Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1331779
19 Now an American institution, super- premium Booker's is the benchmark by which all other bourbons should be measured. The brand was one of the only uncut, unfiltered, cask-strength bourbons available when it was was created by Booker Noe, sixth-generation Master Distiller and grandson of Jim Beam. The inspiration for Booker's came from a love of sharing bourbon the way he thought it should be shared. Booker's offers the paramount bourbon experience. It is aged in deeply charred, American white-oak barrels for six to eight years in the center of the warehouse and bottled at barrel strength, which varies between 121 and 129 proof. The whiskey is an immensely aromatic bourbon with a huge bouquet, a broad palate, and a deeply satisfying finish. In the early part of this century, Noe laid down barrels of rye that would eventually become the first-of-its-kind Booker's Rye Whiskey: uncut, unfiltered, made in small batches, and bottled at cask strength. The whiskey has an intense flavor profile and pronounced, well-balanced notes of toasted oak. Another of Jim Beam's exemplary marvels is Baker's Single Barrel Bourbon. Made using a family strain of jug yeast, aged for a minimum of seven years, and bottled at 107 proof, it can reveal a range of nuances depending on the location of the barrel it occupied within the warehouse. At the 2020 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, it nabbed both a double gold medal and the title of Best Single Barrel Bourbon. Equally seductive is Basil Hayden's, made with almost double the amount of rye in its bourbon mash. The result—which took a double gold at this year's competition— is a flavorful, peppery, and remarkably smooth bourbon whiskey aged to taste and bottled at an accessible 40% ABV (80 proof). Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 40-65% alc/vol, ©2019 Kentucky Springs Distilling Co. Clermont KY Bourbon's BAND OF BROTHERS 19