Bulleit 10 Year Bourbon Review [In Depth]
Pure Kentucky Bourbon 2006
by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer
Founder, writer
Bulleit 10 Year Bourbon Details
Distillery: Bulleit (true distillery unknown)
Type & Region: Bourbon, Kentucky, USA
Alcohol: 45.6%
Composition: Unknown
Aged: At least 10 years
Color: 1.3/2.0 on the color scale (russet, muscat)
Price: $45-50
From the company website:
Aged in charred American white oak, select Bulleit Bourbon barrels were set aside to age for 10 years. The result is a special expression of Bulleit that provides a rich, deep, incredibly smooth sipping experience.
Bulleit 10 Year Bourbon overview
There aren’t that many Kentucky bourbons that sport a definitive 10 year age statement, or a 10+ age statement that. To name most of the 10 year olds, there’s Eagle Rare 10 Year, Russell’s Reserve 10 Year Bourbon, Henry McKenna 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon, Old Forester 1924 10 Year, Bulleit 10 Year, and maybe a smattering of others. If you branch out of Kentucky, then the options increase dramatically and it continues to grow as craft distilleries start releasing bourbons that are 10+ years old.
There’s a good chance that you forgot that Bulleit 10 Year exists…because I often forget too.
But back to Kentucky for now with Bulleit 10 Year Bourbon. To be honest, this bourbon rarely comes to mind when I think of 10 year old Kentucky-made bourbon even though it’s never marked up and pretty easy to find. On paper it feels like it should get more attention because Bulleit is a massive brand owned by a mega beverage company just like many of the other popular distilleries, but in my whiskey nerd / aficionado world it just doesn’t get recognition.
In my opinion, I think a lot of it has to do with the lack of meaningful story or legacy. The well known Kentucky distilleries have so much story, legacy, and history that’s been very well marketed, intentionally or not. Wild Turkey has the Russell figureheads, Buffalo Trace the ludicrous special releases (and Pappy), Old Forester the super old history, Maker’s Mark the wheat-only emphasis, so on and so forth. Bulleit doesn’t have that one thing that makes it memorable, and that’s something for Diageo to improve.
And I think it comes down to one question or a broad question – who / what / when / where / why is Bulleit? I can’t really answer that question, because Diageo has done a lot to shroud it in mystery.
My long winded point is that I have no idea what the deal is with Bulleit 10 Year Bourbon. I’ve never had it before and no one ever really talks about it, yet it’s the oldest release from this massive whiskey brand that clearly does very well with the base bourbon and rye.
I accepted this media sample because I want to better understand the bourbon. I adore the 12 year rye by the way, but I have no similar feelings with the bourbons and I’m hoping to find out that I’ve been missing out for years.
This bourbon can be found everywhere, so let’s see if it’s been an underappreciated sleeper all this time in this Bulleit 10 Year Bourbon review.
This bottle was provided to me at no cost. All opinions are still my own.
As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for everything (they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass Set of 6, Set of 4, Set of 2, or just one. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
Bulleit 10 Year Bourbon smell
I smells brown sugar, toasted oak, marshmallow, cinnamon, baked red apple, nutmeg, and butterscotch. I’m a bit surprised how soft and flabby the scents are. The age comes through with the dark sweetness and oak, which make up the bulk of the scents, but there’s not much definition, pop, or vibrance to make it feel more complete. The ABV is also feels calm, for better or worse.
So far, Bulleit 10 Year definitely smells like it’s been aged in oak for a while, but the depth, range, and complexity that often come with it aren’t there.
After swirling and rest, I smell more of the same dark sweetness and oakiness with brown sugar, toasted oak, coconut, vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, baked red apple, and orange peel.
Bulleit 10 Year just smells decent. There’s some oldness and oakiness to it, and there’s nothing off or unpleasant, but it offers little in the way of complexity, depth, range, or pop. It’s fine. It works but it’s not memorable or interesting.
Bulleit 10 Year Bourbon taste and aftertaste
I taste caramel, vanilla, dried orange peel, roasted oak, cinnamon, allspice, light dried nuttiness, ginger, and just a hint of dried dark berries, maybe dates. Bulleit 10 Year’s flavors again focus on the dark sweetness, woodiness, and spice. That makes sense for a 10 year old bourbon, but it also feels simple and straightforward because it doesn’t expand on the layers of fruitiness and herbalness.
It also feels flabby as the flavors don’t really pop and the notes seem to all meld together.
The oak definitely feels like it’s at least 10 years old, but I wish that there were a lot more to the flavors. It’s not remotely overoaked so the oak is still pleasant, but it could use a lot more of everything else too.
The best way I can describe it so far is that Bulleit 10 Year is very approachable with the oak and spice from the 10 years in oak, but feels like the introduction to bourbon this old and not a great representation of what it can be.
With intense “chewing”, I taste caramel, vanilla, slightly more vibrant toasted oak, cinnamon, orange oil, baked red apple, wood varnish, allspice, and a little bit of herbal fennel. “Chewing” brings out more orange oils, oak, and herbalness, which overall opens up some of the flavors, body, character.
It still generally feels flabby and straightforward. Even so, the heat and oak stay in line, which makes this undoubtedly approachable. The oak and spice feel about right for 10 years old, but I want there to be more body, character, and depth.
I think that is the theme – Bulleit 10 Year Bourbon is intended to be an approachable introduction to older bourbon. There’s not much power, vibrance, or expressiveness to get my attention, but it has the ability to ease a newer bourbon drinker into the experience and avoid anything that could be unpleasant or off-putting.
But if you don’t want the intro, then this is going to feel lacking.
I’ve unfortunately lost some Glencairn’s while in transit, and that made me very sad. So, I wised up and bought this Glencairn Travel Case that comes also comes with 2 glasses so I don’t need to worry so much about them breaking. I think it’s great, and I think you’ll love it too.
Seriously, if you already have glasses, protect them.
Bulleit 10 Year Bourbon\ Rating
I went into this review cautiously optimistic that this would be very good. For better or worse, Diageo played it very safe with Bulleit 10 Year to provide an introductory experience to a bourbon of this age that doesn’t go too far in any direction to be amazing / noteworthy or unpleasant / terrible.
I get the sense that it works just fine for a wide range of drinkers. But for the purposes of my review, it’s a good enough bourbon that delivers a solid but uninspiring experience. It barely passes the bar to “Mid Shelf+”.
To the point about an introductory experience, I find this to be not too sweet, not too oaky, not too spicy, not too fruity, not too strong, not too bold, and the list goes on. All of that does not lead to a “just right” experience because a great / memorable bourbon needs something to stand out. Then again, I don’t think that was ever the point.
There’s a reason why I still rated this “Mid Shelf+”. It’s because Bulleit 10 Year is still a well-enough crafted bourbon to provide a pleasant oak-forward experience that gives you a taste of what older bourbon is like. If this is all you want, then perfect and stick with it.
I’m surprised that there isn’t a higher end Bulleit Bourbon with the same / older age statement, higher ABV, and better barrel selection so the end result stands out more. There’s a lot of bourbon out there, and while I think many buy Bulleit due to familiarity and marketing, there’s a lot of much better bourbon out there from large and small distilleries alike.
So while I have my opinion written here, your buying decision should come down to how much experience you have with older bourbons. If you’re not sure about extra oak, this is a bourbon to try to dip your toes into that type of experience.
If you’re a more seasoned / experienced drinker, then you can skip this. There’s a world of bourbon out there for you that can provide plenty of oak and a whole lot more.
Meet the Author: Alex
I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.
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Shattered glass really sucks, so if you’re on the move, this Glencairn-like stainless steel snifter glass should survive your travels. Full transparency, this is an Amazon affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
BrüMate NOS’R, Double-Wall Stainless Steel Whiskey Nosing Glass – 7oz (Matte Black)
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