Jim Beam Single Barrel Bourbon (95 Proof)

BACKGROUND: Jim Beam Single Barrel, Beam’s first offering in the single barrel genre, was initially announced by Master Distiller Fred Noe in late 2013 and began appearing on store shelves in March of the following year. Though the bottle carries no age statement, Noe said at the time of its announcement that the bourbon would be aged between four to seven years and selected from the barrels used to produce Jim Beam’s white label and black label expressions. According to Beam/Suntory, less than 1% of Beam barrels qualify for single barrel bottling, and each is “strictly hand-selected…with care to ensure a unique profile and premium quality that make for a perfectly crafted bourbon.” While the single barrels chosen for Booker’s, Knob Creek, and, most recently, Baker’s come from the choice center cut positions of the warehouse, the Beam SiB barrels are selected from the top, bottom, and sides. Visitors to Beam’s gift shop at the American Stillhouse distillery in Clermont, Kentucky could purchase and hand-bottle their own Single Barrel bottle, but I am unsure as to whether this option is still available. Jim Beam Single Barrel is bottled at 95 proof and made from a mashbill of 77% corn, 13% rye, and 10% malted barley. Though many single barrel offerings from other companies are non-chill filtered, this one does go through that process. Each bottle carries a hand-written label denoting the barrel from which it was bottled. My bottle came from barrel JB7244. A 750ml bottle of Jim Beam Single Barrel retails for $34.99. NOSE: The nose presents the undeniable scent of fresh peanut brittle along with navel orange, oak, and a dose of good, ol’ Jim Beam musty funk, which is one of my guilty pleasures. PALATE: The palate largely mirrors the nose with oak, orange citrus, peanuts, caramel, and, believe it or not, a bit of buttermilk biscuit. It seems to be a very front-forward palate on the tongue. FINISH: The finish is long and offers a surprisingly big Kentucky hug for a 95 proof bourbon. The orange citrus on the palate becomes lemon citrus on the finish, perhaps because of some oak tannins. Big, booming notes of black pepper are also dominant in the finish. FINAL ASSESSMENT: As noted in my previous reviews, I am a big fan of Beam’s premium, higher-end, and more limited bourbons, so I had big hopes for Jim Beam Single Barrel. While it is much better than the regular 80 proof white label Jim Beam, it is also not quite as good as the Distiller’s Cut or Beam Bonded. Jim Beam Single Barrel is all-at-once enjoyable and unremarkable. It is a flavorful bourbon, but not one that prompts me to rush out to purchase more bottles.

There seems to be some confusion as to what is happening with Jim Beam Single Barrel. It is slowly disappearing form shelves in its traditional form. The Beam website shows a new upgraded sloped shoulder bottle design with fancy cork closure at the traditional 95 proof. However, There are bottles on shelves in certain areas of the country that are the now standard square shouldered Jim Beam bottle with a screw cap. That's not the big news though. It's clocking in at 108proof and going for the low price of between $17 and $25. There has been no official announcement or launch for either new product so it remains a mystery. This has been on my "to try" list for a while, but every time I've looked at it I've thought "Yeah, NAS Beam? I think I'll pass." However, with this being the last bottle on the shelf and not knowing what the replacement was going to be, I finally bit. Let's see what Beam Barrel #JB7214 has in store for us... NOSE: There is a lot of alcohol burn on the nose for a 95 proof even after letting it breathe for 10 minutes. Working around it, you get notes of Nutter Butter Cookies, Dry Roast Peanuts, Caramel, and Vanilla. There is also an unpleasant "Oily" or "Plastic-y" smell that comes along with the burn. NEAT: The Beam Peanut Funk is front and center. After a few sips to get adjusted to it you get notes of Oak, Vanilla, Dark Chocolate and Flat Cola. There is Bitter Oak mid-palate. Not astringent really. Just oddly bitter. It's a tick on the hot side on the finish with a decent building KY Hug. It leaves a thick coating of Bitter Oak and Peanut Funk behind. Let's add a little water and pray it gets better. SPLASH: Not a ton of change to the nose, but the Chemically/Oily note is decreased somewhat and a Sweet Baked Pastry vibe emerges. Still, that stinging alcohol heat is distracting from the good that is there. It really does help the palate. That Bitter Oak is really toned down as is some of the heat. The aftertaste is now Sweet Oak and Sugar Cookie with just a small remnant of that Bitterness. Water is a must for this one. VERDICT: A little Splash of Spring Water saved this one from the land of the 2's. I'll give it a 3, but just barely. Beam had really been on a roll with me lately with the new Knob Creek age stated versions. Hopefully this was just a less than stellar barrel. If it should improve with some time open, I will happily report. I'm anxious to see what the replacement ends up being here. Same old same old with a new bottle, or a 108 proof "Young Baker's". Either way, I won't be sad to see this particular barrel/bottle go the way of the Dodo.

I've been all of the Jim Beam small batch series for a while now--which I'm very high on. Now I'm turning to the Jim Beam core range with this single barrel offering. I've yet to try a "Jim Beam" branded product that I enjoyed. Let's see if this is the one. Barrel No. JB 8375 Nose: Some classic Beam notes of peanut brittle, orange peel, brown sugar, caramel, and vanilla. Some candy corn, toffee, and gala apple. Bitter cocoa and oak. Clove, nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon spice. Palate: Caramel, vanilla, milk chocolate, and brownie. Gala apple and peach. A touch of cocoa and brown sugar. Mid-palate is dominated by clove, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and oak. While it's not the most complex, it's polished and quite tasty. Finish: Loads of bitter cocoa. Peanut brittle, orange peel, and some dried apricot. Moderate length finish. Very good bourbon. Not as impressive as the majority of the Small Batch Series, but still solid in its own right. I've sampled a couple other Jim Beam Single Barrels. This is the best. Your mileage will vary. This particular barrel was not spectacular in any one way. But it is remarkably consistent and is a great embodiment of the classic. Jim Beam profile. And it offers great VFM. At $30, I can only think of one whiskey I've enjoyed this much that was cheaper (that'd be Buffalo Trace.) Keep in my mind whiskey is expensive here in Jersey. Regardless, this gets the job done. I think I've found the first Jim Beam branded product that I can get behind.

This seems to be very popular on many sites. I really enjoy Knob Creek bourbon and some of the Beam offerings too so this was next up on my list. Poured neat, nose is subdued and refined. Still has a hit of ethanol to let you know this is real deal. Nice dusty polished oak, black tea, light sweet fruit and mild caramel. Mouthfeel is a bit thin but doesn't matter with this much flavor. Palate is strong hit of oak wrapped in candy apple coating. Plenty of char and some milk chocolate with almond, more varnish, tea and caramel. Finish is drying wood and char with some fading notes of nutty caramel. This is damn good bourbon. Im pretty sure this is Knob Creek single barrel with less aging and lower proof. Tastes like the same formula to me with less complexity and power( can get the beginning of the musky notes in KCSB). That's not an insult this is bringing a fantastic richness and value at price(low $30's) and is easy repurchase.........88/100......I must say if you enjoy this than you have to try the Knob Creek single barrel yo.....Update: the longer the bottle has been open the better this gets!! At low $30's its a must try

Nose: Classic. You can tell this is Beam, but a little more swagger. Vanilla, oak, char - it's all here. There's an almost floral citrus thing going on - orange blossoms spring to mind. Dusty corn, cheerios. Vegetal and herbaceous - probably the rye in the mash bill poking its head out. Earth, slight leather. Palate: Again, that Beam white label heritage comes through, though a little more refined and stately. That classic dusty corn character comes through. White sugar and charred oak. Mint, thyme, oregano. Cucumber. Citrus. Very mellow sip. Finish is medium-short with that slight rye spice showing up again, along with more dusty corn and not much else. Other notes: This is a BevMo barrel pick. Proofed at 95 so it's not going to slap you, but there's enough there to keep things interesting. Definitely an interesting experience - really allows you to see and understand what's going on in a given barrel - great to compare to standard Beam white label and maybe even Knob Creek single barrel (proofed down, of course). I might not get this again, but I'm glad I picked this one up.

This is a bottle of Jim Beam Single Barrel No. JB8387 that I finally opened not too long. This is standard Jim Beam mashbill of 77% corn, 13% rye, and 10% malted barley. At 95 proof, this particular bottle had a bit more ethanol on the nose which mellowed out after about 5 minutes of sitting in a Glencairn glass. In addition, the nose has red apples, vanilla, and honey sweetness. The palate is where this bottle differentiates from the standard white label. You get cinnamon brown sugar, a bit of caramel apple, some charred oak, and then a heavy hit of cayenne pepper spice that lasts for at least several minutes. The finish has a bit of charred oak and brown sugar but it's almost completely overpowered by the lingering hot pepper spice. I personally actually enjoyed the cayenne pepper in the finish and how it lingered for quite some time because it was something different from the typical black pepper spice I normally taste in most bourbons.