Bottom-Shelf Bourbon Brackets 2017, Round 1, Jim Beam Double Oak vs Jim Beam Devil's Cut

March 28, 2017 Eric Burke

Round 1d of the 2017 Bottom Shelf Bourbon Brackets features Division 2 Number 2 seed Jim Beam Devil's Cut versus Number 3 seed Jim Beam Double Oak.

I think this is an interesting match-up. Both of these bourbons are products of Beam-Suntory, produced at one of the two Jim Beam distilleries in either Clermont or Boston, Kentucky. Both of these products are non-age stated bourbons, meaning they are at least four years old. And both of these are attempts to add more oak than standard Jim Beam white. Devil's Cut does it by shaking the barrels with water to draw out some of the residual bourbon locked in the staves and using that to proof down the finished bourbon. Double Oak does it by putting the "fully-matured" white label bourbon into a second new, charred-oak barrel for a while.

These were tasted blind in the following order. My thoughts on each are from before the reveal.

Jim Beam Double Oak

Purchase Info: $19.99 for a 1 Liter bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 43% ABV, no age statement.

Produced by: Jim Beam Distillery (Beam-Suntory)

Nose: Grain initially. After a bit, it settled down to mint, buttered popcorn, and brown sugar.

Mouth: Peppery heat, shortbread cookies, grain, and oak.

Finish: Short side of medium length with peppery heat and peanut.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: It's amazing how different a bourbon can be when you taste it side-by-side with something than it was when you tasted it alone. I'm getting much more grain on this than I remember getting on either of these when I previously reviewed them.

Jim Beam Devil's Cut

Purchase Info: $19.99 for a 1 Liter bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 45% ABV, no age statement.

Produced by: Jim Beam Distillery (Beam-Suntory)

Nose: Alcohol, generic fruit gum, grain, and hints of mint.

Mouth: Vanilla sugar, oak, and baking spices.

Finish: Medium with some heat, lingering dark chocolate, and peanut notes.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: Sweet with a richer flavor profile than the other one. The dark chocolate on the finish seals this one for me.

Who wins?

Two bottles from the same producer. Both different ways of trying to accomplish the same goals. Both closer than I remembered them from previous reviews. Am I starting to like Jim Beam? I guess we will find out next time when Jim Beam Devil's Cut and all the other round-one winners compete for the Fancy Shelf Title. Stay tuned!

Jim Beam Devil's Cut advances to the Second Round

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Bottom-Shelf Bourbon Brackets 2017: Round 1: Jim Beam Bonded vs. Jim Beam Black

March 23, 2017 Eric Burke

Round 1c of the 2017 Bottom Shelf Bourbon Brackets features Division 1 Number 2 seed Jim Beam Bonded versus Number 3 seed Jim Beam Black.

Both of these bourbons are products of Beam-Suntory, produced at one of the two Jim Beam distilleries in either Clermont or Boston, Kentucky. Both of these products are non-age stated bourbons, meaning they are at least four years old. It's probable that Beam Black is in the six- to eight-year-old range but as of 2015 is now officially NAS. Beam Bonded came out about the same time that Beam Black lost its age statement and is Bottled-in-Bond, meaning that it is the product of one distillery (DSP-KY-230 according to reports), one distilling season and is bottled at 100 proof.

These were tasted blind in the following order. My thoughts on each are from before the reveal.

Jim Beam Bonded

Purchase Info: $19.99 for a 1 Liter bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 50% ABV, no age statement.

Produced by: Jim Beam Distillery (Beam-Suntory)

Nose: Sweet vanilla sugar, light fruit and oak.

Mouth: Cinnamon, Vanilla, oak, and peanut.

Finish: Warm and peppery with cocoa and peanut notes. On the longer side of medium.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: Richer and sweeter than the other. This also has a thicker mouthfeel. There is almost a malty note going on.

Jim Beam Black

Purchase Info: $19.99 for a 1 Liter bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 43% ABV, no age statement.

Produced by: Jim Beam Distillery (Beam-Suntory)

Nose: Peanut, oak and dried grass.

Mouth: Fruity and sweet with nutmeg, vanilla and black pepper.

Finish: Medium length with lingering vanilla, cocoa and light grain notes.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: Light and sweet with baking spice. Trends grainier than the other.

Who wins?

Two bottles from the same producer. One at a lower proof, but probably older. One probably younger, but at a higher proof. Who wins? It was close, but higher proof leads to higher seeding for a reason and it bears out here. Jim Beam Bonded advances to the second round.

Jim Beam Choice, an unintentional dusty find.

February 23, 2017 Eric Burke

Jim Beam Choice, Green Label 5 year old bourbon.

It has been quite the day. I had to meet with my tax accountant today. My tax bill is...well...let's just say that it is much more than I had hoped but less than I had feared. Sadly it's closer to the fear than the hope. Anyway, it's a day where I feel like drinking whiskey. And based on the current set of my financial situation, it had better be something fairly inexpensive.

As you might have guessed based on the last month, I've been slowly gathering materials for a series of If You've Had... posts. One of the ones I thought might be fun was Jim Beam. Not the entire line, but the ones that most people can afford. White , Black, Double Oak, Bonded, Devil's Cut, Green, etc.

Wait? Green? What the heck is Jim Beam Green? Well, these day's it is nothing. It is no longer sold. But back in the days when Jim Beam thought that age statements were a good thing, it was the middle of the road offering between NAS white label and 8-year-old Black label. Named Jim Beam Choice officially, the green labeled version came in at a stated five years old. These days, according to the Beam PR rep I talked to, you might find it on a shelf, but it is no longer a product Beam sells. This is just me guessing, but when the eight-year went NAS, I'm guessing that the taste distinction between the Black and Green got a little hard to decipher with the result being that Choice joined the ranks of discontinued brands.

When I bought the bottle in September, I had no idea it was a dusty. But there you go. I guess you just got to keep your eyes open. You never know what you'll run across. For instance, I saw a Jim Beam Rye Yellow label on a shelf today if anyone is in the market for an 80 proof rye from Beam.

Jim Beam Choice, 5-year-old green label

Purchase Info: $13.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Ace Spirits, Hopkins, MN (September 2016)

Details: 5 year age stated. 40% ABV.

Nose: Mint, apple, allspice, and honey.

Mouth: Thin mouthfeel and delicately flavored. Sweet granulated white sugar, allspice along with a light chamomile and peanut.

Finish: Medium, but gentle with lingering chamomile and allspice notes.

Thoughts: This bottom-shelf dweller ranks a good step above its white-labeled brother. Whether it is better or worse than Jim Beam Black is a matter of how much you like that "Jim Beam" waxy pencil/peanut flavor that both black and white have in abundance. This has a lesser "Beam" presence than I remember from either of them. It feels mostly like a Beam version of Evan Williams Black, just not quite as good. Not a bad whiskey, but not one the world is likely to miss.

A Photo Tour of the Former Old Crow Distillery

October 4, 2016 Eric Burke

During my September visit to Kentucky, I had the pleasure of being shown around the former Old Crow Distillery by the current occupants. My thanks to Dane, Glenn's Creek Distilling's Lead Distiller for showing us around. I'll talk about Glenn's Creek's current operation in another post, but first let's take a trip through the ruins of what is left when a whiskey distillery is abandoned and left to crumble for 30 years.

When Beam bought National Distillers, they closed down the Old Crow Distillery. They maintained use of a majority of the aging warehouses, but abandoned the rest. They still own and use those warehouses. Above is the main campus of the former Old Crow Distillery. The remaining non-Beam owned aging warehouses are out of frame off to the right. The majority of the upcoming photos were taken as we walked through this portion.

But first, we visited the remaining aging warehouses. There are currently three aging warehouses remaining on the Glenn's Creek property. One was deemed no longer safe and is in the process of being removed by reclaimers. I think all the bricks have been spoken for so I don't think you can use Old Crow bricks in your upcoming project. The wood is being used to build the aging racks to store Glenn's Creek barrels.

The brick aging warehouses are overgrown with ivy and trees. This are has been cleaned up recently, but you still need to watch your step.

Old fuses in a fuse box on the side of a warehouse.

Across the way is the main part of the distillery. We made our way over there next.

The building in the distance is the former bottling and shipping building. It currently houses the entire Glenn's Creek Distilling operation.

Old Crow once suffered a fire. After that, it suffered flooding. The lower level of this building still house some of that flood water. This is in the basement of the grain handling building.

This is what we visited of the boiler area. Before being abandoned, it looks to have been upgraded. There are shiny bits of metal back behind the wall and a primitive computer control board down at the end. the interesting thing is that it seems to have been actually abandoned and not mothballed. Under the dust, there are still March Madness brackets that the employees were in the process of filling out.

Thirty years of distillery mold.

Thirty years of dust and pealing paint.

Outside again. This is a peak between two buildings.

No Idea. But maybe try not to lick this.

Neither our host, or us, could figure out what this used to be. Mold, fungus, insulation? No idea. Probably best not to lick it though.

In fact don't lick anything. I'm going to guess that lead paint and asbestos are pretty much everywhere. This is fermenter number five. The fermenter was sealed until fairly recently. It is notable because there were yeast spores (Old Crow or wild) inside that were recoverable by the current occupants and which are used to ferment one of their products.

Old valves and pipes in the fermentation room.

The spring that supplied Old Crow Distillery with water. This water is still used by the current occupant for uses that don't need potable water.

This is a look inside the beer well. It held 62,745 gallons. Sometime in the last 30 years, it flooded and the flood waters that ran into it brought something else along for the ride. There are currently fish living in there. They seem quite happy.

A window just barely hanging on. This is a ruin after all.

A large stash of abandoned material. They really just locked the doors and walked away. They allowed scrappers to come in for the still. But most of the stuff just sits there waiting to finish moldering away. In the distance are the loading docks.

Finally we snagged just a couple more outdoor shots. We also wandered past Glenn's Creek, the creek that the distillery was named for. We saw the small diversion dam that Old Crow Distillery used to help gather creek water for themselves. We saw the back of the shipping docks where trucks that must have been much shorter than semis nowadays were loaded up to carry away bottled product. There are vague plans to convert it to a stage, but there is a lot of clean up to be done first.

It was a strange feeling walking through the ruins of the old factory. Seeing the damage that time can wreck and yet finding tiny pieces here and there that showed that real people worked there and had fun doing it. This was once a big part of people's lives. Its nice to see that it is now in the hands of people who respect that history and hope to one day get it cleaned back up so others can see it as well. I hope they can figure out a way to make that happen.

UPDATE: Since I initially wrote this I've noticed that Glenn's Creek Distillery have started a GoFundMe project to help fund the restoration of the Old Crow distillery ruins. If you have the means, think about helping save a piece of history.

My trip to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival 2016

September 22, 2016 Eric Burke

Every September, I hop in the car and head to Kentucky. It's my yearly trip to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. It lasts a week, and I go for a week but, our paths don't usually cross until Wednesday night. Sure, the ticketed events can be fun, but there are plenty of other things to do in Kentucky, BourbonFest is just the excuse. Here was my week.

I "camped."

It's a small trailer with a fridge, shower and a nice bed. But it had a firepit and you smelled of campfire every night when you went to bed. I say that counts. And the KOA is about halfway between Bardstown and Louisville. Which makes it easy to get to either of them.

a cart full of bourbon I can't get at home.

I Shopped

This photo is at the Party Source, near Cincinatti, I was meeting an Internet friend In Real Life for the first time. But I did plenty more of this in both Louisville and Bardstown.

A Bourbon on the bar at the Silver Dollar

I Had a Drink

The Silver Dollar is by far my favorite place to grab a drink in Louisville. Tons of good bourbon—great house picks—and a little brisket and mac 'n cheese to go with it.

I Visited Distilleries. Distilleries Big...

...And Distilleries Little.

I visited Distilleries real,...

The Bulleit Experience at Stitzel Weller Distillery

...Distilleries fanciful,...

The ruins of Old Crow Distillery at Glenn's Creek Distillery

...And Distilleries Abandoned

All of these distilleries brought an opportunity to have fun that I wouldn't have given up. Maybe it was wandering through the ruins of an abandoned whiskey factory after getting geeky with the guys that ended up capturing it's yeast, seeing a historic distillery that's been wrapped in Disneyland-style make-believe or just running into Fred Noe at Jim Beam.

The bar at the Kentucky Bourbon Marketplace

I had a drink.

Because, seriously, did you expect me to spend the entire week there and only stop once? This one was at the Kentucky Bourbon Marketplace. A store with a bar attached to it. They won the contest for the official Festival Cocktail this year. It was quite tasty.

The Woodford Reserve table at the All-Star Sampler

I did still go to the All-Star Sampler.

Why do I keep going to this. Firstly, I almost always meet friends there. It's gotten a little expensive at $75 per person this year, but there aren't that many events where I know I'll see a good chunk of my Kentucky friends in one place and maybe even meet one or two more while I'm there. I also broadcast live from the event on Periscope.

Plus you might get to try something new...

The new Packaging for Elijah Craig Small Batch

...or just something that looks new.

I had Breakfast at Four Roses during Let's Talk Bourbon

There was actual food too. Eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits, gravy, cheese grits, pastries, fruit, coffee, water, juice, and more. Plus you got to listen to question and answer sessions with Al Young and Master Distiller, Brent Elliott.

The Master Distiller's Auction to raise money for the Getz Museum

I didn't buy anything at the Master Distiller's Auction.

But I still had a lot of fun watching people pay multiple thousands of dollars for whiskey. We bid a few times, but only helped drive the price higher. I bought very little out on the lawn outside the museum either, but I did broadcast a taste of it on Periscope as well.

I spent time with friends, old and new.

There were very few days when I didn't spend at least a little time with friends while I was there. Dinner, drinks, cake, talks over lunch or into the night. These were my favorite times during the trip. They are the reason I keep going back.

Well, that and the Bourbon.

Jim Beam Double Oak Bourbon

August 30, 2016 Eric Burke

As I state in my Statement of Ethics if I accept a review sample, I will disclose it at the beginning of the article. Please consider it disclosed. I’d like to thank Jim Beam for providing this sample to me with no strings attached.

My empty bottle of Jim Beam Double Oak bourbon

There are times when more of the same is all that is called for. I’ll occasionally have myself a bratwurst for supper. And when that happens, someone inevitably asks me “what do you want with it?” My normal answer is “ another brat.” You see, I feel that there are some things in life that are good enough to just do again right away. A good bratwurst is one of them.

Apparently Jim Beam knows the feeling I’m talking about. This September they are going to be releasing a barrel-finished bourbon called Jim Beam Double Oak. A barrel-finished bourbon that is finished in a second new, charred oak barrel. Bourbon gets most of its flavor from the new, charred oak barrels it ages in and I like the fact that if Beam is going to barrel finish their bourbon that they do it with more of what makes bourbon taste so good in the first place.

So why is this different than just leaving it in the barrel longer? As we’ve discussed in the past, there are multiple things that happen when you put distillate into a barrel. The one that we are concerned with today is infusion. Let’s think of this like we were making tea. When you first dunk your tea bag into the cup of water, a lot of color is extracted right away. It takes a little while longer to get the optimum flavor, but if you leave it in there too long you will get some of the compounds that take longer to dissolve that do not taste quite as good. But say you want a tea with more “tea flavor.” You could leave your tea bag to steep longer or you could grab a fresh tea bag and do a second infusion.

That’s basically what Beam is doing here. They are putting four year old bourbon (that would otherwise be going to Jim Beam white label) and giving it a second boost of the quickly dissolved sweet oak flavors without needing to worry about it getting as bitterly tannic or “woody” as they might if they just left it in the barrel longer.

Jim Beam has put out expressions before that amp up the wood influence in both Jim Beam Black and Devil’s Cut. Each uses a different method to do this. Black is just left in the barrel longer and Devil’s Cut uses water during a special process to leach the bourbon that had been trapped in wood of the barrel. They then cut the bourbon with that woody bourbon water instead of plain non-woody water.

Because of this I wanted to see how this upcoming release would stack up next to their two previous tries. I bought a pint of Devil’s Cut and pulled one of the samples of Beam Black out of my sample library. What I found backed up what I had expected based on the process above. The Double Oak had a nicer mouthfeel and was sweeter than the Black. The black was drier. I found the Double Oak to have a spicier and more flavorful finish. I’m assuming due to the increased proof. The Devil’s Cut was very similar to the Double Oak in flavor but I found the Double Oak to have a nicer mouthfeel. Once again, I’m guessing that proof had something to do with the relative finishes since Devil’s Cut is a higher proof and had a spicier and longer finish.

Jim Beam Double Oak Twice Barreled

Purchase Info: PR Sample provided by Beam’s PR folks. They didn't supply a price point, but I see other sites claiming it’ll be in the mid to low $20s.

Details: 43% ABV

Nose: Just like the inside of a Beam warehouse: dusty oak. I also get green apples and wet rock.

Mouth: Nice thick mouthfeel. Spicy with nice heat. Earthy honey, cinnamon, oak and touches of brown sugar.

Finish: Of a decent length with lingering oak and cinnamon red hot candies.

Thoughts: I seldom find a Jim Beam branded product that I can honestly say I like. I love Knob Creek, but when it gets into a lower age and proof range it normally doesn’t line up with my palate. I fully expected the same here. So it was with some surprise that I found myself reaching for this over some of the other choices on my shelf. In fact, you’ll notice the bottle above is empty. It still tastes like a Jim Beam bourbon, but this one is working for me.

My wife really liked it and though I liked it a bit less than her I found it quite enjoyable as well and will have no problem picking up a bottle of this when it hits store shelves. If you are a Jim Beam fan, this is an easy recommendation but even if you aren’t see if you can’t find a bar that has it, give it a try and see what you think.

Knob Creek 2001 Limited Edition - Batch 2

May 31, 2016 Eric Burke

Knob Creek 2001 Limited Edition in it's fancy box.

Last week I got an email newsletter from a local retailer letting us know that they had received their shipment of Knob Creek 2001 and were selling it for roughly $165. I shook my head pretty well satisfied that I wouldn’t be trying for this one since it was so far above my personal price ceiling.

Thursday or Friday of last week I was reading reviews of Knob Creek 2001 (yeah honestly I don’t know why either) when I noticed that the writer was saying that Beam was hoping to have things price out around $130. Well now. That is inside my personal price ceiling. If I could find it for that price, I’d be willing to pick it up.

Friday night I entered my local corner liquor store for beer to go with the pizza I was making and sure enough right there inside the front door was a bottle. I looked at the price. $145 and some change. Outside the ceiling, but not nearly as far. $10 being easier to justify than $30. Knowing that it was likely this store would still have some the next day (they still have Woodford Limited Releases back from when they were actually good) I decided to wait. Maybe it would be sold and fate would have made my decision for me.

I struggle with things like this for a few reasons. First, I’m a self-employed artist/designer and $145 is a lot of money. Add in the 10% sales tax I pay on hard liquor and your looking at closer to $160. Secondly, the price ceiling is there for a reason. Before I implemented it, I tended to get a bit of buyers remorse when I bought an expensive bottle that didn’t seem to live up to the price that was being charged.

As I’ve gotten over the sticker shock of paying $50 or $80 or $100 or $120 for a single bottle of bourbon, the price ceiling has gone up over time. It's now $135. I’m sure that it will do go up again in the future. That doesn’t mean I’m eager to rush it though.

Saturday while I was shopping I ran across bottles all over the place. All priced higher. I talked it over with my wife and we decided to go ahead and buy it at our local store.

Knob Creek 2001 Limited Edition - Batch 2

Purchase info: $145.97 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Details: 50% ABV. Batch 2. Bottle #4052

Nose: Oak, cinnamon gum, and a hint of fruit.

Mouth: Warm and sweet with caramel, cinnamon and cloves, a bit of fruit and oak.

Finish: The flavors continue into a nice long, warm finish.

Thoughts: This is a good bourbon. Very very good. It is oaky without being too oaky. It has a nice fruity sweetness that I don’t normally find in Knob Creek which helps to balance the oak and heat I normally do find there. If price is no object or you are a Knob Creek fanboy (or girl), you should certainly pick this up.

If however, you are like me and don’t usually spend almost $150 for a single bottle of bourbon or if you don’t normally love Knob Creek, maybe think about how much you actually want this one before taking the plunge. When I break my personal price ceiling, it is with the expectation that what I am buying is the best thing that a producer is putting out. This didn’t live up to that expectation. And while this is certainly the best Knob Creek I’ve had, it isn’t the best Beam product released in the last few years. Booker’s 25th was better, it was cheaper and it was higher proof. At $90-110, this would be an easy recommend. At almost $150? I wouldn’t buy it again and probably wouldn’t have the first time if I knew what I know now. So yes, I like this, I just don't like the price.

Oh, hi buyers remorse…thought I’d figured out a way to not see you again…

Bottom-Shelf Bourbon Brackets 2016, Round 1: Very Old Barton 86 vs. Jim Beam White

March 29, 2016 Eric Burke

Very Old Barton 86 proof vs Jim Beam white label

Round 1d of the 2016 Bottom Shelf Bourbon Brackets features Number 2 seed Very Old Barton 86 proof versus Number 3 seed Jim Beam White.

Very Old Barton is a product of the Sazerac company produced out of the Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown, KY. Depending on where you live, Very Old Barton is sold in one of four proof levels: 80, 86, 90 and 100. I've had all four and have enjoyed them all. I ran across the 86 proof at a really good price this year as the "Total Wine effect" brought it into the realm of this competition.

Jim Beam white label is one of the most popular bourbons in existence. It's in almost every bar on the planet. Of course this does not mean it is actually good. I've run into very few people that count Jim Beam white as their favorite bourbon. Jim Beam produces some very good bourbon, but this expression normally gets buried in coke or slammed as a cheap shot.

These were tasted blind in the following order. My thoughts on each are from before the reveal.

Jim Beam White Label

Purchase Info: $12.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 40% ABV, No age statement

Produced by: Jim Beam

Nose: Light on the nose, delicate. Dusty wood, mint leaves and corn bread.

Mouth: Thin and a bit watery. Vanilla, bitter oak and cooked cereal.

Finish: This has a burn that comes back up for a visit but otherwise doesn't have much of a finish to speak of. There are fleeting bitter oak tannins but they fade quickly.

Thoughts: “Thin, watery and a tad bitter. Not really a fan.”

Very Old Barton 86 proof

Purchase Info: $14.99 for a 1L bottle at Ace Spirits, Hopkins, MN.

Details: 43% ABV, No Age Statement

Produced by: Sazerac/Barton 1792 Distillery

Nose: Sweet with a hint of fruit. Mint caramel and bubble gum.

Mouth: Sweet and warm. Vanilla, caramel, some oak and grain flavors.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Lingering spices and cinnamon red hots.

Thoughts: “Sweet and tasty. though nothing to write home about. This would be nice while playing cards.”

Who wins?

After the reveal it was no surprise that Very Old Barton won this one handily. It not only had more flavor, but they are flavors that I actually like. I'm on record as not being a fan of the flavors that show up in low-proof Beam products. And it held true in this case. Very Old Barton won almost by default. I'm curious to see how it does against real competition.

Blog

Jim Beam Double Oak

Jim Beam Devil's Cut

Who wins?

Jim Beam Bonded

Jim Beam Black

Who wins?

Jim Beam Choice, 5-year-old green label

I "camped."

I Shopped

I Had a Drink

I Visited Distilleries. Distilleries Big...

...And Distilleries Little.

I visited Distilleries real,...

...Distilleries fanciful,...

...And Distilleries Abandoned

I had a drink.

I did still go to the All-Star Sampler.

Plus you might get to try something new...

...or just something that looks new.

I had Breakfast at Four Roses during Let's Talk Bourbon

I didn't buy anything at the Master Distiller's Auction.

I spent time with friends, old and new.

Jim Beam Double Oak Twice Barreled

Knob Creek 2001 Limited Edition - Batch 2

Jim Beam White Label

Very Old Barton 86 proof

Who wins?