Booker’s Bourbon has always been, and continues to be, an interesting proposition when it comes to determining what “good value” represents in the American bourbon whiskey world. Jim Beam as a company has the scale to be able to offer some absolutely fantastic values in general–look no further than the ever-present Knob Creek Small Batch, which gives you a 9-year age statement and 100 proof strength every day of the week for a mere $40 or so. Booker’s, on the other hand, doesn’t have that more advanced age statement to fall back on, and when its MSRP first climbed to $90 (it’s now roughly $100) a number of years back, a sizeable segment of the whiskey market rebelled at the idea. What this 6-7 year expression has is raw power, but how much should cask strength really be worth at the end of the day to the average drinker? You end up in a value proposition where you’re comparing the admittedly great value of say, Knob Creek 12 Year ($70) with the average Booker’s batch at $100. The only way Booker’s can truly compare is by dialing up the volume of flavor in direct correlation with the rising proof point, and thankfully a batch like 2024’s new Beam House Batch doesn’t have much trouble doing that.
This is the second batch of Booker’s for 2024, following the earlier release of the Springfield Batch. It continues the trend of Booker’s releases bearing marginally older age statements: It used to be common for Booker’s to be 6 years and change, but every release since the end of 2022 (Pinkie’s Batch) has subsequently been at least 7 years. Not a huge difference in theory, but at the end of the day it seems like the creeping maturity has been good for the series. Likewise, in terms of the value we were talking about, the rapid increases in bourbon pricing have had the effect of making Booker’s seem like a relatively better value now than it was a few years ago. Turns out that when the entire industry’s costs go through the roof and everyone is raising prices as a result, merely raising yours less than others begins to look generous.
The official age for the Beam House Batch, named after the house occupied by Booker Noe and then current Master Distiller Fred Noe, is 7 years, 2 months and 22 days, and it was bottled at a cask strength of 62.3% ABV (124.6 proof). It was pulled from Beam warehouses Z, 3, Q and H. Current MSRP is officially $100, though I’m hearing that it’s more like $110 from some retailers, so your experience may differ.
With that said, let’s get into tasting this latest core cask strength bourbon expression from Beam and see if this is one of those Booker’s batches that will get people talking.
On the nose, there are some nice, sweet elements here, but this also stands out to me as a somewhat more fruit-forward batch of Booker’s than we typically see. Often, these bottles amplify some of the core Beam traits–vanilla, nuttiness, etc.–into overdrive, but this nose seems somewhat more nuanced. I’m getting vanilla frosting and a deeper, molasses-like caramelization, along with Tootsie Roll-like chocolate, toasted malt and ribbons of dried fruitiness. That fruit plays well with ethanol that is surprisingly restrained here on the nose, which is always nice to find. At the same time, I don’t find this to be the MOST expressive of Booker’s noses overall in terms of overall intensity–but at the same time, it’s more nuanced.
On the palate this one is very sweet and rich, one of the sweeter Booker’s batches I’ve run across in recent memory, which is not a bad thing. Heavy caramel is met by lots of vanilla and some peanut butter, but the dried fruit also returns in the form of raisin and fresher dates. The darker caramels also register here again, as molasses or sorghum-like sweetness. This is quite rich and desserty as a vibe, transitioning into some barrel char and trailing hints of tobacco, pepper and leather. There are faint elements of older Beam characteristics starting to creep in here, which lends the Beam House Batch a nice sense of composure, as does the similarly restrained ethanol on the palate for this proof point. This doesn’t feel like younger, wilder cask strength bourbon, and I like to see that with Booker’s.
All in all, this strikes me as a strong Booker’s batch, and one of my favorites of the last few years, alongside expressions like Charlie’s Batch from 2023 or The Lumberyard Batch from 2022. Prices may continue to trickle up, but at least the brand continues to offer a very full-flavored experience, and even an increasingly elegant one over time as well.
Distillery: Jim Beam
City: Clermont, KY
Style: Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey
ABV: 62.3% (124.6 proof)
Availability: Limited, 750 ml bottles, $100 MSRP
Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident beer and liquor geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink writing.