Tasting: 2 Bourbon Evolutions from Beam (Booker’s The Reserves, Little Book: The Infinite)
Photos via Jim Beam
In the last few years it has often seemed like Jim Beam has been barreling toward some kind of mandate for new products and line extensions–it feels like not a month passes without the company unveiling some new creation or broadening the purview of one of their existing brands. The latest to get this kind of treatment–not once but in dual fashion–is the venerable Booker’s, the cask-strength bourbon originally created by former Beam master distiller Booker Noe in the late 1980s. That made Booker’s a serious outlier when it first showed up on the scene, at a time when most bourbon expressions were far less potent and the enthusiast market hadn’t reached the intense levels of interest it would garner decades later. Booker’s has been releasing moderately aged, cask strength expressions of Beam bourbon ever since, and was joined by the Little Book series in 2012, a more experimental arm of the Beam library that was meant as a conceptual playground for Freddie Noe, the latest scion in the company’s now eight generation family tree. And now, with September’s National Bourbon Heritage Month as a convenient enough anchor, the company has debuted new versions of BOTH Booker’s and Little Book.
Those releases are the inaugural expressions of Booker’s Bourbon ‘The Reserves,’ and Little Book: The Infinite. The former is rather more simple to wrap one’s head around–it’s basically just an extra-aged take on the classic cask strength formula, blending in significantly older stocks in an effort of Freddie Noe (who blended both of these expressions) to replicate some of the special cuts of Beam bourbon that Booker Noe would have set aside in his day. Little Book: The Infinite, on the other hand, is a significantly headier concept that invokes the Beam/Noe family legacy as Freddie Noe blends together liquids set aside by each of the last three generations, including his own. Both are meant to be limited, annual releases. So with that said, let’s get to tasting each, side by side.
Booker’s Bourbon ‘The Reserves’ 2024
ABV: 62.95% (125.9 proof)
MSRP: $130
Booker’s The Reserves is an interesting release to me, because like so many other bottles in the crowded Beam bourbon demographic, it comes close to stepping on the toes of some other existing brands. The selling point of Booker’s has always been its cask strength nature, and this is tempered by lower age statements that are typically in the 6-7 year range. At the same time, the company has a 12-year-old Knob Creek bourbon that is typically easy enough to find on store shelves, but the flip side is that particular bottle being only 100 proof. So if you’re putting out an older, age-stated Booker’s, does that not move into some of the territory occupied by Knob Creek, or the still-ongoing releases in the Hardin’s Creek series?
Regardless, this is a blend of cask-strength bourbons–8 different production dates and warehouses, actually–that range from 8 years, 2 months old to 14 years, 4 months at the top end, although the majority of barrels here are between 8 and 9 years. Interestingly, the MSRP only raises a very modest $30, going from the $100 of Booker’s to $130 here. That’s rather surprising, as one would typically expect the company to boost that significantly more given the annual status and significantly older stocks involved. Perhaps it’s an admission that Booker’s has still been somewhat hard to sell at $100, even though that price feels significantly more fair now (thanks to inflation and other brands raising prices) than it did a couple years ago. Regardless, it’s interesting that Little Book: The Infinite commands $200, while this is at $130.
On the nose, this one displays quite decadent, rich layers of sweetness and roast. I’m getting lots of very dark brown sugar and huge vanilla notes, into salted and sweetened, roasty peanut butter, which along with dark chocolate can’t help but suggest a certain peanut butter cup vibe. Barrel char with wisps of smoke and earthiness are present, with espresso and subtle black cherry that is kind of like a dried fruit note. Over time, more tobacco creeps in as this is exposed to the air.
On the palate this is also very rich, with a very silky mouthfeel that is a nice highlight. Giant vanilla tones shine through, almost to the point of being a little overwhelming in that dimension. It evokes creme brulee that has been torched to the point where it’s just beginning to burn. I’m getting a little smoke, French roast coffee and the slightly sour tang of oak. The roastiness here is huge, with intense barrel char and hints of funky old rickhouse oak and leather. The oak provides moderate tannic dryness, but what you keep returning to in each sip is different dimensions of vanilla–wafers, vanilla pudding, etc. It dominates this dram in a way that some may love, and some may find unbalanced. One thing it does do impressively is incorporate its 125.9 proof, which feels quite a bit more gentle than that. All in all, I find myself liking the intensely roasty profile, though I think it might be a bit of an acquired taste.
