Bourbon has earned its title as the official spirit of America through two centuries of hard work involving corn, char, and patience.
Every June 14, National Bourbon Day honors this legacy, celebrating the amber whiskey named after Bourbon County, Kentucky. By the late 1700s, numerous farmer-distillers were turning surplus corn into whiskey, as it was the most practical way to get their crop to market. The barrels stamped “Old Bourbon” for the county they shipped from gave the spirit its name and identity. In 1964, Congress officially designated bourbon as “The Official Spirit of America.” Today, with bourbon sales and exports continuing to rise worldwide, this designation feels more earned than ever.
No brand captures bourbon’s frontier mythology quite like Bulleit, whose name carries a compelling story. In the 1830s, a tavern keeper named Augustus Bulleit began crafting a bold, high-rye whiskey in Louisville, Kentucky—a recipe distinct from the corn-heavy bourbons of his time. According to family lore, Augustus vanished while transporting his barrels down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and his recipe remained lost for over a century. In 1987, his great-great-grandson, Tom Bulleit, a Kentucky attorney with a lifelong fascination for his family’s history, left his law practice to revive the recipe and bring it back to life. The brand he created, Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, pays tribute to Augustus Bulleit, whose whiskey had nearly slipped into history.
Courtesy Bulleit Bourbon
Courtesy Bulleit Bourbon
The high-rye DNA remains the signature of every bottle, featuring roughly two-thirds corn to one-third rye, providing Bulleit with its spicy, peppery backbone and long, dry finish. This National Bourbon Day, however, Bulleit’s Bottled-in-Bond release deserves a closer look. This marks the brand’s first whiskey distilled, aged, and bottled entirely at its Shelbyville, Kentucky distillery, representing a significant milestone. Instead of rushing to meet the four-year minimum required by the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, Bulleit allowed these barrels to age for seven years before release. The result is a 100-proof whiskey layered with toasted oak, maple, nutmeg, and a butterscotch finish, which earned a 91-point score at the 2024 International Wine & Spirits Competition—all for a suggested retail price under $55.
In many ways, it is the perfect bottle for the occasion: a whiskey that honors a frontier story nearly lost to time, crafted with the same patience and high-rye character that built the brand, now finally distilled by Bulleit’s own hands. So today, pour something authentic, raise a glass to the farmers and tavern keepers who built an American industry out of necessity, and toast to a brand still writing new chapters in its own family’s whiskey story.
Cheers to National Bourbon Day!
