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BOTM, 11/06: Jim Beam


jeff
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The last couple of months have focused on the staples of a few of our fine KY distilleries (i.e. Maker's Mark and WT101.) With some input from esteemed forum members I thought it a good idea to continue this theme a bit further. This month we're going mainstream with the best-selling boourbon of all time:

Jim Beam While Label.

While this brand typically does not garner a connoisseur's praise, numbers don't lie, and at 5 million cases per year sold, it can't be all that bad. Some may not realize that Jim Beam white has two iterations: the standard 4yo and a longer-aged 7yo. Discussion this month will include both variations and I would like to encourage comparative tastings.

Use this opportunity to put aside pre-conceived notions and re-taste this classic bourbon with an open mind!

:893drillsergeant-thSound off:893drillsergeant-th

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Unfortunately I'm running out of Bourbon storage in my bunker. I cannot warrant purchasing Beam White just for this test. However, next time I'm in a bar I'll give it a go.

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Unfortunately I'm running out of Bourbon storage in my bunker. I cannot warrant purchasing Beam White just for this test. However, next time I'm in a bar I'll give it a go.

The beauty of Beam White is the fact that you can get it in smaller sizes. That way it won't sit around in your undersized bunker for long, yet you can still enjoy it in your usual setting allowing for evaluating it under your ideal circumstances.

I wonder if I can get the 7yo down here in the swamp?

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Good choice!

At last I have a valid excuse for buying a bottle. It was quite awhile ago.

At least here in Sweden, they come in 350 ml bottles, as well, which in cases like these, comes quite handy.

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At the risk of getting flamed, I will say JB white label is the worst whisk(e)y, I have ever tasted, including the dodgy caramel infested Scottish blends, we get in our supermarkets here. I find it undrinkable, with a weird boiled cabbage nose.

Until a couple of years ago, it was the only bourbon readily available in the UK and I believe it is responsible for a lot of Scotch drinkers 'fear of bourbon'.

What is more it cost around £15 a bottle - about $28.50.

What was that ? Yep $28.50 a bottle. Having said that I would not drink it if it was free.

It is the pockmark on bourbon's beautiful countenance.

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Since most of my taste buds are gone from all the hot sauce I have had over the years I am going to save what few taste buds I have left for the good stuff and pass on this months selection.

bj

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As Chuck would say, this is actually pretty good for what it is... an every-man's everywhere, anytime bourbon. Clearly far from the best but even further from the worst. Sort of the McDonalds of bourbon. Perhaps best used for mixing.

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With some Some may not realize that Jim Beam white has two iterations: the standard 4yo and a longer-aged 7yo.

:893drillsergeant-thSound off:893drillsergeant-th

[QUOTE][/QUOTE]

This is the first I have heard of this.

The only Jim Bean White Label that I am aware of has no age statement at all, so there fore that must be the 4 year old.

Is the 7 year old available nationally?

I must say that an extra 3 years in the wood would help it.

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Were we bad?

Did we misbehave?

Whatever we as a group did, please tell us so we correct it and not suffer through JB White!

It is a common well bourbon out here on the West Coast. Maybe with a mixer, but that is it.

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I'm not feeling the love here folks. Open-mindedness is the key. Sometimes to understand your pleasures, you must understand your what it is you dislike about something else. Breath in...breath out...

Follow my lead. I went out and bought a 1/2 pint of the 4yo this afternoon. Didn't cost much, but worth what it did for the sake of science. I get a lot of yeast on the nose with a sharper graininess and just a touch of leather. No real vanilla to speak of. It tastes young and just slightly harsh, but not terrible by any means. Seems stonger than its 80 proof would suggest. Green wood, leather and just a touch of turpentine. The finish is medium length with a little cinnamon at the end. I added a couple of ice cubes and most of the green/harsh tones fade away and just the slightest little bit of vanilla pokes through. Not a great bourbon, but I would drink it before scotch.

I'll pick up a bottle of the 7yo this weekend and compare the two.

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I drink a little Jim Beam White at least once or twice a week. It's far from being a great pour but I've definately had worse. It can be had on sale for $9.99 just about every month somewhere which is pretty hard to beat.

Maybe 10 years from now, after I put both my kids through school, I'll be able to afford paying two to three times the price per bottle for better tasting spirits.

After the first couple glasses of the better quality pours just about anything else will finish off the job if you know what I mean.

Chris

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I'm not feeling the love here folks. Open-mindedness is the key. Sometimes to understand your pleasures, you must understand your what it is you dislike about something else. Breath in...breath out...

:lol: I'm with ya, Jeff! Really.:iagreejeff: I'd intended to match my current 200ml remainder of JB White 4yo with some 7yo this very night and compare, then post -- but when I got to the local shop, the package purveyor had set aside for me today's delivery of Stagg and Eagle Rare:bowdown: . And that prompted me to call another area storeowner who sticks things back for me to see if he'd gotten the rest of the Antiques and, lo, I've spent the last 90 minutes on the road for Handy and Weller.:thankyousign:

Let's see: Antiques or JB White, JB White or Antiques?..:skep:

Um, Jeff -- maybe tomorrow. :drinking:

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Okay, I occasionally have to sit out and read others comments due to finances, unavailablity or just the unwillingness to open an expensive bottle. So darn it, I bought a bottle of Makers last month and I'm buying a bottle of Beam this month.

Goes out the door in a huff!

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Okay, back from the store. Gotta Bottle of Beam and a snifter in my hands. I'm not sure that's the correct type of glass, but we'll try it anyway....

Wow! That's bourbon.....?

Yup it distinctly has characteristics that I aquaint with bourbon. A little caramel, some wood, even a hint of a certain smokiness. Sure there's some off notes that remind me that it's quite a bit younger than even the whiskey I use to cook with and it's not the most beautiful packaging either. But hey, for the normal price (but not what I paid) it rises to the level of the expectations that any reasonable person should have.

I must admit though, when i went to go buy this bottle, I knew I wasn't gonna go the the store I normally buy whiskey at...I mean those people know me, and how would it look if they saw me buy Beam?!? And to make the purchase even more difficult, the place I normally go to to get a quick six-pack is having a few problems with its license! The hell I went though to get this bottle!

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I'm not feeling the love here folks. Open-mindedness is the key. Sometimes to understand your pleasures, you must understand your what it is you dislike about something else. Breath in...breath out...

I'll pick up a bottle of the 7yo this weekend and compare the two.

Got nothing but love for you baby! And I was by no means trying to rush you, just merely happy that November was here because I always vacation in Oregon during November and that means lots of good food, good friends and need I say, good whiskey!?!

Anyway my main question: Is the 7 year old limited distribution? Or have I just never paid attention to it? I'll search out a little and grab a bottle of each if I can find it today or tomorrow.... Even if it is a small bottle. :kiss:

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...Is the 7 year old limited distribution?..

I believe that is the case, from past discussions of it here. Perhaps not quite as limited as the Jack Daniel's green-label #7, for example, but not universal.

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Just to put in my two cents, and since I played some role in the Beam White being selected as BOTM, I think the BOTM should reflect a variety of generally available bourbons and ryes. Some of these should include moderately priced brands that may not be connoisseur or sleeper choices so people can give their opinion (if they wish) on its taste and other merits or lack thereof.

One of the things I hope to learn from this exercise is, is Beam White worth sampling occasionally, if so what is the best way to drink it (e.g. I learned from Jeff that the regular White Label tastes better iced than neat), and its price/value ratio. That is how I at least will approach it. Maybe this bourbon is the best out there for a whisky sour, maybe for some it is just fine taken neat, maybe the 7 year old version is a sleeper, and sure, probably some just don't enjoy it.

My review is coming shortly.

Gary

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I have poured enough of this stuff down my gullet in College to float a boat. We used to call it "mother's Milk" back then.

I find it to be a fair "well" bourbon best suited to a crowded smokey bar and a few bourbon and gingers are what you want to drink.

Not the worst but I wouldn't want to bring it as a gift for a host/hostest gift either.

Best enjoyed with friends at a Football game or in a Bar.

Looking forward to the next BOTM...:rolleyes:

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I haven't seen the white label 7-year-old outside of Kentucky. I'm not even sure what the point of it is.

Unless something has changed, the 4-year-old does have an age statement on the side, in fairly small type. It is, so far as I know, the only 4-year-old that actually declares its age.

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I don't have any JB white in the house right now, so instead of a tasting note I'd like to share a different kind of note, one I sent to the Jim Beam PR department on October 20. I have yet to get a reply. If anyone would like to pile on, be my guest. They put this stuff out there and I think they should be made to answer for it.

"In the current issue of the Jim Beam 'Brotherhood of Bourbon' newsletter, the following statement appears: 'Jim Beam is the only American whiskey that has been made the same way, following the same recipe, for 211 years.' Other forms of this claim appear in all current Jim Beam advertising.

"What is the support for this claim? What exactly did Jacob Beam do in 1795 that is still done the same way in making the Jim Beam bourbon of today, that no other American whiskey maker does?

"Where is this 'recipe' and how has it been authenticated?

"How can Jim Beam be 'the only American whiskey that has been made the same way … for 211 years' when Jim Beam Bourbon has been made for only about 70 years and 1795 was 69 years before Jim Beam was born?

"In other words, I’m asking for the official defense of the brand’s current ad claim. Thanks for your help."

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So how exactly does a false advertising law suit work? :rolleyes:

Seriously though Chuck, I am all with you on this one. I think it is a shame that they are allowed to get away with such blatant lying to the public...

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Good work Chuck, I will be very interested to see your reply....that is if you ever get one....

I think I will give this that pass also, they bring this over here and as if it isn't bad enough at 80 proof (sorry, just my opinion), they cut it down to 74 proof and that really doesnt do it for me. I think 2 out of those 4 years it is aged in the oil sumps of Ford Cortinas......

I don't hate Beam products, I just have a major dislike for this particular one......I would have their Green label any day of the week.

Scott

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Jim Beam White - Hmmmm

Well it has been about 15 years since I had a bourbon and ginger, maybe tonight I will cut loose.

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