Beam Signature Craft Wheated Bourbon + 6 other new labels

[Phil T]

Are these all made and aged in Clermont with the Beam yeast? A wheater made with that yeast strain and aged in Beam warehouses might taste significantly different than Maker's. Likewise, a high rye bourbon made with Beam yeast might be pretty different than Old Grand Dad.

Excellent points Josh. Being that you are the blog master supreme, why don't you contact them and get it straight from the horse's mouth

[P&MLiquorsEric]

I'm thinking these will be a little harder to find than the current signature bottles just due to the sheer number of new labels.

Excited to try these, assuming they are reasonably priced.

I'm guessing these will be staggered releases over the next couple years. Finding room for all 7 at once will be tough for more liquor stores. Considering the other signature craft releases haven't been big sellers.

[mbroo5880i]

I'm guessing these will be staggered releases over the next couple years. Finding room for all 7 at once will be tough for more liquor stores. Considering the other signature craft releases haven't been big sellers.

I see a lot of these and have wondered if they sell. I have not tried either the 12-year or brandy finish. The price has been the main reason. I would probably give them a try if I could find them on sale or closer to $30. While the High Rye and wheated bourbon sound good, the others sound like they will be outside the bourbon mainstream. I can't imagine they will release all of these in the same numbers.

[smokinjoe]

I'm guessing these will be staggered releases over the next couple years. Finding room for all 7 at once will be tough for more liquor stores. Considering the other signature craft releases haven't been big sellers.

I was thinking the same thing regarding staggered releases, Eric. Would even Beam, with all their might, take on such an endeavor of releasing all of these at one time? I can't see it.

I'm positively gaga on the prospects of the wheater and high rye, if they're what I'm hoping they are. I'm sure I'll try them all, regardless.

Another BIG example of the legacy distillers bringing the enthusiast market...US...what we want. And, working "outside the box" with the alternate grains...ELEVEN YEARS AGO!!!

[393foureyedfox]

Maker's and OGD have supply problems as is.

OGD has supply issues?

[HighInTheMtns]

OGD has supply issues?

86 to 80 proof OGD, 8 year to NAS Basil.

[Dolph Lundgren]

These are pretty exciting. The high-rye and wheat definitely pique my interest.

[squire]

Both piqued and kept mine.

[dSculptor]

Mr. Jim Beam and I are great friends..haven't tried the Signature craft series as of yet,but did buy a bottle of the SB,very smooth. Glad to see some experimentation on their part.

[mosugoji64]

Would love to try the 12yr and SB but haven't bought them because, while I enjoy several Beam brands, the profile of their namesake brands just doesn't do it for me. These, however, are intriguing and I look forward to taking a chance on them. I'm pleasantly surprised to see Beam undertaking experiments like this. They seemed to be pretty secure in their position and ways so I applaud them for trying some new things!

[393foureyedfox]

86 to 80 proof OGD, 8 year to NAS Basil.

is that due to supply issues, or just business decisions. I take it as the latter, I mean......what is the point of having 80, 86, 100, and 114 proofs of the same profile? I'd have dropped the 86 as well, purely from a business perspective. And age statements in general are dropping, so I never took NAS BH as a sign of shortages, just a way to stretch a dollar. It'd be interesting though to know which way the truth leans.

[Josh]

They never had both an 80 & 86 proof to my knowledge. The 80 was a replacement for the 86. The explanation they gave was that they were having trouble supplying all the expressions so dropping the 86 to 80 was the least of the potential evils. BH is the same mashbill so it's included in those supply problems.

[amg]

Yeah, I'd think that if Beam was just dropping age statements for the sake of dropping them, they would have dropped the age statement on Knob Creek as well.

[HighInTheMtns]

Yeah, I'd think that if Beam was just dropping age statements for the sake of dropping them, they would have dropped the age statement on Knob Creek as well.

Beam has stuck with age statements more than any of the rest of the Kentucky distillers.

[Quantum]

is that due to supply issues, or just business decisions. I take it as the latter, I mean......what is the point of having 80, 86, 100, and 114 proofs of the same profile? I'd have dropped the 86 as well, purely from a business perspective. And age statements in general are dropping, so I never took NAS BH as a sign of shortages, just a way to stretch a dollar. It'd be interesting though to know which way the truth leans.

It could be part of a business decision, but dropping age and proof is almost entirely due to some sort of supply issues. Dropping proof, or dropping a higher proof label is obvious. For age statements, there is really no reason to drop one unless you are facing some sort of supply limits. Beam does not have enough aged stock, or they would rather use it somewhere else. Either way, BH is losing its age statement because of supply issues.

[Josh]

They never had both an 80 & 86 proof to my knowledge. The 80 was a replacement for the 86. The explanation they gave was that they were having trouble supplying all the expressions so dropping the 86 to 80 was the least of the potential evils. BH is the same mashbill so it's included in those supply problems.

This is all from a phone conversation I had with a Beam representative, btw. It's not just speculation on my part.

[Conquistador]

Fred Minnick reports that we should expect both the red winter wheat, and the brown rice mashbill bourbons to be on shelves this Fall. Fred mentions this in passing, all the way down in the second-to-last paragraph of his post to the Whisky Advocate blog.

http://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky/2014/06/06/whiskey-shortages-not-at-beam-suntory/

[The Black Tot]

When asked about these at a recent Houston whiskey event, Fred Noe said something to the effect of (I got this second hand so can't make it a quote) "don't believe everything you read on the internet...these will come out, but they will likely trickle out over many, many years".

Not very helpful, perhaps. But it was apparently said.

tbt

[PaulO]

I've noticed one thing about Beam as a company. When they come out with a new brand, it seems to be well stocked and widely distributed. Maybe they have some sort of long term time line with these.

[squire]

Maybe they just filed for label approval to see what response they would get.

[Restaurant man]

I've noticed one thing about Beam as a company. When they come out with a new brand, it seems to be well stocked and widely distributed. Maybe they have some sort of long term time line with these.

Yeah. Fred's probably full of crap. Beam doesn't do anything "craft" style.

[Josh]

Yeah. Fred's probably full of crap. Beam doesn't do anything "craft" style.

It depends on what you mean by "craft". Using two different yeast strains of your own and distilling your bourbons to different proofs depending on the brand seems more craft than buying Red Star and distilling everything out to above the legal limit for bourbon like some of these "craft" makers do.

[Phil T]

Maybe they just filed for label approval to see what response they would get.

[Restaurant man]

It depends on what you mean by "craft". Using two different yeast strains of your own and distilling your bourbons to different proofs depending on the brand seems more craft than buying Red Star and distilling everything out to above the legal limit for bourbon like some of these "craft" makers do.

[OscarV]

It depends on what you mean by "craft". Using two different yeast strains of your own and distilling your bourbons to different proofs depending on the brand seems more craft than buying Red Star and distilling everything out to above the legal limit for bourbon like some of these "craft" makers do.

Hear hear!

Hear all ye good people, hear what this brilliant and eloquent speaker has to say!

Also Beam's flagship brand at 4 years old is at least 3 years older, if not older than the "craft" distilleries.

My favorite quote from a craft distiller,..."it comes off the still at such a high quality that it only needs one year of aging."