Jimmy Beam

My first stop on the bourbon trail in scenic Kentucky was Jim Beam. Jim Beam carries a line of small batch bourbons including one of my favourites, Knob Creek.

A few facts first. Bourbon is a native American spirit which is produced mostly in one region of Kentucky. Bourbon is a form of whiskey (or whisky if you’re Scottish) that is made from at least 51% corn. Another criteria is that it is made from new single-use charred oak barrels. Jack Daniels qualifies as bourbon. So why is it not called bourbon? According to Jimmy Bedford, master distiller at the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, “we like to say that it’s more than bourbon.” Sounds like territorial pissings to me. Of all the sour mash whiskeys that qualify as bourbons, in my opinion, Jack Daniel’s is the poorest. Even their premium spirit, single barrel, is not exceptional. Woodford Reserve, which is the only triple distilled bourbon is my favourite. What Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, and especially Jack Daniel’s excel at is marketing. Nobody knows marketing like the Americans.

I'm still trying to figure out why they painted a horse blue and made its legs filled with a sea of bourbon. Maybe those warehouses are actually crystal meth labs in disguise?

Where was I? Jim Beam has 27 warehouses on property with 51 in total. The black moss on the outside is from the yeast. Each warehouse holds 20,000 barrels and the joy juice is aged a minimum of four years in these new charred oak barrels. Each barrel holds 53 gallons and Jimmy Beam stores over one million barrels making it the “best selling bourbon in the world.” Bourbon I’m finding is a competitive business so the marketing of it is very important. Yes they all do taste a little different but they are still not Scotch. But that’s another story.