Review: Bulleit Bourbon Mesquite Smoked Malt

The name may be a little confusing, but the new Bulleit Bourbon Mesquite Smoked Malt is not a single malt like Bulleit’s recent entree to the ASM category. Rather, it’s a bourbon, made with the addition of smoked malt in the mashbill. Specifically: 65% corn, 30% mesquite smoked malted barley, and 5% (unsmoked) malted barley. That’s right: No rye or wheat. This is a two-grain release (and a limited edition one at that).

The smoked barley is made, as the name suggests, by drying it over mesquite wood. No artificial flavors or other additives are used in the production of the whiskey. (In other words, it’s not a flavored whiskey.) No formal age statement is offered, but the whiskey was distilled in November 2018 and aged for a minimum of six years at Bulleit Distilling Co. before being pulled from the barrel in 2025. It’s the first release in Bulleit’s experimental new-make project, “part of a broader and ongoing focus on exploring unique grains, experiences, and aging techniques while preserving a commitment to quality.”

We sampled this both at an Austin launch event for the new bourbon and later at Drinkhacker HQ, where this review was officially written. Thoughts follow.

Bulleit Bourbon Mesquite Smoked Malt Review

The mesquite is readily apparent on the nose, and it’s not just a generalized smoke but rather than sweet smokiness that you only get with mesquite. It’s enough to temper any of the more traditional whiskey notes in the aromatic profile, though some citrus peel and toasted marshmallow notes come in and out of focus as you nose the glass. Note: The smoke is far more impactful from a Glencairn. In a tumbler, the mesquite registers at a much lower volume.

Sweet and smoke meld on the palate, the balance wavering between the two and where they end up depends on how long you let the whiskey sit in the glass. The combination — as is often the case in smoky Scotch — is engaging and enigmatic, a mix of brown sugar and frontier dust, more of that marshmallow with flakes of fireplace creosote adding an ashy element. In the final analysis, though, it’s the smoke that wins the day, concluding on a punch of smudged sage or torched rosemary, extinguished in a shot of red eye.

Ultimately, the mesquite is a bit dominant on its own, but I felt this whiskey really shined the brightest in cocktails, giving you a shortcut to that smoked old fashioned that you have to pay extra for at your favorite bar.

93 proof.

B+ / $50 [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]

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