Stupid Whiskey: Booker's Rye

Some of you will recall that I had an on-line melt-down when I heard that Jim Beam's new 13 year old Booker's Rye would be priced at a whopping $300. To me, this was symptomatic of everything that is wrong with the whiskey world today. That discussion wasn't so much about the whiskey itself as about whiskey's soaring prices. Now I have a sample of this stuff, so let's see if it's truly worth the gargantuan price tag.

Booker's Rye, 13 years old, 68.1% abv ($300)

The nose is understated with light rye and caramel. The palate has sweet hot cocoa, simple syrup and light medicinal notes but not a lot of rye character, which is typical of Beam ryes (though this one is supposed to have a higher rye mashbill than their standard rye). The finish is sweet and mild.

This is a perfectly decent whiskey that's soft and sweet but has very little rye character. As with most Beam rye whiskeys, it's a good rye for people who don't like rye. Those folks who like their whiskey "smooth" will love it.

Is it worth the price? Definitely not for me - not even close, but if people are willing to buy sweet, not very flavorful whiskey for $300, who am I to tell Beam Suntory that the price is too high? Hell, they should probably get some kind of marketing award for convincing anyone to buy this stuff. Welcome to the whiskey world of 2016; please empty your pockets at the door!

Luckily, not every company is following Beam Suntory's lead. Later this week, I'll review a whiskey that's the anti-Booker's Rye in both flavor and price.

Thanks to FussyChicken for the sample.

Booker's Rye: Is Whiskey Over?

Last week, Beam Suntory hosted a group of some of the highest profile whiskey bloggers and journalists at the Jim Beam Distillery for a tasting of Booker's Rye. Needless to say, I wasn't invited, but you can read about it on Chuck Cowdery's blog or Bourbonr.

The news that emerged from this press junket was that the new Booker's Rye will be a cask strength, 13 year old rye using a higher rye mashbill than Beam's other ryes and that it will retail for $300. Now, the bloggers who Beam hosted seemed to think this was a great rye, and I have no reason to doubt that (well, except...Beam), but $300 is a lot of money.

American whiskey prices have been heading in this direction for a while now. Wild Turkey, Michter's and Willett have all been pushing the envelope on prices, but $300 for a 13 year old rye is pretty extreme. In addition, the fact that this is Beam is important because they are the biggest game in town and have the power to set the standard for things like this. That being said, I'm not here to argue whether it's a fair price or not; those arguments have been made ad nauseam on numerous blogs and forums. Yes, the whiskey market is hot right now, yes there is a dearth of aged rye on the market, yes if it was reasonably priced it would just get bought up by flippers and resold for even more.

What saddens me is how out of reach these whiskeys have become for the average drinker. Sure, there are still plenty of decent, affordable, everyday whiskeys out there, but it used to be that someone could get really into American whiskey and taste some of the special stuff without shelling out three figures. Those days are clearly on their way out.

I never set out to write a blog about hard-to-get luxury items. While I've tasted and reviewed rare and expensive whiskey, the bulk of what I've written about has always been stuff that I think most of my readers could buy without breaking the bank. I don't have the stomach or the wallet for a world where $300 rye is the norm.

For my blog, this is an existential question. Should I still be blogging about whiskey at all or is it now akin to blogging about beluga caviar, yachts or Lamborghinis?  As I said, there are decent, affordable whiskeys out there, but I've already written about most of those, and how many blog posts do you need about Four Roses Single Barrel? After nine years of blogging, maybe I should just go ahead and call it a night before I hit the double digits...or transition into Sku's Recent Brandy.

So, I have some questions for you. What does the $300 Booker's Rye mean for American whiskey? Is it a big deal or am I overstating it? Is there anything in the whiskey world worth discussing or reading about anymore or should this be the end (at least for me)?  I eagerly await your responses.

Booker's 25th Anniversary

The year 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the first line of Booker's Bourbon, counting back to when it was a private bottling by Jim Beam Master Distiller Booker Noe for his friends and colleagues.  Booker's became a public release in 1992 as part of the Jim Beam Small Batch Collection, bottled at cask strength. This year, Beam commemorates Booker Noe's special bourbon with a 25th Anniversary expression.  This expression is a bit older than the regular Booker's. It's labeled 10 years 3 months whereas regular Booker's is six to seven years old.

I used to be a fan of Booker's - one of the only Beam products I really liked, but I've been disappointed by more recent Booker's bottles.  Let's see how the special edition compares.

Booker's 25th Anniversary, Batch 2014-01, 65.4% abv ($100)

This has a nice nose with some banana, peanut and caramel; it's sort of Snickers like.  The palate is sweet with caramel and Butterfingers notes.  It takes on some complexity with oak and tannic notes toward the end.  The finish is the best part with a nice balance of the palate's sweetness and tannins.  Water gives it more sweetness up front but also extends the tannic notes toward the end.  It's a bit hot taken neat so I would recommend a drop or two of water, which doesn't compromise the flavor.

This is pretty good; it reminds me of some of the better Booker's I've had, back when they were better.  It didn't bowl me over, but I'm not generally a fan of the standard Beam juice, so I wouldn't expect it to.  It was definitely above average, and if you are a big Beam fan, you'll probably love it.  All of this may be moot though, since, as with most limited releases these days, it's been a very tough bottle to find. [Edit:  Colin, in the comments, notes that it is available at BevMo for $125].

Beam's Finest: Booker's Bourbon

In my review of Knob Creek Rye I noted that I'm not a big fan of Jim Beam products. I particularly dislike their ryes but also don't care for the basic Beam mashbill that goes into Jim Beam label bourbons as well Knob Creek and Baker's. The only bottling of this mashbill that I have enjoyed is Booker's, the barrel strength version of the Beam mashbill. It's been years since I tried Booker's, and I've never done a formal review, so I thought it was a good time to revisit this member of the Jim Beam small batch collection.


Booker's Bourbon, 63.7% abv ($50)

The nose has nice caramel notes and maple syrup with some decent wood on it, as well as tobacco and red wine notes. The palate is distinctively Beam, syrupy sweet but then it has some nice, spicy, tobacco type notes, then it gets a bit soapy and ends on a cloyingly sweet note which fades into a sticky finish.

Well, this is definitely better than most of the Beam mashbill, but while I remember it fondly, I wasn't very impressed with this one (and of course, there is always the possibility that the composition has changed over the years). It's far too sweet for my taste, though I like the spicy/tobacco note that creeps into the mid-palate. If you like Beam, this is definitely a step up, but there is a lot better bourbon to be had for $50.


See the LA Whiskey Society review of Booker's Bourbon.