Bulleit Bourbon Single Barrel

Nose: lots of fruit with a little spice. Great classic bourbon nose Palate: light and fruity. Spice comes in nicely. Little bit of mint, odd to see that. Could be my palate from today’s food though. Finish: medium to short and fruit continues. Overall: very good pick. Supposedly an OESO from 4 🌹 and I definitely can see the similarities and it’s very 4 🌹 esque. Maybe a bit more spice though.

Barrel No. 2-E3-0388 Pick by Bull City Bourbon Club; Named "Double Shortcake" Open 7 weeks Nose - Strawberries, berries and cream, crème brulee, maple syrup, orange compote, cinnamon frosting, sweet oak, and light ethanol. Palate - Creamy strawberry cheesecake, berry jam, butterscotch and caramel, cinnamon bun, and a nice complement of rye baking spices. Finish is medium-long with an exceptionally creamy and fruity mouthfeel with oak tannins and building ethanol and spices at the end. This may be the best pick I've had from BCBC, and is notches better than the Bulleit Single Barrel I really liked in 2020. It is one of the best bourbons I've had in 2021 so far, and easily contends with much pricier or higher proof bourbons. The creamy mouthfeel of berries and syrup is delightful. I wish the barrel yield wasn't so low or else I would've bought 2-3 bottles of this. If you can manage to get a good Bulleit pick, I highly recommend it.

Without a way to thread posts on Distiller I will point out that this is part of a series of posts regarding Bulleit, Wilderness Trail and James E. Pepper distillery tours. This will get contentious (in my head, probably no one else will care much). Accepting that Bulleit is all sourced Four Roses what you are getting here is a higher proof (but not quite barrel strength) Four Roses single recipe barrel pick. Considering that 4R bottles each of their individual recipes at around 115-120 proof that retail for $85 this could be a steal at $60-65, right?? The bottle we sampled was unashamedly named B3 (ie. OBSO 65/30/5 high rye mash bill, yeast strain "O"). There was no age statement but just like the 4R barrel strength offerings these run anywhere from 8-14 years in the barrel. The nose is loaded with allspice, dried flowers, leather sho polish and a bit of mint. The mouthfeel at 104 proof was a bit thin for me but better than their orange label or 10 year. Palate was a nice mix of cedar, light caramel, allspice, leather and barrel char with a medium finish. I actually wonder if this was OBSF or OBSQ with a different numbering system being used to disguise the recipe. This is not bad. This is also not great. It is good. Somewhere in the 3-4 good range. It isn't too hot to sip neat and has enough flavor to impress some of your friends but certainly not all of them. I wish they kept the proof in the 115-120 range because I think you're really losing something by dropping it to 104. Regardless, if you are a Four Roses fan and in search of their barrel strength offerings this is a no brainer. Save $20 and possibly find it on sale, let alone on the shelf whenever you fancy it instead of hunting or paying secondary. That alone bumps me to a 4. Thus we conclude the majority of the Bulleit lineup. My preference would be their 10 year or single barrel offerings for value. Cheers! Next we will visit the Wilderness Trail distillery...