Bulleit Just Tore Up Its Recipe for this Special Smoked Bourbon

American whiskey has been flirting with smoked grains for years—peat‑smoked bourbons from Brooklyn, smoked‑malt single malts from the Southwest, on‑farm smoked barley from Nevada. But Kentucky bourbon has mostly stayed out of the smoke. 

Bulleit’s new limited release, Bulleit Bourbon Mesquite Smoked Malt ($50), steps directly into that space, building a straight bourbon around mesquite‑smoked barley instead of the rye that usually defines the brand’s mashbill.

It’s the first Bulleit Bourbon to drop rye entirely.