Booker's Bourbon Batch 2019-03 "Country Ham"

Yum. Another knockout release from Beam Suntory. Nose is fiery at first, but give it a few mins to breathe and you'll get a rich mix of toffee, cherry, vanilla, even chocolate. Hits the palate like a bomb in the finest Booker's tradition - again, best let this one air out for a few minutes. Get used to the heat and you'll discover an intense blend of spices, black pepper, oak, tobacco, and caramel. Some sweeter notes then linger: cordial cherries, a hint of molasses, and is that a little Jim Beam vanilla sneaking in? You'll have time to think about it because the finish is LONG. More approachable (no need to water or ice it down) and complex than the last release, while still delivering on what makes Booker's great. A classic.

So I haven't had a bookers in years before this and frankly, I've never been a fan. It's just young whisky that comes in super hot to me, but people keep raving about it and this batch got all kinds of love. I figured what the heck. I also jokingly told Jason of The Mash and Drum he's buying the bottle if it sucks. Anyway bottle been open about 3 weeks and I've had about 3 maybe 4 pours out of it. Also of note, I just broke the plastic holder in half pulling it out. What a cheap box. Nose - the alcohol is not muted here 62.35% and coming in at baby young 6 years 4 months and 2 days. Dusty oak, corn, a bit of a red fruit (you could convince me it's an apple). Dusty is my word for this one, I'm expecting a lot of peanut better when I dig in. Water cuts the heat but I'm not getting any new elements here. Taste - Caramel up front, fades into nutty and oaky beam profile. A bit of water and I get corn alcohol new make elements (that sweet new make spirit, very sweet but simple). Maybe some vanilla but I'm just expecting it as it's bourbon. Maybe some corn nuts and there might be a slightly salty element to this. It's not bad and if you want high proof whisky it's nice to have something this high proof around. But this isn't a high quality bourbon, it's not even close to being one. This is young, it drinks young, it's simple, it's boring, and water doesn't bring out anything else. There's no transition, the finish is mostly alcohol heat even taken below 40% and some dusty corn and nutty beam notes. No cherries, no cola, no leather. I'm going with a 1.5 here. Anything over a 1 is well made whisky. 2 means it's actually reasonably well made but not something to seek out unless this is your wheel house. This is just too young, lacks maturity, and I won't even get into price. Maybe I should drink it on ice but at this point I have more water than whisky in my glass and it hadn't changed any flavor points.

Definitely on the sweet. Brown sugar followed by sweet oak. Really enjoyed this one.

I’m on my third bottle of this batch. This batch is very smooth with fruit and a little smoke at the end.

Nose: Oak, spice, sandalwood, hint of vanilla, sweet corn, sweet oak, barrel char, bbq, funky Dusty corn Palate: Cinnamon, sweet oak, sweet corn Finish: Medium to Long, waking spice, Drying oak, cinnamon