Bookers The Lumberyard Batch 2022-02

Buy!

DISTILLERY	Jim Beam
REGION	Clermont, Kentucky
AGE	7 Years, 1 Month and 7 Days
STRENGTH	62.4 % ABV (124.8 Proof)
MASHBILL	77% corn, 13% rye, and 10% malted barley
MSRP	$89.99 (Secondary – $99 – $200)

---

GLANCE

Clean with rich dark amber color. Appears highly viscous with tall forming and short legs.

Makeup of Lumberyard

“2% came from the 4th floor of 7-story warehouse X
3% came from the 3rd floor of 7-story warehouse 5
3% came from the 4th floor of 9-story warehouse D
17% came from the 4th floor of 7-story warehouse Z
19% came from the 5th floor of 7-story warehouse Q
28% came from the 4th floor of 7-story warehouse 1
28% came from the 6th floor of 7-story warehouse Z”

NOSE

Pronounced intensity. Rich baking spice forward with sweet oak and grain. Amazing aromas of caramel, vanilla and brown sugar. There are notes of peanut butter and strawberry jam. As it it opens up got some caramelized peaches and stewed jam notes.

PALATE

Grain and sweet oak from the nose follow with that amazing mouthfeel I love (oily and buttery). Here three flavors dominated: caramel, vanilla and red fruit jam. Notes of baking spices such as clove, cinnamon and nutmeg come in the middle of the palate as the heat builds up a bit.

FINISH

Long with some complexity. You get that deep Kentucky hug with baking spices, vanilla, oak and notes of cherry + raisins.

CLOSING REMARKS

Overall – Is it worth the $100 that it usually pops up for? Simply no, when I get more complexity out of ECBP or Knob Creek Single barrels for longer age and at a lower price tag of ~60. Booker’s recent releases have been younger and all over the place in delivery of the flavors. On top of this, the price has rose over the years and as stated earlier the ROI on Booker’s has severely dropped or become a huge gamble. Tasting the full bodied and chewy Lumberyard batch, I feel has added some life back into Booker’s. With the mouthfeel, story and blending I don’t feel I completely lost out on the Lumberyard batch. Cheers!

From Fred Noe

“Label Inspiration

The second release of the Booker’s® Bourbon 2022 Collection is Booker’s Batch 2022-02 “The Lumberyard Batch”. This batch is named in honor of my dad, Booker Noe’s pre-distillery years. While his journey to becoming a distiller wasn’t exactly a straight path, it led him to his true passion.

After a short stint at the University of Kentucky, Booker hitch-hiked across America in hopes of joining the Air Force. After being accepted to the Air Force, the local police called his mom to verify his information to be cleared. When Booker’s Mom found out where he was, she convinced him to come home and work at the local lumberyard with uncle Jeremiah Beam, also known as Uncle Jere. Booker was over 6 feet tall and very strong at an early age. He never backed away from physical labor of any kind, which made him a natural fit for the job. Booker gave 110% during his time at the lumberyard, which eventually landed him his first role working at the distillery and from then on, the rest was history.

Since that first day, Booker held just about every job at the distillery and worked his way up to Master Distiller. Booker’s esteemed distilling career wasn’t given to him, he earned it. His experience at the lumberyard shaped the solid work ethic and curiosity he is known for. I am excited to share The Lumberyard Batch with you and hope you will be able to gather with family and friends to enjoy it.”

---

Going, going, gone!