Bulleit Distilling Co.

Bulleit Distilling Co. traces its name to a nineteenth-century Kentucky whiskey and its modern identity to a bourbon revival that began in a home kitchen. Tom Bulleit, a Louisville lawyer, spent years developing a high-rye recipe before launching Bulleit Bourbon commercially in 1987, deliberately reviving the profile his great-great-grandfather Augustus Bulleit was said to have distilled between 1830 and 1860. What started as a small independent label is now produced at a purpose-built distillery in Shelbyville, Kentucky, owned, as of July 2026, by Diageo, the global spirits company that has controlled the brand since acquiring Seagram's spirits portfolio in 2000.

History & Heritage

Tom Bulleit's original whiskey was contract-distilled while he built the brand, and the label grew steadily through the 1990s on the strength of its high-rye mash bill and frontier-inspired bottle design. Seagram's acquired Bulleit in 1997, and when Seagram's spirits assets were divided in 2000, Diageo took ownership of the brand. For years Bulleit Bourbon was distilled under contract at other Kentucky facilities while Diageo invested in giving the label its own home. That home arrived on March 14, 2017, when the Bulleit Distilling Co. production facility opened at 3464 Benson Pike in Shelbyville, Kentucky, built with an explicit focus on sustainable operating practices. A dedicated visitor center followed in June 2019, giving the brand a full production-to-hospitality footprint on one site.

The Whiskey

Standard Bulleit Bourbon uses a high-rye mash bill of 68 percent corn, 28 percent rye, and 4 percent malted barley, aged roughly six years in new charred American oak. Production runs on limestone-filtered Kentucky water, proprietary yeast, and a 52-foot Vendome copper and brass still at the Shelbyville facility. Bulleit 95 Rye Whiskey pushes rye content to 95 percent with 5 percent malted barley and, notably, is produced not in Kentucky but in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, by MGP Ingredients, bottled at 45 percent ABV. The range extends upward in both age and proof: Bulleit Bourbon 10 Year carries the standard mash bill through a decade of maturation, and Bulleit Barrel Strength is bottled uncut and non-chill filtered at full barrel proof. Bulleit Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon is distilled and aged entirely on-site in Shelbyville for seven years, meeting the federal Bottled-in-Bond standard. The distillery has also released limited experimental expressions, including Bulleit Bourbon Mesquite Smoked Malt Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, which replaces rye with mesquite-smoked malt in a 65 percent corn, 30 percent mesquite smoked malt, 5 percent malted barley mash bill. That whiskey was distilled in November 2018, aged more than six years, and bottled at 46.5 percent ABV for a nationwide release beginning March 2, 2026.

Why It Matters

Bulleit Bourbon has built a long record of competition results that back up its everyday reputation: Gold Medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2004, 2007, 2012, and 2021, plus Exceptional-rated Gold Medals from the Beverage Testing Institute in 2008 and 2012. The higher-proof and older expressions have performed even better, with Bulleit Bourbon 10 Year taking Double Gold in 2013 and again in 2021, and Bulleit Barrel Strength earning Double Gold in 2018. Bulleit Rye also won Gold in 2021. The Shelbyville facility itself was Highly Commended for Sustainable Distillery of the Year at Whisky Magazine's 2020 Icons of Whisky Awards, recognition of the environmental design built into the plant from its 2017 opening. Between the high-rye bourbon that helped popularize spicier bourbon profiles industry-wide and the willingness to release small-batch experiments like the mesquite-smoked expression, Bulleit occupies a distinct lane among major-owned bourbon brands: large-scale distribution backed by Diageo, but still marketed and packaged around Tom Bulleit's frontier-revival story.

Visiting the Distillery

The Bulleit Distilling Co. Visitor Experience in Shelbyville opened in June 2019 and offers guided tours, a sensory tasting, a cocktail bar, and an organic cocktail garden on-site, with cocktail classes also available. The distillery is a member of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Reservations are strongly recommended. Tours run 20 dollars per person and include a tasting for guests 21 and over; admission is free for visitors under 18. Visitor center hours are Monday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Wednesday through Saturday 9:30 am to 5:00 pm, and Sunday 11:30 am to 5:00 pm, with the distillery closed on Tuesdays.

The Sentinel Room's Reserve Whiskey Library carries 2 expressions from Bulleit Distilling Co., including Bulleit 95 Rye Whiskey and Bulleit Mesquite Smoked Malt Bourbon.