Jim Beam Black Label

[Tallica]

Call me a heathen, I buy it buy the case & drink it with coke. ( the only bourbon I drink with coke)

[reg]

They do mix well together. as for the most part it is my bourbon of choice to mix with coca cola. Not Pepsi!Pepsi is too sweet. Now for a real cocktail try a Bufflo Rock Ginger Ale and Ezra Brooks Black.

[mrt]

Jim Beam Black is -let's say- my starting point. I like it very much, really. By the way, I feel the caramel flavour strongly whenever I drink it, is that right? Or maybe I don't properly know how to evaluate what I taste, yet...

[Gillman]

I wish more bottles of Jim Beam Black label would stress the fruity palate. This is the old-time "bouquet" and taste of whiskey (as we see from another thread). It is the premium Beam whiskey signature - let's call it caramel/fruity - that I recall from 25 years ago. Some current bottles still have that taste, others less so. Of course whiskey can never be standardised 100% nor do we want it to be but I hope Beam will try to ensure this taste remains a feature of the Beam-brand palate, especially Black label. Possibly it comes from the mingling of many barrels: whatever the explanation I find it adds a lot to the whiskey and makes it go even better with Coke.

Gary

[SBOmarc]

I tasted it once at a beverage show in Vegas and was not impressed. After reading this string I will have to give it another try. It would not be the first time that the second and sometimes third try brings out something overlooked.

[Frodo]

At C$27.50 (LCBO pricing) I find Beam Black good at it's price point. At C$36 where it used to be, I'd rather have Buffallo Trace or spend a little more for Knob Creek or Elmer T. Lee.

[ThomasH]

Jim Beam black has always been one of my favorites, especially amongst the Beam brands. Even though it is more than the white label, it is easily worth it. It is reasonable enough in price to not feel guilty about mixing it( not that I ever feel guilty about mixing anything, because I don't) yet it is caliber enough to drink straight. Definitely one of my top 10 list bourbons!

Thomas

[cowdery]

A subject of some interest and mystery is the provenance of particular Beam products, especially the better bourbons including JB Black.

Huh? What? Don't they all come from Jim Beam?

Well, yes, but Jim Beam has two distilleries and about half-a-dozen different warehousing locations. (I'm not including Maker's in any of this since that's still an entirely separate operation.)

The "lore" of Booker's has it that the brand originally was created from Booker Noe's special, personal selection of bourbon made and aged at "his" plant, Boston in Nelson County. However, I have it on good authority that today's Booker's and every other top shelf bourbon Beam makes is distilled and aged at Clermont, in Bullitt County.

About a dozen or so people on this board got that information the same time I did.

The person who supplied this information was coming from a position of some self-interest, but was also very much in a position to know. I don't think he would have said such things in such a public forum out of sheer bluster. He didn't merely imply but stated outright that the whiskey produced at Clermont is superior to the whiskey produced at Boston.