Castle & Cairn

  Named for legendary Jim Beam company master distiller Booker Noe (1960-1992), Booker's " Apprentice Batch " was the second release of 2023. The label and name pay homage to Booker Noe's early career working under his cousin Carl Beam. The batch also honors Charlie Hutchens who developed the distinctive wooden boxes in which Booker's ships to this day.  The Booker's Brand started as a pet project of Noe for friends and family in the late 1980s, first releasing to the public in 1992 as the first in Jim Beam's "Small Batch Bourbon Collection". I've heard people credit Booker Noe with the creation of the term "Small Batch" which to this day holds no regulatory meaning in spite of it sounding so good. Jim beam drops a number of releases under the Booker's brand every year, and each will vary in terms of flavor, sometimes significantly. Each blended batch is sourced primarily from barrels in the "center cut" of each wareho...

I recently have been working my way through a bottle of Blue Note Juke Joint  and enjoyed it's fruity profile but have had a tough time killing off the bottle due to a strange botanical off-note in the transition from palate to finish, somewhat reminiscent of vegetable clippings or fermenting tea. As has been my custom, I started absentmindedly dumping a few other bottles on my "death row" into it and a combination with a minority percentage of  Old Grand-Dad 114  seemed to be one of the better outcomes. A clear destination in mind, I recreated it in this 75/25 blend. How does it hold up? Vámonos! For the uninitiated, Whiskey Frankenstein is the practice of  whiskey blending at home  to create improved or interesting combos.  🧪Preparation I blended the two spirits in a 75/25 ratio to arrive at a 50ml sample, majority Blue Note. Final proof should be around 98.25. Whiskies were measured using a 100ml lab-quality graduated cylinder wielded with questionable ...

Produced by Jim Beam, Basil Hayden  Bourbon is the brainchild of Booker Noe, spawning this easy-drinking offering in 1992 as part of the "Small Batch" collection. Inspired and named for Meredith Basil Hayden Sr, a rye farmer in Maryland who was one of the pioneers in "high-rye" bourbon. Originally bearing an 8-year age statement, this bottle like many others lost its age stamp while stocks were under pressure during the bourbon boom of the late 2010s. With Jim Beam Black getting a 7-year mark back, have hopes that this bottle will regain its as well. Under the Basil Hayden label, Beam continues to release an expansive lineup of variations, most of them playing around with various parts of the mash or finish, including Toasted, 10YR, Dark Rye, Rye malt, Red Wine Cask Finish, and Subtle Smoke. The original Basil Hayden was specifically designed by Noe to be very light bodied and easy drinking, an inviting bridge into the world of bourbon at a semi-premium price point....

Named after Abraham Overhold (1784 - 1870), this Suntory owned brand has its roots as a Pennsylvania rye though it is now made and aged in Kentucky by Jim Beam . Old Overholt is the oldest continuously released rye in production. It was one of the few makers to continue production during prohibition under a medicinal whiskey license, potentially benefiting from its partial ownership by Andrew Mellon, Warren G. Harding's Secretary of the Treasury. This bonded iteration was introduced in 2017 as bottled-in-bond whiskey experienced a resurgence during the corresponding whiskey boom. Together Old Overholt and Old Granddad are referred to and sometimes marketed as "The Olds". While other rye whiskies experienced more of a resurgence in the 90s cocktails renaissance, Old Overholt remained a sleeper pick though it still has as strong connection to Old West culture. JFK and Ulysses S. Grant both considered this standard version of this whiskey to be their go-to. Similar to Old Gr...

Upgraded in both age statement and reasonable proof, Jim Beam Black Label has a new label to match the reinvigorated specs as of 2024. Bourbon stocks have been under pressure for around a decade, but exploding producer capacity has finally caught up just a demand begins to lag. As always, the brutality of supply and demand can have some upsides, and this is bottle is one. Prior to 2015 Black Label actually had an eight year age statement. Perhaps we'll see it again if trends continue. Jim Beam did buy up a few bottles from the late 1980s and tried to replicate that flavor as closely as possible, so the current age and proof are supposedly in that vein.   From a design perspective, this bottle joins Jim Beam Double Oaked, Devil's Cut, Special Releases , and Single Barrel at the premium end of the Jim Beam range, billed as an affordable step up from a litter of flavored versions of the iconic white label.  🛒 Sourced:  $27.99 - Total Wine, GA - 750ml, also com...

Joining a packed lineup of flavored, finished, and extra aged expressions, Jim Beam Single Barrel  packs some extra proof and is had selected by the Beam team from stocks of the namesake spirit. Jim Beam brings its different brands off the still at different proofs, so there is no chance of this being a rejected Knob, Bakers, or Booker's Barrel; it'll be the crème de la crème of Beam itself. This is the most premium Jim Beam offering in the regular lineup and has been in production since 2013. Weak consumer sentiment resulted in them revamping the offering in 2019, upping the proof from 95 to the current 108 and changing the bottle design (cork was switched to twist top for cost reasons, a trade I'm perfectly willing to make).  🛒 Sourced:  $39.99 - Total Wine, GA 750ml - Priced to compete with Evan Williams Single Barrel , though that bottle is at a lower proof. In my experience, not a whole lot of retailers stock this bottle, so your best bet is likely one of the big ch...

Suntory has been on a bit of a roll recently with it's Jim Beam family of products. Black Label got a proof bump and its seven year age statement back while they seem to have enough extra juice lying around to put out this limited edition toasted bourbon as well. Jim Beam winter reserve is a sipping quality concept designed to emphasize lovely toasted oak flavors such as vanilla, cinnamon spice, and cloves. It is not a flavored whiskey! Instead it is double aged in toasted barrels following its initial stint in charred oak.  Toasting involves heating the wood at a lower temperature for a longer period without reaching the char point. This process preserves more of the wood's natural flavor compounds, like vanillin and brings out more nuanced flavors from the wood, including spices, nuts, and maybe even a slight smokiness. This is our first low cost, mass market release from Jim Beam since the Repeal Batch in 2018 which gives us a good indication that Beam stocks must be catchi...

📚 Background: Now under the management of Jim Beam in Clermont Kentucky, the Old Grand-Dad brand was named by one Raymond B. Hayden after his grandfather Meredith Basil Hayden Sr. (incidentally the namesake of the Basil Hayden Brand, introduced by Beam in 1992). A truly historic line, the whiskey has been sold under the same name since 1840 and Hayden Sr's face still graces the front of the bottle. The old man was known for using a higher percentage of the more expensive rye in his distilling (the "more costly" small grains alluded to on the back of the bottle). Old Grand-Dad 114 is the highest proof offering of the roster which also features a 100-proof Bottled-in-Bond and an 80-proof budget version, alas reduced from 86 proof in 2013. Together, you may hear Old Grand-Dad and Old Overholt referred to as "The Olds", and Old Grand-Dad's distinctive orange and black visage has graced such cultural sensations as M*A*S*H and Mad Men . Though there have been r...