Brian’s Booker’s 2019-04 Beaten Biscuits Review:
reviewed on 20-February-2020
BOOKER’S 2019-04 BEATEN BISCUITS REVIEW:
Upon first nosing, a little alcohol is present and spicy oak, then a faint herbalness pairs with dark fruits. Spices of cinnamon, ginger, black pepper and rye, and sweets of brown sugar, buttery caramel and dark chocolate toffee are almost overwhelmed by the woody nature of this fine and earthy bourbon.
BOOKER’S 2019-04 BEATEN BISCUITS VITAL STATS:
– Region: Kentucky, USA
– Distiller: Jim Beam, Master Distiller Fred Noe
– Classification: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
– Small Batch: 2019-04 “Beaten Biscuits”
– Mash bill: 77% Corn, 13% Rye, 10% Malted Barley
– Casks: New Charred Oak
– Barrel Char: #4
– Barrel Entry Proof: 125
– Age: 6 Years, 6 months, 19 days
– ABV: 63.05% (126.1 Proof)
MASTER DISTILLER NOTES:
Booker’s Batch 2019-04 “Beaten Biscuits” was produced on a single date and stored in two warehouses in three locations. The breakdown of barrel storage is as follows:
▪ 47% came from the 6th floor of 9-story warehouse H
▪ 42% came from the 5th floor of 7-story warehouse P
▪ 11% came from the 4th floor of 7-story warehouse P
LABEL INSPIRATION:
The final release in the Booker’s Bourbon 2019 Collection is Booker’s Batch 2019-04, “Beaten Biscuits.” This batch is named after the small, cracker-like biscuits Booker Noe loved to make.
Dad learned to make beaten biscuits from his grandmother, and he spent years trying to perfect the recipe. These little biscuits required the air to be beaten out of them (which is how they got their name), and they had little holes in them to keep them from getting stale too fast. He’d camp out in the kitchen for hours, tinker with the recipe, leave it alone for a while and then come back for more. At the end of the day, the biscuits didn’t have much taste to them. But that’s why Dad liked them – they wouldn’t alter the flavor of the country ham or the bourbon he loved to enjoy with them.
— Fred Noe, Beam Family’s 7th Generation Master Distiller
Learn more at https://www.bookersbourbon.com/
ENJOYMENT METHOD:
For the evaluation, I shared the whiskey neat from Glencairn glasses with my daughter and fellow Whiskey for the Ages reviewer Hannah.
Check out her review for this bourbon here!
NOSE:
After pouring the dram and as I walk to my chair, brown sugar aromas waft from the Glencairn. Upon first nosing, little alcohol is present as seasoned, spicy oak comes first, then a faint herbalness of drying sweet corn pairs with dark fruits of plum, prune and fig. Spices of cinnamon, ginger, white pepper and rye couple nicely with the fruits to create a pleasant warming sensation. These aromas play well with a confection of well mixed light and powdered brown sugar, butter, milk and vanilla over gingerbread topped with a drizzle of woody caramel. Still, the aged and heavy old oak prevails, as the smoky-sweet barrel char blends into a petricor of leathery earthiness.
PALATE:
The first taste of Beaten Biscuits is all Booker’s, yet more subtle than other pours I’ve enjoyed. Yes there is the trademark Beam fruit-spice-sweet-nuttiness I’ve come to love, but as on the nose, woodiness reigns. The first sip bites with alcohol heat and has a grassy-herbal, dusty corn-grain, tobacco funk going on. Dark fruits of cherry and prune mix it up with spices of cinnamon, ginger, black pepper and rye, and sweets of brown sugar, buttery caramel and dark chocolate toffee. As noted on the nose, the dram is wood forward, with just a touch of toasted pecan and bitter walnut hiding in heavy old and seasoned oak and smoky sweet barrel char which for me, coax memories of old and earthy leather.
Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
In the mouth Booker’s 2019-04 Beaten Biscuits is oily and yet at the same time rough and gritty. This bourbon is well blended, but for my tastes just a bit skewed towards wood and spice over the fruit and sweet. Make no mistake, it is fine juice, but (again for me) not quite on par with 2019-03 Country Ham – even though rickhouse barrel sourcing is shared with its sibling. In the Glencairn, the juice curtains the glass after each sip then breaks in thin legs to racing their return to the terracotta colored pool.
FINISH:
Beaten Biscuits has a medium finish as the blended aromas and flavors fade fairly fast. The warming essence of light cinnamon and pepper give way to light vanilla and brown sugar as seasoned oak char and leather tickle in the throat. And in the empty Glencairn, an oak lumber mill with plenty of old planks escapes to entertain the olfactory senses.
MY RATING: 90/100
Will I seek out this whiskey in the future? Yes
Click to read Brian’s scoring process.
Click 90/100 to access other whiskeys with this score.
To access other whiskies from this brand, click Booker’s.
WHISKEY TRAITS AND FLAVOR NOTES AND PROFILE GRAPH:
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