Booker's Bourbon Batch 2021-04 "Noe Strangers Batch"

One of the thicker Booker profiles in recent memory. Big sweet nose of brown sugar. Rested in charred white oak barrels which gives it a deeper brown-amber color. Big notes of peanut butter and caramel - sweetness even more pronounced with a drop of water

Burns up to your eyeballs but could smell the brown sugar on the nose. Black tea on the palate

As soon as I opened this bottle I could smell the heat. After letting it sit in the glass a few minutes I got heavy brown sugar and lingering ethanol on the nose. On the palate neat you immediately get hit with some cinnamon spice, but it's surprisingly smooth. The brown sugar shines through as well as some cherry and faint nuttiness. Adding some ice changes everything. The ice opened up some vanilla and toned down the spice, personally I enjoyed that a lot better. The finish is fairly long from the spice and quite pleasant. I need to compare with 2021-3, but overall pretty good. Not sure it's worth the $90 price Jim Beam is asking though.

Full flavor, not overly complex. Sweet and spicy balance. It’s a strong warm hug, but not as hot as expected. Very solid bourbon!