When it comes to the Jim Beam Small Batch Collection, Baker’s has always been the odd brand out, and both the company and whiskey fans know this all too well. In comparison with the likes of Booker’s, Knob Creek and Basil Hayden’s, Baker’s has just never had the name recognition, and it has always found itself sitting in a “halfway” position between other, more established brands, leading to many whiskey geeks wondering why it existed at all.
Consider the products that surrounded Baker’s in the Beam lineup. On the lower MSRP side, there’s the reliable Knob Creek, which recently regained its 9-year age statement, and is a better whiskey for it. It retails for around $35, and weighs in at 100 proof. On the other end of the spectrum, you have Booker’s Bourbon at cask strength, coming in at an MSRP around $80. How much room does that really leave for Baker’s, which was a small-batch bourbon with a 7 year age statement, and a 107 proof, and a price tag around $50? Is a younger, slightly stronger bourbon worth the hike from the Knob Creek price? And if you’re making the jump, why not keep going all the way to Booker’s? Or, for that matter, the single barrel version of Knob Creek, which was often 10 years or older, and 120 proof, for around $60?
The message was clear: Baker’s needed an additional way to define itself. It needed something to help it stand out, and Beam responded with a revamp of the brand in late 2019, transforming the small batch Baker’s into a new single barrel expression. I somehow missed this happening at the time, and am only getting around to it now, but it’s a move that makes a lot of sense to me. It gives the consumer a particular choice around the $60 price tag level: You can explore extra aging via something like the new Knob Creek 12 Year Old, or you can explore additional strength/single barrel variation with the new 7-year Baker’s Single Barrel. The point is, each brand should have enough individuality to now justify itself. Of note: There will also be occasional, limited releases of a 13-year-old Baker’s Single Barrel, but these will no doubt be harder to come by. That brand has a $100 MSRP.
Things to note about the new Baker’s 7-year single barrel flagship, meanwhile:
— The small-batch bottling has been phased out, but Baker’s will remain at least 7 years old, and will still be bottled at 107 proof.
— There will be significant variation from bottle to bottle, and the neck label of each bottle includes the date barreled, serial number, warehouse and exact age. My bottle is from warehouse CL-Z, and is actually 8 years, 3 months old. That’s a not-insignificant uptick from the minimum of 7, so you’ll want to check the neck tags when you see these in stores.