Bulleit Releases Bulleit ’87, Its First Blend of Bourbon and Rye Whiskey

Bulleit Frontier Whiskey tells BourbonBlog.com it is releasing Bulleit ’87, a new permanent core expression and the first whiskey in the brand’s history to blend bourbon and rye together in one bottle.

It also introduces a finishing technique Bulleit says it has never used before—keep reading for how it works and what it adds to the whiskey.

Named in honor of 1987, the year Bulleit was founded, the “87” is not an age statement.

Bulleit ’87 combines bourbon distilled and aged in Shelbyville, Kentucky, with rye distilled and aged in Indiana. Both whiskey components are aged for a minimum of four years, separately finished with toasted American oak and French oak staves, and then brought together in the final blend.

The new 90-proof whiskey will carry a suggested retail price of $29.99 for a 750 mL bottle and will begin arriving at select retailers nationwide in September 2026.

Years ago, BourbonBlog.com was first to tell you about the coming nationwide release of Bulleit Rye.

On February 25, 2011, after confirming the news directly with Tom Bulleit, who founded the modern Bulleit brand in 1987, BourbonBlog.com’s Tom Fischer was first to break the news that Bulleit 95 Rye would receive nationwide distribution beginning March 1, 2011.

Read our achivces BourbonBlog.com’s original 2011 Bulleit Rye announcement here.

More than 15 years later, Bulleit is now bringing its bourbon and rye together for the first time.

To bring the year 1987 to life, we’ve also included a vintage image below showing what an early Bulleit Bourbon bottle looked like during the brand’s early days.

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Where Bulleit ’87 Fits Within the Bulleit Portfolio

Bulleit describes Bulleit ’87 as a new core expression that will complement its flagship Bulleit Bourbon and Bulleit 95 Rye.

That core designation should not be confused with Bulleit’s complete whiskey portfolio.

Since Bulleit Rye debuted in 2011, the brand has introduced several other permanent expressions, including Bulleit 10-Year Bourbon, Bulleit American Single Malt and Bulleit 10-Year Rye.

Bulleit’s broader current portfolio also includes Barrel Strength, Bottled in Bond, Mesquite Smoked Malt and other experimental or limited releases.

For that reason, the most precise description of Bulleit ’87 is that it is a new permanent core expression and Bulleit’s first-ever blend of bourbon and rye—not the brand’s first permanent whiskey release since 2011.

A Look Back at an Early Bulleit Bourbon Bottle and the Meaning of ’87

How Bulleit ’87 Is Made: The Role of American and French Oak

Bulleit ’87 begins with two whiskey components produced and matured separately.

The bourbon is distilled, barreled and aged at the Bulleit Distilling Company in Shelbyville, Kentucky.

The rye is distilled and aged in Indiana before being transported to Shelbyville.

Both the bourbon and rye are aged for a minimum of four years. Bulleit has not disclosed the exact age of either component.

Following their initial maturation, the two whiskeys remain separate and are finished in their original barrels with toasted American oak and French oak staves for four to six weeks.

The finished bourbon and rye are then blended together and bottled in Shelbyville at 90 proof.

Bulleit has not disclosed the proportion of bourbon to rye in the final blend.

Bulleit ’87 will be packaged in the familiar frontier-style Bulleit bottle, but with a bold blue label. According to Bulleit, this marks the first time the brand has used a blue label on one of its whiskey bottles.

Why Finish the Bourbon and Rye Separately?

According to Bulleit, each component was developed specifically for the role it would play in the final blend.

By finishing the bourbon and rye separately, the whiskey-making team could develop the flavor of each component before combining them.

“If I were to visualize it, it’s like a cake,” Bulleit Whiskey Research and Development Manager Phil Gelineau says.

Gelineau compares the bourbon to the foundation of the whiskey, the rye to an added layer of flavor and the stave finishing to the element that brings the two components together.

The final whiskey is intended to balance the sweetness associated with Bulleit Bourbon with the spice of its rye whiskey.

Bulleit ’87 Official Tasting Notes

We’ll bring you our review of it soon on BourbonBlog.com but for now, Bulleit tells us Bulleit ’87 leads with aromas of caramel and brown sugar.

The palate then opens into warm baking spices and structured oak.

The whiskey concludes with what Bulleit describes as a layered, gentle finish of sweet-and-spicy warmth.

The brand recommends enjoying Bulleit ’87 neat or over ice to showcase the characteristics of the bourbon, rye and toasted-stave finishing.

Bulleit ’87 Nationwide Tour

Bulleit is supporting the release with a sampling tour scheduled to visit 15 cities through more than 20 events.

Announced cities include New Orleans, Austin, New York, Los Angeles and Louisville.

At each stop, Bulleit plans to pair Bulleit ’87 with local foods selected to complement the combination of bourbon sweetness and rye spice.

Additional tour locations and dates are expected to be announced through Bulleit’s social media accounts.