Small Batch Bourbons...Oh So Good !

By using two different grain formulas (the regular Jim Beam formula and the 'high rye' Old Grand-Dad formula), different ages, different bottling proofs, and different filtering techniques, Jim Beam has come up with four distinctive small batch Bourbons: Basil Hayden is from the high-rye formula, bottled at a fairly standard alcoholic content of 40%. Knob Creek shares the high-rye formula, but is well-aged and then bottled at a higher proof -- 50%. Baker's uses the standard Jim Beam formula, but is aged for seven years and bottled at 53.5% Finally, there is Booker's Bourbon. Booker's Bourbon uses the standard Jim Beam formula and is aged for six-eight years, but what makes Booker's unique is that it is the only Bourbon on the market that is then bottled unfiltered and without any added water at whatever the barrel strength happens to be -- usually around 125° proof. It goes straight from the barrel into the bottle. As Booker himself puts it, "this is the way it was a hundred years ago, the way my grandfather, Jim Beam, made Bourbon before Prohibition. Back then they didn't go through all this chilling and filtering. So Booker's Bourbon is different, it's got more natural barrel flavor in it." I'll Drink to That! http://media.jimbeam.com/video/jimbeamheritagealt56k.wmv