Booker’s Pinkies Batch 2022-04

Booker’s last batch of 2022 fails to close with a banger for this whisk(e)y nerd

DISTILLERY	Jim Beam
REGION	Clermont, KY
AGE	6 years, 10 months, and 10 days
STRENGTH	61.2% ABV (122.4 Proof)
MASHBILL	77% Corn, 13% Rye, 10% Malted Barley
MSRP	$90

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GLANCE

Clear with dark gold + honey hue. Deep intensity

NOSE

Clean with pronounced intensity. Peanut shells, caramel, vanilla, oak, cinnamon, brown sugar and fresh pepper + leather. At times I got whiffs of caramel popcorn. Bold nose that balances spicy and smokey.

PALATE

Very excited by the nose, I dove eagerly into the taste. Warming texture with medium to pronounced flavor intensity with medium sweetness. I found it to be peanut butter forward as it opens up to the oak and brown sugar. There is this salty caramel in the middle of the palate. Salt & pepper chip like flavors as well. I get some slight smokiness with brown sugar and cinnamon coming in towards the end of the palate. I enjoyed the palate initially but then the whiskey has some punches of flavor in the middle but the intensity of flavors lessens and the complexity also decreases.

FINISH

Long overall and simple. Brown sugar and peanut butter

CLOSING REMARKS

I really wanted to love this batch. In the year of 2022 Booker’s has had a strong showing in my humble opinion. Hence, I was excited for the Pinkie’s Batch. Before we dive into the final remarks, some more information about this batch.

Breakdown of Booker’s Pinkie’s Batch

47% came from the 3rd floor of 7-story warehouse Z

36% came from the 4th floor of 7-story warehouse 1

11% came from the 4th floor of 7-story warehouse X

6% came from the 5th floor of 7-story warehouse Q

From Jim Beam

“The fourth release of the Booker’s® Bourbon 2022 Collection is Booker’s Batch 2022-04 “Pinkie’s Batch.” Frederick Booker Noe, better known as Pinkie to his family and friends, was my grandad. To this day I’m actually not sure where Pinkie got his nickname from, but one thing I do know is that he was someone who always followed his passions, just like I do with whiskey making.”

I enjoyed the the different angles the Booker’s batches were going this year. Felt like new flavors were being developed and it made the product more exciting. The Pinkie’s Batch was more of a return to the original form of Booker’s, and there is nothing inherently wrong with that. How that return to form ended up translating to the final product, I feel fell short of the mark. The nose and the initial palate delivered but the flavors weren’t able to grow on the palate as the whiskey travels over your tongue. The mouthfeel felt thin and lacked heft in the middle and end of the palate. The finish was also a letdown. It didn’t quite deliver the deep Kentucky hug and lacked complexity. Overall a good dram but don’t feel FOMO if you missed out. Cheers!

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