Hannah’s Booker’s 2020-02 Boston Batch Review
Original review written January 14, 2020
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
Booker’s 2020-02 Boston Batch Review: Doesn’t taste at all like a Booker’s and while it’s decent, it seems overpriced and not what I personally love or look for in a Booker’s. 79/100
VITALS:
– Made In: Kentucky, USA
– Distiller: Jim Beam Distillery
– Classification: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey; Small Batch
– Age: 6 yrs. 3 mo. 10 days
– Mash Bill: Corn=77%; Rye=13%; Malted Barley=10%
– Casks: Char #4
– Barrel Entry Proof: 125
– ABV: 63.25% (126.5 proof)
– Price: $84.95 USD in Idaho
– From Master Distiller’s Notes: Boston Batch is made up of barrels that were aged in 4 different locations/warehouses (WH)… Breakdown is as follows:
33%: 5th floor of 9-story WH G
29%: 5th floor of 7-story WH Z
27%: 6th floor of 9 story WH H
11%: 3rd floor of 7 story WH 5
Find more information at bookersbourbon.com
ENJOYMENT METHOD:
I enjoyed the juice neat from a Glencairn with father and fellow Whiskey for the Ages reviewer, Brian.
Check out his review for this bourbon here!
SETTING:
Given the lack of complexity found in this pour, I think Boston Batch would be most enjoyable in or around an ice cream parlor or diner, where one can order a Boston shake to enjoy on a warm, summer day. The smells of the small restaurant can cloud the senses and fill you with pleasant, innocent happiness and make you feel a bit lighter in heart and in mind.
Photo by R. Mac Wheeler on Unsplash
NOSE:
Floral notes and vanilla come out of the glass first, with a very inoffensive alcohol burn. There is a dry, sweet spice here too, but it isn’t very distinct flavor-wise, rather acting as a binding scent for other flavors. There is a dark fruit here, but it is gentle, perhaps like figs or another stone fruit. I find a pastry element here also, something cake-like, but slightly overbaked – nevertheless sweet and tasty. There isn’t a distinguishable wood here either, which is surprising for a Booker’s. Overall, this bourbon’s nose is full of baking spices, albeit a far cry from any Booker’s nose I’ve ever experienced… still, of course, very inviting.
PALATE:
– Mouth Feel: Creamy with just the slightest tickle.
– Balance: Blends well but it’s not jaw-dropping.
– Visual: Carrot in color, there is a short-lived crown that turns quickly into clinging droplets.
– Taste: Carrying on from the nose, the palate of Boston Batch is unlike any other Booker’s I’ve ever tasted, even on its first sip. The alcohol is incredibly tame and barely burns while I decipher flavors – a true feat for a 126+ proof offering. While I may have been expecting baked goods, instead, I find almost an herbal quality to this profile, with grassy notes coming through in a soft, light way. There is a fruit that wants to come out underneath the grass, maybe the stone fruit from the nose, but it’s struggling to do so.
Age in a dusty, leathery way emerges the longer I let it linger on my tongue and maybe a sweet oak, but it’s minimal. This tastes fine, but admittedly, it tastes nothing like traditional Booker’s and never would I guess so in a blind tasting. (If anything, maybe an elevated Basil Hayden’s.)
A Kentucky chew wakes up the alcohol and a bit of pepper (undefined) that does burn, but no other flavors to be found.
FINISH:
– Lasting Power: Long: There’s warmth that settles everywhere, along with a bit of an aftertaste.
– Between Sips: There’s leather and dirt and even a subtle eucalyptus (like in a cough drop). It’s not necessarily unpleasant, but I’d rather it not stay on my palate too long.
– No More: Wood chips are becoming more apparent the more I get into the glass and the eucalyptus lingers strongly with it at the back of the palate.
The empty Glencairn is a sweet, warm oak that reminds me of the original nose, but still not at all of the taste. It’s disappointing, simply because if the pour itself drank as how this empty glass smells, it would have been phenomenal.
WORTH THE PRICE?
As a Booker’s product, I expect a great deal more from the line as a whole, and paying $85 for an elevated version of Basil Hayden’s (a bourbon I already think is overpriced as it is), I’m disappointed, and don’t think Boston Batch is worth this kind of money.
RATING: 79/100
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