Booker's

[MurphyDawg]

i was under the impression that bookers was small batch, not single barrel. . . .

TomC

[cornsqueezins]

Bookers neat is a little too explosive for me too Dave! Though I need to go back and try it again straight as you're planning to do.

My first and only bottle of Bookers has been sitting on the shelf untouched for a while. I'm trying to drink it sparingly since it costs an arm and a leg in these parts.

I'm a "neat" freak but I found Bookers high proof too domineering. I enjoy it with a little water or over ice. About the only other whiskey I've enjoyed on ice is Wild Turkey Rye. Nothing else I've tried at this point seems to stand up in ice very well.

I wasn't aware that Booker Noe suggests drinking it neat. I thought he enjoyed the Kentucky Tea concoction of one shot of Bookers with a glass of good spring water. I've given Kentucky Tea a try but didn't find it very appealing.

-Troy

[kitzg]

Booker drinks Bookers mixed with water -- about 40 to 50% water in the glass, or so he told me once. I prefer it over ice and to let the ice melt a bit.

[bluesbassdad]

I may have misinterpreted Booker's comment.

I think it's in Chuck's video, "Made and Bottled in Kentucky", that Booker makes a comment along the lines of, "... straight from the barrel, the way bourbon is supposed to taste...".

I may have drawn an unwarranted conclusion from his comment.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[kitzg]

Chuck -- I think your line about Booker's is great copy. "the only bourbon bottled straight-from-the-barrel -- uncut and unfiltered." -- It may be confusing to the naive (many bourbon drinkers) since they likely think all bourbon is just dumped from the barrel and bottled. But that's their problem.

[cowdery]

Booker's is barrel- proof, which many people mistakenly interpret as single barrel.

[cowdery]

The way Booker tells of the origins of the Booker's brand is pretty credible. When he was master distiller, he could pretty much take his personal supply however he chose. He said he tended to look for barrels that were 6 to 8 years old. He would tap the barrel, fill a bottle, and drink it as it was. In his case it was "single barrel," but otherwise that's what the Booker's brand became.

When I did the interview with Booker we drank from his personal stash, not from a commercially produced bottle of Booker's. In fact, it was in a Jim Beam 1.75 liter bottle.

[bobbyc]

As with the Jim Beam Website that Chuck spoke of there also is the Kentucky Bourbon Circle which is a website dedicated to the Small Batch Beam Bourbon's . Booker has his Home page here. I just checked the Jim Beam site and didn't see it there. There are little snipets of Booker speaking called " Bookerism's" One on fishing , one on how much to pour and Booker's guarantee for his Bourbon. Buy with confidence because each and every bottle of Booker's is Guaranteed! I guess Booker still takes care of this , maybe Freddy will later . It wouldn't be a bad job. I had to also duck down to the cellar and check something. Booker's has a batch number on the bottle rather than the customary barrel number one would expect to see on a Single Barrel Bourbon. The batch number didn't appear to be too cryptic but I didn't try to ascertian anything from it.

Kentucky Bourbon Circle

[CL]

I remember Booker Noe suggesting you add a splash of branch water to Booker's. I read this in some past issue of the Kentucky Bourbon Circle newsletter.

Peronally, I like to let Booker's sit in ice a few minutes to let the ice dilute the proof a little.