Review #16: Booker’s 2017-03 “Front Porch Batch”: Bourbon

Score: 8.8 / 10

Distillery: James B.Beam

Type: Kentucky Straight

My Grand-daddy, Booker Noe...... just kidding with a little podcast joke. Don't be on the outsides of these jokes. Check out episode 3 of our Booker's Showdown on our whiskey podcast Po It Up here to be on the insides of all of our jokes. Joking aside, there is no joking about this bourbon. it's the real deal. One of the best whiskey brands. I've always loved the fact that the price on these bottles tends to increase without being a super rare allocated whiskey. To me,that just means it's damn good. It's high proof, but very dynamic.

You may want to add ice to this one, but I would recommend trying it both ways. Anyway you like your Booker's is the correct way. You just gotta move fast. Every quarter a new Bookers is released, also with the addition of the occasional limited edition releases adding to the mix. So if you want to catch them all, you need to stay on your game.

Whiskey Review:

62.95% ABV (125.9 proof) – Aged 6 years 5 months and 25 days – served neat in a Glencairn glass

Nose: almost an addictive smell that tickles my nose, but I keep going back for more to dig deeper and find more notes. Wound up laughing and almost sneezing a few times while smelling this whiskey. Cane sugar, intense vanilla, big ethanol, spice and salted peanut. Brown sugar and toasted oak hide in the background with very hard to find wheat note.

Palate: very slick and oily, thoroughly coating, huge burst of juiciness that gradually transforms into crème brulee, toasted sugar, cinnamon and oatmeal. Touch of orange and lemon rind.

Finish: very tannic and almost instantly dries out cheeks and lips, but leaves a slick oil on the tongue. Lemon and citrus on the center of the tongue, but cinnamon, oak and caramel surround the rest of the mouth and loiter.

Score 8.8

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)

Notes: Availability? Uncommon. Not every place carries Bookers, but the ones that do can be go to shops for most varieties as long as they are fairly current.

I’m a huge fan of Booker’s and this is definitely a delicious bottle. One of my local stores somehow gets old Booker’s releases on occasion so I was fortunate enough to snag this one when it popped up. Just about a year about I had to move and saw a 2016-04, but had to put money towards the move so I didn’t pick it up – still haunts me to this day. These will likely become hard to come by as Booker’s continues to launch their quarterly releases. If you find one, buy it, you won’t regret it.