Bulleit 95 Rye

Hot off the press! Very exciting stuff @Victor

Sounds very interesting. I wonder if the mashbill has the second highest rye content next to Alberta Premium which is 100%?

@JeffC, there are other 100% rye whiskeys, such as all 3 of the Old Potrero rye whiskeys and Whistlepig. There may also be other Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana ryes at 95% rye content in addition to the Bulleit source-rye.

Comments on this reviewed bottle after almost 8 months of the bottle opened: 1)the nose is stronger, spicier and better, quite excellent, in fact, 2) the palatal delivery is more quick to manifest and the rye spicey flavours are more focused than when the bottle was first opened, which is quite nice, 3) wood flavours remain vague, amorphous, and muddy, still unbalanced, as far as I am concerned, 4)a lot of LDI version buttery sweet mint flavour is in evidence now. I consider this to have taken four points forward and three backwards, after the bottle has been opened. The nose is now great, and the palatal delivery improved in speed and spice focus. The wood is still deficient in my mind. And while some may like that sweet buttery LDI mint flavour, for me it is a profoundly strange flavour to find in a rye whiskey. So for me, this is now an 87 whiskey. If I liked the mint, it would be a 90 whiskey.

I have liked Bulleit 95 Rye ok from the first, but have been relatively lukewarm on it compared to other ryes, all along. I must say, though, that oxidation has been very kind to the Bulleit Rye. Now that my bottle has been opened for 13 months the nose is truly excellent, and the palate has gotten so good that I don't really even mind tasting the spearmint anymore. Now, at 13 months, I would rate this bottle 91.

I too like the Bulleit bourbon more than the rye for the same reason. The woody flavors are more defined. My bottle of Bulleit rye I found to be less intense than described in your review. I found the Russell Reserve 6yo to be more of a vroom of spice delivery. I have also found that it sometimes takes a few tastings for me to really begin to detect all the subtleties and nuances of the whiskey's flavor profile, and I have only had a couple drams from the Bulleit rye where as I'm onto my second bottle of the Bulleit Bourbon.

@Alanxv, once again, I have always been a little lukewarm on the LDI Ryes. Jim Murray describes the LDI ryes as soft and hard at the same time. I get the soft part, but I do not experience them as at all hard, or pointed/defined, in their flavours. I must say, though, that the Bulleit 95 Rye does get richer and improved in flavour with oxidation, as I have previously noted in my comments above. I'll bet that your bottle will taste much better to you in about another 8-10 months' time. But the improvement will be mostly in the rye-related flavours, and not so much with respect to the wood flavours, so you may still find that it comes up short with respect to your taste preferences.

In the 'Oxidation effects' category, this reviewed bottle of Bulleit 95 Rye, from the first Connosr review of this product, is at its very best now 20 full months after it was opened. The fruitiness of the nose, and of the palate as well, is quite amazing for a young rye. Usually it takes a very aged rye to get this effect. I am a fan of Bulleit 95 Rye in a way that I have not been before. I would rate this same reviewed bottle at 92 now. US Straight Ryes often show excellent improvement with long oxidation, I have found. I have seen it with Van Winkle 13 yo Rye (very very good to start with) and Old Overholt Rye (quite variatble to start with according to the year batch, not too vibrant in the last three years). This particular bottle of Bulleit 95 Rye was rather locked up for a VERY long period of time, but now is in full beautiful fruity blossom.