-style flask, Bulleit has a traditional high-rye mashbill (around 30%).

The brand was revived in the 1980s by Tom Bulleit, an ex-Marine who saw service in Vietnam. Tom gave up his successful law practice to make whiskey, using a recipe belonging to his great-great-grandfather, the enigmatic Augustus Bulleit.

Augustus's family had come to New Orleans from France around the beginning of the 19th Century, and by 1830 Augustus had drifted into Louisville, Kentucky. Here he ran a tavern and, drawing on his French heritage, began distilling spirits in small batches. His bourbon became a success, and over the next three decades it became more widely distributed as America's frontiers continued spreading into the West.

But here the story takes a twist. In 1860 Augustus Bulleit disappeared while delivering stock of his bourbon back to New Orleans, the town of his birth. But whether he was murdered by a rival for his precious cargo, or simply vanished into the backstreets and brothels of the Big Easy's French Quarter has never been proven.

Bulleit is now owned by Diageo (although Tom remains heavily involved) and is made for them by Four Roses at their distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.

Previously it has been bottled at 40% abv for the UK market, but now you can get the Frontier Whiskey at 45% abv, just like they have in Kentucky. A stunning bourbon that won a Gold medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2012.