DISTILLER'S NOTES:
The James B. Beam Distilling Co. and Freddie Noe, 8th Generation Master Distiller, announced the first innovation coming from Booker’s Bourbon since 2019 – Booker’s Bourbon The Reserves.
The 2024 expression is the first of a new, annual limited-release series by Freddie Noe to commemorate his grandaddy, 6th Generation Master Distiller Booker Noe, and his contributions to the bourbon world. Booker and Freddie Noe are American Whiskey trailblazers and Booker’s Bourbon The Reserves honors Booker’s legacy by creating a full-flavored American Whiskey inspired by how Freddie believes his grandfather would be making whiskey in modern day.
The first release of The Reserves is an 8 to 14-year-old blend that Booker’s Bourbon drinkers will recognize and continue to enjoy. Always uncut and unfiltered, always cask strength, and always pulled from the center cut in the warehouse – just as Booker envisioned when he created his Small Batch Bourbon Collection and forever changed the American Whiskey category.
However, in many other ways, The Reserves is something entirely new; due to the scarcity of the barrels, it’s released in smaller quantities than the four yearly Booker’s Batches and uses fewer, and older, barrels in the blend to achieve a layered and complex flavor profile.
“I createdThe Reserves series to commemorate my grandaddy Booker,” Freddie Noe, 8th Generation Master Distiller of the Fred B. Noe Distillery, said in a news release. “Liquid like this can take a while to find, but when I do, it feels like the Big Man himself picked them out. It’s just the kind of Bourbon I believe my granddaddy would be making if he were still alive with us now.”
The 2024 release spans eight production dates and eight different warehouses, these barrels were aged as follows:
• 8 Years, 2 Months, 12 Days on the 4th floor of warehouse G
• 8 Years, 5 Months, 19 Days on the 5th floor of warehouse I
• 8 Years, 5 Months, 20 Days on the 5th floor of warehouse Z
• 9 Years, 2 Months, 3 Days on the 5th floor of warehouse Q
• 9 Years, 2 Months, 4 Days on the 6th floor of warehouse J
• 9 Years, 5 Months, 18 Days on the 7th floor of warehouse H
• 10 Years, 3 Months, 2 Days on the 4th floor of warehouse X
• 14 Years, 4 Months, 16 Days on the 6th floor of warehouse I