Review #421 - Booker's 2024-03 'Master Distillers Batch'

The third batch of the year from Jim Beam's "Booker's" brand, this 2024 release has been named the 'Master Distillers Batch' to celebrate the head distillers at a variety of American distilleries in the 1980s and 1990s - distillers that changed the level of quality (and therefore demand) in the bourbon industry.

The batch is made up of barrels with different production dates, but they always give us the age of the youngest bourbon in the batch: 7 years, 8 months, and 7 days, in this case. As usual, Jim Beam gives us a handy breakdown of the components:

42% from the 6th floor of 7-story warehouse 3
37% from the 3rd floor of 9-story warehouse J
11% from the 6th floor of 7-story warehouse 1
10% from the 6th floor of 7-story warehouse Z

This batch sports a high strength: 65.15% ABV, or 130.3 proof. This makes some sense, as the majority of the batch came from the higher floors of the warehouses, where the temperature will be the most extreme, which generally leads to that intense increase in proof.

Booker's 2024-03 'Master Distillers Batch'

USA - Bourbon

Price Paid: USD 120 (2024)

Current Locally Available Price: USD 120 (2024)

Age Statement: 7 Years

Strength: 65.15% ABV

Details: Not chill filtered; batch 2024-03

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 1 month; bottles at 100%, 90%, and 80% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes

Nose: Quite nutty and dusty - dusty oak, a mix of sweet and dry scents. Decent intensity, and brown sugar, vanilla, and burnt sugar add baking smells; peanuts show that classic Beam character. With more air time, the oak grows stronger, and new notes arrive: leather, a hint of tobacco, some dark cola.

Palate: A thick mouthfeel, rich with brown sugar, molasses, and spicy oak. There's a little bit of smoky character and some tannins with that oak, but also vanilla and cinnamon. Peanuts come back from the nose, but are more mild; it's very decadent, with great viscous texture.

Finish: Cola and almonds start this finish, and the great viscosity lingers. There's a bit of pepper and some tannins still coming from the strong oak; overall, it becomes more drying with time. Hints of sweet corn grain, caramel, and cream soda linger in the aftertaste; it's a medium-long finish.

Final Note: This is a tasty batch of Booker's - solid flavors, which are generally on-profile for a Jim Beam product, and the strength gives this an excellent texture. We especially liked the addition of the cola and subtle cream soda notes that we found in this batch, as well as the leather and tobacco in the nose, showing some maturity.

Value here is alright. We paid a little over MSRP for this - it should be available in a lot of places for about $100 to $105. Even at $120, though, this is giving us good flavor and great strength; a solid batch of Booker's bourbon. Worth picking up a bottle for the right price.

Our Average Rating: 7.7 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 6.22

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.