I'm not exactly torn-up about the loss of the 8-year age statement on Jim Beam Black, because Jim Beam Black sold in Canada never actually had an 8-year age statement (international Beam Black was a 6-year-old). Regardless, its replacement is . . . sorta meh. Nice enough smell of caramel, vanilla and (fairly subtle) nutty Beam funk. Maybe some tobacco and stone fruits. But the taste is a bit thin, and leads with tobacco and Beam funk. A bit of peach, maybe. Candy corn. Lightly dry, toasty wood finish. An unremarkable bourbon, though the price is right. Beam Black is like every entry in the Beam Small Batch collection, if every entry in the Beam Small Batch collection was totally uninteresting and generic. It's Beam, it's bourbon, it's fine; the price is good ($28 in Canada on the right day, which is approaching bottom-shelf territory)--but for the same money, you'll have to pry Evan Williams Black Label out of my cold, dead hands.