Welcome to Taste Test, where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review.
A 20-year-old rye from Bulleit sounds pretty good on paper—whiskey made at MGP from the classic mashbill of 95 percent rye grain and five percent malted barley, aged for two decades, released by one of the brands that helped make American rye whiskey popular again. So why not bottle it at cask strength as well, even if that means edging dangerously close to a hazmat level of alcohol? Well, I can think of a few reasons.
If you are even a casual whiskey drinker or have ordered a cocktail at a bar over the past decade, the odds are that you’re familiar with Bulleit. This Diageo-owned brand is easily recognizable for its old-timey bottles that look like they would fit comfortably in an Old West saloon. The whiskey inside is generally good, if not always remarkable—the bourbon is made from a high-rye mashbill that provides a bit of spice (the source has changed over the years, although the brand does now have its own distillery); and the rye is that aforementioned 95/5 recipe from MGP, arguably America’s leading rye whiskey distillery. Over the years, Bulleit has expanded its lineup of “Frontier Whiskey,” as it calls it, releasing cask-strength and age-statement expressions along with a not-so-great American single malt and a much more interesting Mesquite Smoked Malt.
