Jim Beam is one of my favorite distilleries and when I found out that they were releasing three different 17-year old bourbons from different locations, I was thrilled and hopeful to possibly locate a bottle for a reasonable price. After many months of searching, I was beginning to lose hope and began debating paying a secondary premium, but thankfully patience and luck prevailed as my local liquor store received a small allotment and I was fortunate to be able to secure one. Now let's dive in to find out if it was worth the wait. The nose is rich and dense starting with a mix of powdered sugar dusted pecan sticky buns, anise and dusty leather-bound books then dark chocolate covered espresso beans and sweet potato pie followed by blackberry jam, cherry strudel and blood orange that transitions to mild spearmint, cloves and antique polished mahogany with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a rich syrupy mouthfeel starting with butterscotch pudding, cinnamon sugar dusted churros and spicy dark chocolate ganache then weathered catcher’s mitt before a mild rye spice that quickly fades to freshly lit pipe tobacco followed by blackberry jam, caramelized peaches over vanilla gelato and blood orange that transitions to mild baking spices, spearmint and lacquered antique mahogany furniture with medium ethanol burn. The finish is long, starting with weathered catcher’s mitt and mild rye spices that slowly fades to butterscotch creme brûlée, caramelized peaches, blackberry pie, dark chocolate covered pretzels, candied ginger and antique polished mahogany. Oh yeah, this was absolutely worth the wait!!! Once I opened the bottle, I could tell this was something special with a rich and dusty traditional bourbon flavor profile with the addition of berries that is nearly flawless in every aspect without veering towards a high tannic bitterness that could have easily occurred due to the long aging. If you're a Beam fan like me, this is one to look out for and at a price of $175, it's a bargain to find a 17-year old bourbon that can compete with many of the allocated and over-priced releases today.