Jim Beam Pre-Prohibition Style Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey, 70 cl

Product Information

Wow this is a weird rye. Cherry and vanilla upfront with some leather and a pop of rye spice. Delicately blended in are some notes of orange and cinnamon with hints of fruit, honey and potpourri. Bourbon whiskey distillers must follow government standards for production. By law ( 27CFR 5), any " straight" bourbon must be: produced in the United States; made of a grain mix of at least 51% corn; distilled at no higher than 160 proof (80% ABV); free of any additives (except water to reduce proof for aging and bottling); aged in new, charred oak barrels; entered into the aging barrels at no higher than 125 proof (62.5% ABV), aged for a minimum of 2 years, and bottled at no less than 80 proof (40% ABV). a b c "Alcohol History: Whiskey and other Liquor History" (Slide show). Beam Suntory. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017 . Retrieved August 5, 2017. Jim Beam has really captured rye in their bottle very well. I hadn’t tasted rye whisky before so you might be wondering how I know what rye is about. a b "Beam's History". jimbeam.com. Beam Suntory. Archived from the original on April 1, 2016 . Retrieved July 9, 2019.

From what I can tell the Jim Beam Pre-Prohibition Rye is just their regular Jim Beam Rye bottled at a higher proof and, like the Jim Beam Bonded, seems to just be a marketing ploy when it comes to the pre-pro labeling. The press release says that the recipe has been reformulated using “one of the Beam family’s oldest recipes”, but it never mentions what that reformulation means. Jim Beam will pay state for fish killed after fire". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Associated Press. September 10, 2003. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014.Verzoni, Angelo (March–April 2018). "Small Scale, High Proof". NFPA Journal. Vol.112, no.2. National Fire Protection Association. pp.44–49 . Retrieved July 9, 2019. I complain a lot on this blog about whisky marketing. I have a short fuse when it comes to whisky companies claiming authenticity when no effort has been made to actually produce something authentic. It’s not that I have some kind of pseudo-Millennial disdain for inauthenticity; if you’re making an industrial product and you are clear about that, I have no qualms. It’s when you take the same boring old mass-produced minimum-aged factory swill, raise the proof slightly, and release it as “Pre Prohibition Style” with lots of marketing verbiage about “rediscovering” old recipes and “reformulating” for “bygone” blah blah blah that I have a problem. This is just Beam straight rye (likely at 4 years and a day old) at 45% ABV. Maybe – MAYBE – if they had anything whatsoever to say about what their “oldest recipe” entails, or why it has anything to do with pre-Prohibition distillation, or really any information at all about why this is different from the 40% ABV version that this is replacing, I MIGHT have been a little less cynical.

Beam Global Spirits & Wine and The Edrington Group Launch International Sales and Distribution Alliance" (Press release). Business Wire. April 1, 2009 . Retrieved April 12, 2016.Palate: Syrupy body. Hot, with an unpleasant amount of burn for a 90 proof whiskey. Burnt caramel, caramel apple, unroasted coffee beans, and (at last) a swath of bakery spices. Now it tastes like a rye, although the youthful grassy notes are still evident. From the cooker, the mash heads to the fermenter where it is cooled to 60–70°F (16–21°C) and yeast is added again. The yeast is fed by the sugars in the mash, producing heat, carbon dioxide and alcohol. Called "distiller's beer" or "wash", the resulting liquid (after filtering to remove solids) looks, smells and tastes like (and essentially is) a form of beer. The wash is pumped into a column still where it is heated to over 200°F (93°C), causing the alcohol to turn to a vapor.

Biscuity raw grains, caramel, spice and vanilla make the bulk of the palate. Some light notes of wood, raw sugar and soda water add some complexity, but don’t really enhance the overall character and it ends up feeling a bit underwhelming. I think it’s the low rye mashbill because in the end it really just ends up tasting like a Jim Beam White with a touch more spice. Basil Hayden's: aged 6 to 8 years, 80 proof (40% ABV); uses the Old Grand-Dad "high-rye" mash bill. Riell, Howard (September 1998). "Spirit of America - More about Bourbon". Cheers. Beveragenet. Archived from the original on May 1, 2006.Prial, Frank J. (February 27, 2004). "F. Booker Noe II, 74, Master Bourbon Distiller". The New York Times . Retrieved July 9, 2019.