Jim Beam Double Oaked???

[GeeTen]

JBDO ($25.99) just hit the shelves - anybody tried this yet?  This is touted to be JBW aged in a charred American white oak barrel and then poured into a freshly charred barrel to age a second time (a la MM46, kinda').  Inquiring minds (and palates) want to know.  TIA for your responses.    

[Hop]

Tried it at the Sampler last week and wasn't impressed, my initial reaction was it was very weak, however I had just had 4RSB so that probably caused the lower proof of the JB to seem weak.  I had bought a bottle earlier that day ($21) so I still need to open it and try again as the first pour of the night

[BDanner]

I am not a fan of Beam White in the least but...I'm on my second bottle of Double Oak since it was released earlier this month. I was surprised by this. The nose is great, the palate is definitely oak forward but with an wonderful vanilla and brown sugar lurking in the background., but add a a splash or a cube and they come right to the front. A drying vanilla mint finish that coats and lingers. This was especially good when I was in the mood for a bourbon chilled with a large cube. It's a great warm weather sipper. It's also the same price as the Black Label Extra Aged, but a better pour  IMHO. 

[smokinjoe]

I've been working on a bottle for the past week or so, and find it to be a solid effort for its age and price point.  It certainly has more wood influence than standard White Label, and coupled with a bit higher proof, it offers more depth and complexity.  Not a boomer in any area, but a nice cinnamon note, that does not seem artificially contrived.  Where I find it better than the Beam Extra Aged is its lack of sootiness.  The 8yr/Double/Extra Aged mostly struck me as charry/sooty.  This one does not.  

All in all, it's not a game changer nor anything close to that, but it's a solid whiskey.  No dissonance here with my purchase, and I would spring for a second when this bottle is done.

[Paddy]

Put me firmly in the favorable group that have already covered it above thread. 

 

I was gifted a bottle when it was introduced and it made the grade with my, party of three, tasting team!  

 

Very similar to the WRDO @ less than half the price... what have you got to lose?!

[flahute]

Dammit! Joe and Paddy are saying it's good. Now I have to go buy one.

[camduncan]

Another in favor of.  This one's a decent pour for the price... better than Devil's Cut and probably also better than our Beam Black IMO.  Am enjoying the heck out of the sweet notes on the finish - right on the mark for my sweeter style preferences.

[GeeTen]

7 hours ago, flahute said:

Dammit! Joe and Paddy are saying it's good. Now I have to go buy one.

 

Yeah, what he said!  Thanks, all, for your comments.  Looks like I'll have to try a wee dram for meself.    

Edited September 22, 2016 by GeeTen
Spelling errors

[ThirstyinOhio]

I tried it at Jim Beam while doing a tour a week ago with a buddy who is just getting into Bourbon.  I was not impressed and had wrote it off, but with this many good reviews I'll have to revisit.

[Flyfish]

On 9/23/2016 at 9:26 AM, ThirstyinOhio said:

I tried it at Jim Beam while doing a tour a week ago with a buddy who is just getting into Bourbon.  I was not impressed and had wrote it off, but with this many good reviews I'll have to revisit.

Considering the eensie-f..ing-teensie, computer controlled samples they give you at the Beam Visitor Center, you may not have had nearly enough to reach a well considered conclusion. In my experience, it takes at least a half bottle. Distillery tour samples can only give you the vague impression that you might, maybe, possibly be willing to buy a bottle.

[PaulO]

Sort of like the new Coke debaucle back in the 1980s?  People may like a small sample, but not a big one and vice versa. 

[mosugoji64]

Don't know what it was that we tried but last time we were at Beam they were sampling a mystery whiskey and asking for feedback. Everyone in our group thought it was very bland based on the small sample. Hope it wasn't Double Oak as this one sounds good to me. 

[Ravensfire]

Interesting that with all the stuff we hear from various smaller distillers about how hard it is to find barrels, here's Jim Beam basically using two barrels for a low to mid shelf bourbon.  You've got to think that some of the smaller places see this and just think about the barrels they might have had.

[PaulO]

There's the Woodford D.O. too.  It makes me think the market must be strong for gently used barrels.  Scotch or Tequila distillers use a lot of them.

[Prof_Stack]

I picked up a bottle of this new juice at Total Wine today here in Seattle, a little less than $30 with the two layers of tax this state slaps on the product.  

 

After letting it sit for 10 or so minutes, I took about 75 minutes to slow-sip 50g.  It is a pleasant drink, with nice oak character and a soft warmness on the tongue.  It seems much better than "normal" Beam bourbon, and I'm curious how it will taste as the bottle slowly gets consumed over the next month or two.

[Paddy]

Although it's a new release, it's worth noting that I saw the best price (so far) for this today.  $21.99, with the BIB coming in right under it at $20.99.  I've seen the BIB cheaper than this, but it's been around longer and, IMO,  a new release double oak at $21.99 is a great price.  Another plus is that it seems to be plentiful (at least around here). 

 

Come to think of it, I don't find any empty shelf spaces where Beam products should be as every store I'm in has shelves, end caps, and barrel heads full of product.  In a time where other brands have empty shelf gaps, rolling blackouts and/or limits of 1 (when stock is available). 

 

None of us are going to say "thanks Beam, for dropping the age statement on KC", but I've still gotta give them a major shout out for their continued efforts to bring new products to the market, while keeping the valve on the supply pipeline fully open! 

[Gentleman Racer]

14 hours ago, Paddy said:

I've still gotta give them (Beam) a major shout out for their continued efforts to bring new products to the market, while keeping the valve on the supply pipeline fully open! 

 

Absolutely.  This is partly why I gave Beam the nod as my favorite distiller on another thread.  I'm done chasing the unobtainables.  As long as I can walk into virtually any store and get OGD BiB, KCSB, and Bookers, I'm one happy enthusiast.  I'm looking forward to trying this Double Oaked.  If it rounds out the portfolio, all the better.  

[Queball]

20 hours ago, Prof_Stack said:

I picked up a bottle of this new juice at Total Wine today here in Seattle, a little less than $30 with the two layers of tax this state slaps on the product.  

 

After letting it sit for 10 or so minutes, I took about 75 minutes to slow-sip 50g.  It is a pleasant drink, with nice oak character and a soft warmness on the tongue.  It seems much better than "normal" Beam bourbon, and I'm curious how it will taste as the bottle slowly gets consumed over the next month or two.

 

 

 

If you ever get down to Portland, a couple of stores have it -- OLCC's price, $22.95 (no tax.)

[Prof_Stack]

25 minutes ago, Queball said:

 

 

 

If you ever get down to Portland, a couple of stores have it -- OLCC's price, $22.95 (no tax.)

Thank you for the tip.  

[OldDrinker1978]

Count me in in the "I really like this stuff" camp! suprisingly excellent and a nice change to my usual everyday allrounder EWBIB. Heaps of vanilla on the JBDO with a pretty short albeit enjyoyable cinammon and caramel sauce finish. Nothing extraordinary but damn tasty!

[Hop]

On 9/21/2016 at 8:41 AM, Hop said:

Tried it at the Sampler last week and wasn't impressed, my initial reaction was it was very weak, however I had just had 4RSB so that probably caused the lower proof of the JB to seem weak.  I had bought a bottle earlier that day ($21) so I still need to open it and try again as the first pour of the night

Got around to opening the bottle this afternoon and again the first sip didn't knock me out but it did grow on me as I continued through the pour - has the Beam "funk" but there are several other lower end pours at higher proof and less money that I like better such as HH6BIB, OE7101

[BDanner]

17 hours ago, Hop said:

Got around to opening the bottle this afternoon and again the first sip didn't knock me out but it did grow on me as I continued through the pour - has the Beam "funk" but there are several other lower end pours at higher proof and less money that I like better such as HH6BIB, OE7101

I agree that there are several pours I like more for the same or less money. I consider this one a "Change of Pace" pour. Just a tick out of the ordinary. 

[jp_stargazer]

I wanted to buy a bottle of this to try when I heard the announcement about it.  I just saw that a local store is running a sale on it for October, $16.99.  I will have to get one at that price.

 

The wider, shallower bottle is also what JB BIB comes in now too.  I wonder if the White label and XA will also get this bottle.  My thought is to a.) renew interest in the brand with the change and b.) to differentiate between JD and all the copy-cat square bottles.  I remember on the Jack Daniel's tour, the guide said something along the lines of, "Mr. Daniel always said the bottle was square because his whiskey was a 'square deal' or a great value.  Some people in Tennessee might tell you it is square so it doesn't roll under the driver's seat."

 

Jason

[jp_stargazer]

On 10/5/2016 at 11:49 AM, jp_stargazer said:

The wider, shallower bottle is also what JB BIB comes in now too.  I wonder if the White label and XA will also get this bottle.

 

I saw the XA in the new bottle yesterday, so it looks like the Jim Beam variants XA, DO, and BIB will all be this bottle.  I thought the Choice (green label) was being discontinued, so that likely won't get the update.  I wonder if White will stay as it is now so it fits with everything else in the rail behind the bar.

 

Jason

[BDanner]

19 hours ago, jp_stargazer said:

 

I saw the XA in the new bottle yesterday, so it looks like the Jim Beam variants XA, DO, and BIB will all be this bottle.  I thought the Choice (green label) was being discontinued, so that likely won't get the update.  I wonder if White will stay as it is now so it fits with everything else in the rail behind the bar.

 

Jason

Add Devils Cut to that as well. I've seen the new Beam White bottle and it is different. But if my memory serves, it changed but still kept a similar shape to the old bottle.