Booker's 25th Review

Booker’s is barrel strength bourbon conceived in the late 80’s by the grandson of Jim Beam, master distiller Booker Noe. It was initially only offered to friends and family as a single barrel product but due to popularity it became publicly available as a small batch in the early 90’s. While the standard offering of Booker’s is typically aged 6-7 years, the commemorative release comes in around 10 years old. Per Fred Noe, current master distiller and son of Booker, the 25th anniversary release contains some of the last whiskey to be barreled under his father’s watch before his death in 2004.

Aged 10 years 3 months; 65.4% ABV; $100

Glencairns make for great pictures but they are a terrible idea for nosing this whiskey as it breaths far too hot. Clear bottles also make for better pictures when they are full but the fill level here is not where I am writing this review. The majority of my notes will be coming for the tail end of this bottle which is a vast improvement over the beginning.

On the nose from a regular rocks glass you’ll get some sweet candy nuttiness like roasted honey peanuts but it’s hard for even a proof junkie like myself to get past the heat. The taste is heavy on the sweet side with lots of warm caramel, nutty fudge, and also a little spicy cinnamon. If you look deep enough you’ll find more complex flavors of leather and tobacco notes alongside the sweet and spice but those notes are minor. Normally with standard Booker’s I get a lot of young wood upfront but here the oak comes in more at the finish and is deeper with more of a tannic quality.

Thoughts: The first and last pour out of this bottle were dramatically different. The first was an absolute mess - overbearing classic Beam nuttyness and hot alcohol which I would describe as molten peanut butter. About midway through it took a turn for the better but I was still struggling to justify how much better it was than the standard release. Now that it’s in the bottom 1/3 I’m seeing a remarkable improvement over standard Booker’s. It’s still got remnants of the standard profile but it also has more oak complexity, less heat, less harshness, better sweetness, and less of the nuttiness that I don’t usually like in Beam products. It’s pretty apparent the extra few years in the wood have helped smooth out what is usually a younger more savage pour. I don’t know that I would consider it in my top 5 whiskeys from 2014 but it is pretty good.

Rating: A- / B+