750mL Bottle - ~$23
- Purchased at Chattanooga Wine & Spirits
Background
This review stems directly from me deciding to start looking for something in the way of a less expensive bourbon that wouldn’t taste “cheap.” I know there are some deals out there still, so I compiled a list of names to look for and the next time I headed into Chattanooga Wine and Spirits I looked for them…and found pretty much nothing. Not a single thing that was on my list. So my search for a sub-$20 whiskey that was drinkable (and enjoyable) came to a sudden and complete halt and I decided to still look for something new, different (to me) and compelling for $25 or less. That made my job a lot easier and I ended up with a bottle of Jim Beam Double Oak. I decided belatedly to make this the first in a series: Bourbon on a Budget. The budget for this premier installment is a little higher than normal.
The notion of barreling whiskey twice is not exactly a new one. I first heard of it with Prichard’s Double Barrel Bourbon several years ago; they aged whiskey for 6 years, then poured into brand new charred oak barrels for another 6 years. They made a spinoff where they added cocoa beans to the second barrel to make “Double Chocolate Bourbon,” and it was wonderful, but at $80+ a bottle it didn’t make it to my house more than once. I’ve heard several people wax eloquent about Woodford Reserve’s Double-Oaked Bourbon, but at $50 to $70 a bottle (yes, I’ve seen the listed price at that wide a range), the price immediately made it inaccessible.
The theory of double-barreling a whiskey is that after a certain amount of time the wood has given as much flavor as it can to the whiskey and you’ll get a “recharging” of that if you put the whiskey in new barrels. Because of the extra aging and doubling the price of the aging barrels themselves, this process tends to add a lot to the price of a bottle of whiskey. That makes it doubly surprising to find this Jim Beam version for less than $25.
Jim Beam Double Oak starts with original Jim Beam and ages it normally for 4 years in new white oak charred barrels. It is then removed from those barrels and put into fresh barrels to “mature a second time” until the taste profile is “right” and then they bottle it at 86 proof (43% ABV). Original Jim Beam uses a mash bill of 76% corn, 12% rye and 10% malted barley; this same mash bill is used for everything from white label Beam to Knob Creek to Bakers and Bookers. The only thing that separates them is, in general, time spent in barrels, as well as a selection process of specific barrels for some products.
Notes
I probably should have started by just buying bottles of Jim Beam White and Black. That way I could taste what the original product and the “extra aged” version taste like before delving into this Double Oak expression.
The color of the whiskey in the bottle was a very dark amber color. The only thing I could remember seeing this dark was J.W. Kelly Bourbon…and I had a bottle of that on-hand so I put them up next to each other. Sure enough, they are virtually the same dark amber shade. Beam Double Oak might be a hair darker, but there’s a lot of dark labeling on the bottle that tends to make it look darker than it really is. Without cracking open the bottle of JWK (which I don’t want to do…it’s an unopened bottle of Batch #001 and I’m trying to save it), I’m going to just call it a tie on color.
I poured the whiskey into a snifter and swirled it around a bit. It had long, then legs that dripped down the sides pretty quickly. Do an experiment the next time you pour some whiskey…hold the glass at varying distances from your nose while smelling it. Holding this by my chin gave me a faint vanilla and oak aroma. Aligning the glass with my bottom lip made the aroma have more honey and a stronger vanilla, while the oak almost disappeared. Putting my nose deep into the glass gave me caramel with a strong alcohol vapor burn.
Taking a sip, I found the Jim Beam Double Oak to be very oaky right from the start. Notes of vanilla and caramel came through a little later and more muted, with some spiciness on the finish.
For a cigar pairing, I opted for a Romeo 505 Nicaragua, on the theory that I’ve often espoused: Virtually any cigar will pair at least decently with any bourbon. This cigar is made from all Nicaraguan tobaccos in the Plasencia factory. I reviewed it about a year ago. It is a good medium-bodied cigar with plenty of earth and coffee bean in the profile.
Taking a sip of the Beam Double Oak after a puff brought out more sweetness with the mix and also enhanced the peppery spice of the cigar. I’m just going to say this: if you aren’t getting “sweetness” from a Bourbon, your taster may be broken…either that or you’re doing something wrong. Bourbon is inherently sweet due to the high corn content in the mash bill. I’m talking to you, Manny. Don’t bother replying…just go back to your fruity, umbrella-laden rum drink and keep denying the basic fact that Bourbon IS sweet.
My final word on the Jim Beam Double Oak…this is a good Bourbon. It doesn’t rise to the level of “great” and I’m certain it isn’t as good as Woodford Reserve Double Oak. I’m also certain that Woodford costs up to 3 times the price of this…and I’m not at all certain that it is 3 times better. Bourbon on a budget? This is a good choice.
For next time I’ve found one of the “cheap” Bourbons on my list, so the “budget” part of this series will be back on track.
