Kategoriarkiv: Jim Beam

Booker’s, Jim Beam, Kentucky

Booker’s Small Batch Bourbon – Batch 2018-01E ”Kathleen’s Batch”

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ABV: 63.7 %
Origin: Kentucky, USA
Type: Straight Bourbon
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes (Scribbles)
Nose: A rich and full nose with vanilla, sugar powder coated hard fruit candy, cinnamon and a hint of menthol. There’s a nail polish remover note surrounding the edges.

Mouth: Very spicy and powerful yet fruity, with apples and cherries being easily found. It’s astringent and the oak note comes with a coffee note mixed with some vanilla. A hint of cinnamon shows up in the background.

Finish: Cinnamon, menthol and dry oak. Very astringent. The taste of those hard fruit candies show up in the background and confirms the nose. It really packs a punch and keeps on giving for a long time.

Additional information
This is a straight bourbon aged for 6 years, 3 months and 14 days. It’s a Jim Beam product and the batches is limited and selected by a roundtable panel. It’s named after Kathleen DiBenedetto, who was involved in launching the Beam small batch releases in the 90’s and still works for Beam Suntory as a Senior director.

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Jim Beam, Kentucky, USA

Jim Beam Rye

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Kentucky, USA
Type: Straight Rye
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Sample added to queue. Tasting notes pending.

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Additional information
There is no information about neither mashbill nor aging. It’s at least 51 % rye and aged less than 10 years.

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Jim Beam, Kentucky

Jim Beam Black – Extra Aged

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Kentucky, USA
Type: Straight Bourbon
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a vanilla heavy sweetness and apple flavoured hard candies. It’s very mild. When it settles there’s an immidiate oakiness mixed with brown sugar and with sweet liquorice in the background. A hint of cinnamon floats around as well. This is a good nose. It’s very straight forward and pleasant yet it lacks power and complexity.

Mouth: It starts out with a mix of oak spices and some spicyness from the ethanol. It’s less sweet on the palate and the fruit candy is not as pronounced and it feels a bit pointy and unbalanced. The oakiness soon doubles down and overrun most of the flavours which adds to the unbalanced character. The vanilla is still there and a hint of anise replaces the sweet liquorice. It feels a bit more herbal overall.

Finish: The transition is mild and the apple flavoured hard candy returns. It then flips to heavy oak with a lot of oak spices. The distillate feels a bit harsh which isn’t all that great. The oak takes over completely and the finish is basically like chewing on a piece of oak. This is a good bourbon overall but the base flavours doesn’t seem to stand up to the oakiness.

Additional information
Up until 2015 this had an 8 YO age statement and was called ”Double aged”. Now it’s supposedly about 6 years old, but no age is presented on the bottle. The mashbill consists of 77 % corn, 13 % rye and 10 % malted barley.

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Jim Beam, Kentucky, Knob Creek

Knob Creek – Small Batch

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ABV: 50 %
Origin: Kentucky, USA
Type: Straight Bourbon
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and vanilla rich. At first there’s a layer of rich vanilla mixed with green apples and cherries. A small note of nail polish remover floats on top. When it settles the honey sweetness becomes more pronounced and and a slightly dusty oakiness arrives. It’s very aromatic. There’s a chalk note in the background as well. This is a great nose with a lot to offer.

Mouth: It starts out very mild with the fruity notes up front. It comes through as assorted hard fruit candies with powdered sugar. There are notes of cinnamon, vanilla and corn in the center and a hint of a herbal, slightly bitter background note which creates a nice contrast to the sweetness. A fresh oak with a hint of pecan nuts and hazelnuts coats the mouth. Anis, liquorice and a general rye note surround the edges.

Finish: A small burst of peppermint leads way but turns over to a mix of the fruit candies and rye spices. The oak is very pronounced and leaves a dusty note in the back as well as a dry sensation over the palate. The character follows along quite a bit down the line which is nice. In the end all that’s left is a dusty oakiness. This is a great Bourbon. It feels balanced and has a nice journey throughout.

Additional information
This small batch straight bourbon is made to replicate bourbon as it was before prohibition. It’s made from a mash bill consisting of 75 % corn, 13 % rye and 12 % barley. It’s aged in heavily charred barrels to create a fuller flavour.

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Jim Beam, Kentucky

Jim Beam Double Oak

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Kentucky, USA
Type: Finished Straight Bourbon
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and oaky. At first there’s a vanilla rich oakiness surrounding a sweet and slightly dusty center part. There’s a nail polish remover note within and a minty note floating around on top. When it settles there’s a small liquorice note floating around, as well as tiny bread note. The vanilla rich oakiness really comes through as a nice frame to the whole. This is a nice nose. It’s an easy to access Bourbon with a lot of classic characteristics.

Mouth: It starts out with a very soft mix of cherries, oak and vanilla. The oakiness is really strong and makes everything a bit astringent and dries out the palate. Underneath it feels a bit rough and ethanol heavy, even though it’s very mild. The loquorice note pushes through after a while, but everything just gets overrun by the vanilla oakiness. It becomes slightly bitter in the back and the minty notes still floats around on top.

Finish: The tranisiton is the best part of the journey. There’s a mix of oak spices and black pepper increasing the spicyness and brings the vanilla and cherry notes with it for a short period before the heavy oak returns once again. The dust and a corn note also appears shortly before the oak and the liquorice notes takes over. The late finish is a bit too oaky and feels very unbalanced. It does deliver on its double oak promise. This is a good bourbon which delivers quite well on the set premises. It should work well in cocktails.

Additional information
This version of Jim Beam was released in 2016 and is aged for 4 years, then put into new barrels for some time to create extra wood flavours. The mashbill consists of 75 % corn, 13 % rye and 12 % malted barley.

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Jim Beam, Kentucky

Jim Beam Original

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Kentucky, USA
Type: Straight Bourbon
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 2
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is powdered hard fruit candies and vanilla oak. At first, a vanilla and honey sweetness creates a layer up front. After a second or two a minty freshness emerges together with a dusty fruitiness with apples and cherries. It stays this way for a while, but patience rewards the nose with some caramel and a fresh oakiness. This is a mild and slightly uninteresting nose.

Mouth: At first, it’s dusty sweet corn and vanilla. The fruitiness arrives in increments, but it’s still apples and cherries. There’s a background layer of anise, dried herbs and a tiny hint of dill pickle. After a few seconds the oakiness completely takes over. It’s an extremely fresh oakiness, like newly planed wood.

Finish: The finish starts with a brief reaquaintance with the vanilla, honey and the fruitiness before it moves directly into the oakiness. There’s now a small bitter note piercing through, but it’s still the same oakiness as before. The vanilla comes through as sort of an umbrella sitting over the oak. This is a very mild middle of the road bourbon. There’s nothing especially offensive and nothing really interesting happening, but it still works as a go-to cheap bourbon.

Additional information
This is the best selling bourbon in the world. Beam Suntory won’t reveal the mash bill but it’s said to be 77 % corn, 13 % rye and 10 % malted barley. It’s aged for 4 years in new charred american oak barrels.