Off topic but a good read
Bulleit Bourbon - Frontier Whiskey
Bulleit Distilling Co.
Lawrenceburg, Kentucky USA
Tel: 859.229.5171 / / Fax: 859.266.1217
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Bulleit BourbonThe Legend of Bulleit Bourbon Bulleit Bourbon™ is a product of an era that helped define the character of a nation - an era of adventure, risk-taking and prosperity, when the Western frontier offered hope to those willing to take a chance.
The legend begins in New Orleans, where the Bulleit family emigrated from France in the 1700s. Around 1830, Augustus Bulleit moved from New Orleans to Louisville, KY, taking with him his talent for brandy making. As a tavern keeper in Louisville, he began producing small batches of bourbon. Relentless in his pursuit of perfection, he experimented with different recipes. When he found one that consistently met his expectations, the inspiration for Bulleit Bourbon was born.
During the great migration to the West, his bourbon was sold throughout Kentucky and Indiana, gaining a reputation as the bourbon of choice for America's most hale and hardy adventurers - the frontiersmen.
It was 1860. America was rapidly expanding westward and business was good for Augustus. That year, while transporting barrels of whiskey from Kentucky back to his hometown of New Orleans, Augustus Bulleit died. With him, it appeared, died the making of his legendary bourbon.
As decades passed, the Bulleit family never lost its passion for telling the story of Augustus Bulleit, nor the desire to resurrect his signature creation. After more than a century, the family returned at last to bourbon making. In 1987, Tom Bulleit fulfilled a lifelong dream by reviving his family's ancestral distilling enterprise using the original recipe of his great-great-grandfather.
Uniquely Crafted Inside & Out From the 1800s Americana frontier-look of the bottle to the cork finished top, this is not your ordinary bourbon. Each stage of Bulleit Bourbon's creation has individual elements that ensure quality. The result is an award-winning, distinctive Kentucky bourbon, hand-crafted for the discerning explorer in all of us.
Heritage Bulleit Bourbon's quality begins with the unique family tradition. The family history of bourbon production dates back to the early 1800s, with Augustus Bulleit - great, great grandfather of Tom Bulleit.
Ingredients Bulleit Bourbon uses only the highest quality ingredients and follows the 175-year-old recipe of Augustus. Bulleit Bourbon is produced with a high rye content and proprietary grains and yeasts. Rare among bourbon producers, Bulleit Bourbon has its own Grain Division, which acquires distiller's grade grains grown to Bulleit's specification. The high level of rye content creates the dry, clean flavor. In true bourbon fashion, only limestone-filtered water is used.
Process Bulleit Bourbon is distilled and aged in small batches and stored in a single-story warehouse which reduces inconsistencies in the maturation process. Bulleit Bourbon is aged in American White Oak barrels that are flame charred, giving the bourbon some of its color and flavor. It is aged not a drop less than 6 years, creating maturity and smoothness. The final, 90 proof product is formulated by mingling, not blending, two and sometimes three of the distillates to ensure consistency in the nose and taste.
Packaging The award winning bottle design reflects elements of the Frontier Age, with a unique flask design, raised glass lettering and a cork stopper.
Taste All of these elements combine to form a unique, hand-crafted bourbon reminiscent of our frontier heritage. One taste will release the frontier explorer in you.
Tasting Note Oaky, smoky, and smooth. Bulleit Bourbon is russet in color with a rich, oaky aroma. The dry, clean flavor is mellow and smooth, not hot in the throat. This 90 proof Kentucky bourbon delivers a wonderfully complex taste with hints of vanilla and honey and a long smoky finish.
A SCION OF KENTUCKY BOURBON MAKING REVIVES A FAMILY LEGACY
Tom Bulleit Evokes the Spirit of Great-Great-Grandfather Augustus,
Poised to Join the Ranks of Bourbon’s Legendary Masters
Tom Bulleit is a Southern gentleman in the truest sense of the word, but his considerable charm and family pedigree are only part of the story. Bulleit is a former Marine, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, a successful Lexington attorney and the founder of Bulleit Bourbon, a brand he created based on a family recipe dating back nearly 200 years. He’s married to the former Elizabeth Callaway Brooks, a descendent of frontier explorer Daniel Boone. And like any upright Southerner worth his salt, Bulleit has a true tale of adventure and mystery that comes with the family name.
Bulleit's great-great-grandfather Augustus emigrated from France to New Orleans around 1800, eventually following the commerce of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to Louisville, Ky., where he became a tavern keeper. In keeping with his French heritage, he relied on his knowledge of brandy making to create small batches of Kentucky bourbon that found favor among the settlers of the region in the mid-1800s. Soon his product was traveling with the tide of pioneers headed westward. Business was good, but in 1860, Augustus disappeared while transporting barrels of whiskey to New Orleans, and with him died the making
of his legendary bourbon. Until Tom Bulleit came along.
Tom Bulleit was raised in Louisville, an area recognized by many as the "Bourbon Capital of the World." He worked in distilleries before joining the Marine Corps in 1968. Bulleit served for two years with the 1st Marine Division as a medical corpsman in I Corps north of DaNang. He returned to the U.S., went to law school on the G.I. Bill, and got married. During his law career, Bulleit became actively involved in the campaign for a Vietnam veteran’s memorial in Washington, D.C. Since the memorial’s dedication in 1982, he has twice delivered speeches there.
But Tom Bulleit couldn’t get bourbon out of his blood. His knew of the mysterious demise of Augustus from his grandfather’s storytelling, but the question lingered – what really happened? Some say he was murdered by his partner, others contend that he quietly vanished into the sumptuous life of the French Quarter. In 1987, Tom Bulleit decided to venture into a new frontier of his own. He successfully created Bulleit Bourbon from the original recipe that made his great-great-grandfather's whiskey so exceptional."I always loved the business," Bulleit said. "My father couldn’t understand why I would leave a successful law practice,
Tom Bulleit, Found & Distiller of Bulleit Distilling Co.
Tom Bulleit, Founder & Distiller
Bulleit Distilling Co.
but I was attracted to the creative and entrepreneurial challenges of making this brand of bourbon, and doing it right. I guess you could say it became a passion of mine, and it still is."
The Bulleit Bourbon recipe calls for less corn and more rye than typical bourbons, and a distillation process that removes the hotter-tasting phenol alcohol in favor of ethyl alcohols, yielding a dry, clean taste. The unique, smooth flavor of Bulleit Bourbon has won over the whiskey world’s most discriminating palates, taking the Brown Spirits Gold Medal at the 2004 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
"What we are creating with Bulleit Bourbon is one of the definitive styles of bourbon currently distilled in this country," said Tom Bulleit. "It is one of the most distinctive mash builds out there. The high rye content, absence of phenol alcohol and at least six years of aging produces something really special."
The Bulleit legacy is a compelling chapter in the story of Kentucky bourbon making, the most American of spirits. Tom Bulleit resurrected a whiskey that was not only a lost piece of one family’s history, but the history of an American era. He now stands as one of the few remaining scions of a Kentucky bourbon making family whose name is on the bottle. As Bulleit Bourbon expands distribution in 2005 to all 50 U.S. states and across three continents, the family legacy and the pleasure of enjoying this splendid spirit will soon be known the world over.
Chuck
