The Hardin’s Creek series at Jim Beam was one of last year’s most exciting new additions to the bourbon landscape, revolving around what the company refers to as its “rarest and most unique whiskeys, grounded in 227 years of rich experience and distilling expertise.” Those first two releases, Colonel James B. Beam and Jacob’s Well, were designed as polar opposites to highlight the affect of aging on Beam’s classic bourbon mash bill–one only two years old at cask strength, and another a 15-year-old, fully mature beauty. The latter, Jacob’s Well, ended up making my list of the best whiskeys of 2022, leaving me extremely excited to see where the Hardin’s Creek series would go next. And with the new release of Hardin’s Creek Clermont Bourbon, I think it’s fair to say that Beam has delivered one of their best bottles in recent memory.
This is the first entry in a sub-series of limited releases from Hardin’s Creek, which the company dubs the Kentucky Series. Each entry is a 17-year-old bourbon, presumably distilled around the same time, drawn from barrels aged in three different locations (different Beam campuses/warehouse sites) around Kentucky. The idea is therefore that the Kentucky Series entries will highlight how the same liquid can mature in different ways when held in different rickhouse locations, each of which typically maintains its own micro-climate based on a variety of geographic, construction and weather factors. Clermont, named for the original Beam distillery, is the first to hit shelves, and will be followed by the Frankfort release on Aug. 1, and the Boston release on Sept. 1. All are 55% ABV (110 proof) expressions, with MSRPs of $170. That’s a big price tag to be sure, but a damn good deal in a relative sense for 17-year-old bourbon at something near cask strength when you take the modern pricing market into consideration.
Clermont is the heart and soul of Beam’s facilities, a place I visited for the first time last winter, so it makes perfect sense that it would be the first entry in the Kentucky Series. So with that said, let’s get to tasting this extra-aged Beam bourbon expression.
On the nose, this is heady and bewitching stuff–loads of molasses and extra dark caramel, verging on burnt, combine with huge vanilla aromatics and waves of burnt, slightly musty, funky oak. There’s a mild roasted nuttiness that is suggestive of Beam, but that dimension of the classic Beam bourbon profile has been largely smoothed away over time. What you get instead is a lot of concentrated dark fruitiness, a brambly blackberry jam-type note that combines with the vanilla to suggest berry pie. The ethanol stings just a tad here on the nose, but over time the aromas are getting more and more decadent, molasses cookie seguing into leather and cigar box.
On the palate, Hardin’s Creek Clermont is initially full of contrasting notes of sweet caramel and savory herbs/tobacco/rye spice, before berries and vanilla move in to luxuriate on the palate. It again evokes berry pies, with moderate residual sweetness, though the profile quickly moves in the direction of old, seasoned oak, with intense char and French roast coffee jumping into the driver’s seat. On repeat sips, I’m getting singed cinnamon sticks and pithy berry jam, with oak that is both sweet and burnt. The alcohol presence is much more subdued to me here on the palate compared to the nose, receding far into the background, while the supple tannin provided by all that oak never detracts with a distracting level of astringency. This is absolutely not “overoaked” in any sense in my opinion–it has oaky complexity on display that will make this bourbon a must-find for a certain species of bourbon geek.
All in all, this is just a gorgeous expression of the type of release that Beam does as well as anyone–extra-matured, high-proof bourbons that revel in fruit, vanilla and oaky complexity. I rarely attempt to actually find any buy anything in this price range, but I would go out of my way to scoop up a bottle of Hardin’s Creek Clermont if I managed to find one. Here’s hoping that the other releases in the Kentucky Series can live up to this standard.
Distillery: Jim Beam
City: Clermont, KY
Style: Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey
ABV: 55% (110 proof)
Availability: Limited, 750 ml bottles, $170 MSRP
Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident beer and liquor geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink writing.