Editor’s Note: This whiskey was provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. This in no way, per our editorial policies, influenced the final outcome of this review. It should also be noted that by clicking the buy link in this review our site receives a small referral payment which helps to support, but not influence, our editorial and other costs.
Booker’s Bourbon was created with a true American spirit (pun intended): makin’ some private moonshine for your family and friends. The story goes that, following a 200-year-old family tradition, master distiller Booker Noe crafted a special bourbon by blending barrels from the center of their rickhouses and bottled it for his close friends and family as a Christmas gift.
I’m 99% sure, with no actual evidence, that at one of these Christmas parties, someone told Mr. Noe, “You should sell this stuff!” In 1988, the first Booker’s Bourbon batch was released to the public, and the rest of course is history.
American Bourbon is truly a fascinating product. From a relatively strict number of requirements, the variation between different brands, or even releases within one brand, have a huge range of flavors. Traditional Scotch whisky gets much of its flavor from the type of wood barrel the spirit is aged in, and for how long. Scotch whisky is also regularly aged for over 12 years.
On the other hand, bourbon is aged for a much shorter period, with many distillers remarking that the best bourbons are between six to 12 years. Scotch is also frequently put in barrels of different kinds of wood, which has often already held something, like sherry or bourbon. Bourbon is always initially aged in the same type of cask: new American oak.
Fortunately, bourbon distillers have a host of other methods to alter the flavor of their whiskey. Some of them are obvious, such as changing up the mash bill, and some are more subtle, such as where a bourbon barrel is being aged in a rickhouse. Most bourbon is put in huge warehouses, called rickhouses or rackhouses. Because these houses are in Kentucky, there is a huge temperature variation throughout the day, which in turn heats and cools the barrels, squeezing the distillate in and out of the pores of the wood.
The catch is that the more temperature variation, the quicker the bourbon ages. Bourbon held at the top of a rickhouse ages the quickest and barrels at the bottom age more slowly. Noe, in creating the Booker’s Bourbon line, used barrels from the “center cut”, or the barrels from the central area of the rackhouse where the temperature, humidity, and sunlight are more stable. Other brands, such as Russell’s Reserve, use this area for their premium products.
Booker’s Bourbon Batch 2023-02 “Apprentice Batch” comes in at 125.5 proof, very hot, and is a blend of a minimum of six different barrels, with the youngest having an age of 7 years, 1 month, and two days old. Booker’s helpfully posts the entire mixing profile on their website. The bourbon is also unfiltered and uncut, meaning that it is spirit taken straight from the barrel, with the exception of some straining to get out any chunks of wood.
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Having been able to appreciate other Booker’s Bourbon, I’m always impressed by the variety of flavors they capture which are different than the past expressions. If I could give a nickname to this batch, it would be “caramel surprise” as it is very sweet, like a dessert, but has a finish that gets hotter and hotter the longer you keep it on the tongue. Surprise!
Tasting Notes: Booker’s Bourbon Batch 2023-02 “Apprentice Batch”
Vital Stats: A blend of bourbons, a minimum of 7 years, 1 month, and two-days-old. 125.5 proof (62.75% ABV). $89.99/750ml.
Appearance: Amber with brown and orange highlights.
Nose: Anise and cooked wheat linger while cedar finds its way out after a few drops of water. Walnuts and tobacco can also be found with a hint of lemon rind.
Palate: Candied pistachios and vanilla roll over a rich cinnamon and mixed fruit marmalade backbone. Strong sawdust wood notes, without being overtly oaky, permeate the palate. The whiskey gets hotter and hotter, with the finish a fireball of caramel and dried fruit, strawberries and currants.
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