Considering the volume of Jim Beam produced and the price for which it sells (an everyday price here in Chicago is $8.99 for a 750 ml), the most notable fact about Jim Beam is that it tastes as good as it does. This is definitely a young bourbon--at best four years and a day--but it is not offensive, as young whiskeys so often are. The harshness and edge, that burning sensation as it goes down, that so often characterize young whiskey, is not apparent in Jim Beam.
I don’t know how they do it, but that could be their greatest accomplishment. I suspect it doesn’t taste much different straight from the still.
Because Jim Beam White is so young, very little wood is evident in its flavor. Instead, it shows its vegetable roots and a foxy, almost funky, quality from its wild yeast strain. This gives Jim Beam White a unique flavor not apparent in other Beam products. The color is a nice, balanced amber, more red than orange. The nose is slightly perfumy. The mouth feel, combined with the strong vegetable taste, recalls Karo syrup, another product that exploits the sweetness of corn. At 80 proof, it is mild enough to drink neat.
The next time you are in a bar and Jim Beam is your only choice, don’t smother it with ice. Order it neat and give it a try. It won’t change your life but it just might earn your respect.
Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 80 proof (40% alc./vol.). ($8.99/750 ml at Jewel-Osco in Chicago.)
Copyright © 2000, Charles Kendrick Cowdery, All Rights Reserved.
From The Bourbon Country Reader, Vol. 5, No. 1. May, 2000.