Product Review: Booker’s Bourbon 2016 Batch Collection Bluegrass

Champagne. Roquefort cheese. Charente butter. Bourbon. Some of the best things in the world … and all things that have strict standards in order to bear the name. In order to be called “bourbon”, a whiskey must have the following characteristics:

It must be made with at least 51% corn.
Distillers can only add water to the bourbon to bring it to “proof”.
Bourbon can only be aged in NEW, charred, American White Oak barrels for at least 2 years.
It has to be distilled to less than 80% alcohol (160 proof)–higher proof makes it moonshine–and it must go into the barrels at less than 62.5% alcohol (125 proof).
It must be distilled AND aged in the US. (Fun fact: 95% of all bourbon is made in Kentucky.)

Now that we have the basics covered, let’s talk about Booker’s Bourbon. I often receive products to review (obvi), so when I purchase liquor with my own money, it’s big. One of my recent purchases was Booker’s Bourbon and I’m hooked.

Booker’s is a product of Jim Beam and is always made in small batches and is bottled uncut. This particular spirit is a serious spirit–balanced, complex, and flavorful.

Proof: 121-130 (depending on the year)
Nose: caramel, vanilla, oak, and pepper
Taste: caramel, vanilla, butterscotch with a long caramel finish
Sipping suggestions: With ice or cut with water
Price: $50 for 750mL

To my everlasting delight, I got an email from a public relations angel that offered a sample of Booker’s Bourbon 2016 Batch Collection Bluegrass, the first of six Batch Collections that Booker’s will release in 2016 in honor of Booker Noe. I jumped at the chance to try it out and … damn … it’s good.

The new releases will all be hand selected by Fred Noe, Beam’s 7^th Generation Master. Each batch will feature a name and label bearing founding distiller, Booker Noe’s favorite things.