Booker's Bourbon

About

Booker's is the uncut one. Where most bourbon is watered down to a fixed proof before bottling, Booker's goes into the bottle straight from the barrel, unfiltered, usually somewhere between 120 and 130 proof. Booker Noe started doing it in 1988 with a thousand-case release, and it's still the highest-proof bourbon in Beam's small batch range. This is not a beginner's bottle, and it isn't trying to be. What Makes Booker's Different Three things, and they all point the same direction. Barrel proof. No water is added after aging. That means more of everything: more sweetness, more oak, more heat. A few drops of water in the glass opens it up considerably, and most people find it drinks better that way than neat. No chill filtration. Chill filtering removes the compounds that make whiskey go cloudy when cold. It also strips out some texture. Booker's skips it, which is why the mouthfeel is heavier than the proof alone would explain. Six to eight years in oak. Long enough for real barrel character, short enough that it doesn't turn woody. Booker Noe pulled his barrels from the center of the rickhouse, where the temperature swings are gentlest, and the brand still works that way. How the Batches Work Booker's doesn't release one bourbon. It releases a handful of batches a year, each with its own proof, age and name, and each one tastes measurably different from the last. The names come from people and places in Booker Noe's life, which is why you'll see releases like Pinkie's Batch, Mighty Fine Batch and Springfield Batch rather than a version number. What this means practically is that chasing a specific batch is usually a mistake. They're produced in limited quantities, they sell through, and they don't come back. If a batch is available and the proof and age suit you, that's the one to buy. The differences between batches are real but they're smaller than the difference between Booker's and almost anything else on the shelf. Similar Bourbons We Carry If Booker's is bet