Review #130 Booker's 2021-01 Donohoes's Batch: Bourbon

Score: 9.1 / 10

Distillery: Jim Beam Distillery

Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Arguably by most to be the "Flagship" core product from Jim Beam comes yet another of their quarterly releases. I'm positive it's going to be good as I have never found a Booker's that I hesitated to buy.

The brand came to be because every year Booker would hand select barrels and give them away as Christmas gifts. Eventually this led to the bottles becoming allocated whisky and almost impossible to find in the stores at a reasonable price. Lol Jk that last part might have been thrown in because I'm salty about it!!

If only Booker's would have remained my little secret....

Whiskey Review:

Nose: So much creamy vanilla (very intense) with bold brown sugar and luscious caramel. Nice rye spice that blends into the background. Snickerdoodle cookie in a glass that is very inviting, but still let's you know it packs a punch. Light baking spice and bitters linger behind more salient flavors.

Palate: Viscous when it first hits the palate smothering it with raisin and plum notes. Cascading waves of creamy vanilla evolve into a peppery cherry spice that ramps up and fades out into citrus leaving nice black pepper notes on the back-end. Noticeably the mouthfeel stays consistent throughout maintaining its viscosity while a crackling effervescent ember dances between the whiskey and the palate.

Finish: Nice rye spice sticks to the pits of the mouth. The finish is moderately tannic and moderate in length. It yields notes of black pepper, rye, seared oak and a touch of smoke. After decent amount of time, spices die down leaving crave able raisin and cherry flavors.

Score: 9.1

Scale:

S+ Sensational - The Pinnacle (9.5+)

A - AXEceptional (astounding) (9-9.5)

B - bravo (step aBove average) (8-8.9)

C - competent (7-7.9)

D - disappointing (6-6.9)

F - flush it down the toilet (fail) (5.9 below)

Availability? Uncommon. Booker's in general is getting harder and harder to find. This is even after 4 releases per year! They never make the same batch, so you'll always need to be on your toes for this one.