Jim Beam®

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Written by Brian Donnelly, CSS, WSET III

Parent Company: Beam Suntory, Chicago Illinois

Distillery Location: Clermont, Kentucky (568 Happy Hollow Rd, Clermont, KY 40110)

Established: 1795

Master Distiller: Frederick Booker Noe (7th Generation Master Distiller at Jim Beam)

Fun Fact

The proprietary yeast strain at Jim Beam is a unique and essential ingredient in the bourbon’s recipe. Jim Beam was famous for taking a portion of the yeast culture home every weekend in a sealed jar, strapped into the passenger seat of his black Cadillac, just in case anything were to happen to the distillery.

History

Jacob Beam (1760 - 1834)

Jacob Beam, the great-grandfather of Jim Beam, was born in 1760, and at the age of 28, left his family’s farm in Maryland in search of a better life. He, along with many other farmers from the Allegheny area, followed a trail through the Cumberland Gap, a crucial passageway through the Appalachian Mountains, near the modern state borders of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. Jacob Beam settled in the bluegrass hills of Kentucky, shortly before Kentucky joined the Union in 1782, becoming the 15th state. Kentucky was the perfect area to grow corn because of the fertile soil, warm winters, and natural spring water. He was a miller by trade and soon built a water-driven mill to grind the extra corn from his holdings and his neighbor, in exchange for a share of their crop. Beam, along with many other farms at the time, knew that the best thing to do with surplus corn was to make it into whiskey. Surplus corn was challenging to store at the time and was prone to mildew. Whiskey, on the other hand, would keep for a long time, was easy to transport, and served as a useful currency. Beam had brought a copper still with him from Maryland, and soon he made a corn-based whiskey with the surplus grain. In 1795, he officially sold his first batch of whiskey. Jacob Beam continues distilling on land his wife Mary had inherited from her father in Washington County, Kentucky.

David Beam (1802 - 1854) & David M. Beam (1833 - 1913)

Jacob passed on the skill and tradition of distilling bourbon whiskey to one of his son's David in 1820. David Beam followed in his father’s footsteps and continued distilling his father’s secret Bourbon recipe. In 1850, David M. Beam took over the distilling operation from his father, David Sr. After his father died in 1854, David M. moved the distillery to Nelson County, Kentucky, which would put him closer to the state’s first railroad. He called his new home the Clear Spring Distillery, after the clear, spring water found in a nearby river.

Jim Beam (1864 - 1947)

The legendary James “Jim” Beauregard Beam was the son of David M. Beam, and he learned the whiskey-making business at the age of 16. He officially took over the family’s operation in 1894, at the age of 30, and would continue to make bourbon well until he was forced to shut down in 1919 due to Prohibition. During Prohibition (1920-1933), Beam sold all his liquor holdings and moved to Florida. He tried his hand at a variety of things to make ends meet, including growing citrus, coal mining, and running a limestone quarry. After the repeal of Prohibition, the 70-year-old Jim Beam returned to his native Kentucky and rebuilt the distillery in just 120 days. On August 14, 1934, he incorporated the James B. Beam Distilling Company in Clermont, where the distillery still operates.

T. Jeremiah Beam (1899 - 1977)

In keeping with family tradition, Jim Beam's son T. Jeremiah Beam learned the art of distilling Bourbon with the family’s secret recipe. In 1946, he became the President and Treasurer of the James B. Beam Distilling Company. The following year, Jim Beam passed away at the age of 83. During the 1950s, under Jeremiah’s tenure, the Beam Company brought back the individual commemorative ceramic bottles, from the Civil Ware era, and they soon became a collector’s item. An extensive collection of these ceramic bottles can be viewed at the distillery today during a public tour. Jeremiah even saw his beloved bourbon become legally recognized by the United States Congress as “America’s Native Spirit” in 1964.

Booker Noe (1929 - 2004)

Unfortunately, for Jeremiah’s family legacy, he did not have children to pass along his knowledge and skill at the family business. Still, he did recognize that his sister’s son, F. Booker Noe, Jr, had the passion and talent necessary for crafting bourbon. When Booker Noe was 21 years old, Jeremiah brought him into the distillery taught him everything that he knew. It was essential to Jeremiah that the young Noe understand the pride and tradition that had been passed down through five generations.

Fred Noe (1957- Present)

During Booker Noe’s forty-year long career at the distillery, he left a long legacy, including a massive increase in production capacity, and the crafting of a new like of Bourbons. He would later call the “Small Batch Collection.” This collection included his signature Bourbon in 1987, Booker’s, which was straight from the barrel, uncut, and unfiltered. Booker Noe passed away in 2004, and his son Fred Noe took responsibility for the family’s distillery and became the global brand ambassador for the Beam Bourbon portfolio.

Production

The Jim Beam Distillery uses the same tradition Bourbon mash bill (corn, rye, & malted barley), for all their Bourbons. The exact percentages of each grain in the mash bill is not publicly disclosed by the company. Jim Beam Bourbon comes off the still at 135 proof (67.5% ABV), and has a barrel entry proof of 125 (62.5% ABV).

Jim Beam White

Matured a minimum of 4 years in new charred white American oak barrels. The rack houses at the Jim Beam Distillery in Clermont are all nine stories tall, and an extensive collection of different barrels is taken in a vertical cross-section across each floor to achieve a consistent flavor profile when these barrels are mingled together. Each barrel matures slightly different, depending on the environment and position, the barrel was stored in the rack house. Jim Beam White is the number one selling bourbon in the world.

Mash Bill: Unknown, Jim Beam’s Traditional Bourbon (Corn, Rye, & Malted Barley)

Proof: 80 (40% ABV)

Jim Beam Black

The first trade-up option from Jim Beam White used to have an eight-year-old age statement on the label, but this age statement has been removed on the new packaging. This probably means that the blenders at Jim Beam use a mingling of ages younger and older than eight years to achieve their desired flavor profile.

Mash Bill: Unknown, Jim Beam’s Traditional Bourbon (Corn, Rye, & Malted Barley)

Proof: 86 (43% ABV)

Jim Beam Devil’s Cut

Utilizing a proprietary process, the distillery extract Bourbon that has soaked deep into the barrel staves over the many years of maturation, and combines it with Jim Beam Bourbon that has been aged at least six years.

Mash Bill: Unknown, Jim Beam’s Traditional Bourbon (Corn, Rye, & Malted Barley)

Proof: 90 (45% ABV)

Jim Beam Rye

Matured a minimum of 4 years in new white oak American barrels.

Mash Bill: Unknown, Jim Beam’s Rye Mash Bill (Rye, Corn, & Malted Barley)

Proof: 90 (45% ABV)

Jim Beam Signature Bourbon

Matured a minimum of 12 years in new charred white American oak barrels.

Mash Bill: Unknown, Jim Beam’s Traditional Bourbon (Corn, Rye, & Malted Barley)

Proof: 86 (43% ABV)

Jim Beam Distiller’s Masterpiece

Master Distiller Fred Noe hand-selected his best older bourbons from the best positions in the rack houses, and then cask finished the bourbon in Ex-Pedro Ximénez (PX) Sherry casks sourced from Terry in Jerez, Spain.

Mash Bill: Unknown, Jim Beam’s Traditional Bourbon (Corn, Rye, & Malted Barley)

Proof: 100 (50% ABV)

The following expressions and brands are also made at the Jim Beam Distillery in Clermont, Kentucky:

Jim Beam

Jim Beam Single Barrel, Jim Beam Honey, Jim Beam Fire, Jim Beam Vanilla, Jim Beam Apple, Jim Beam Peach, Jim Beam Maple & Red Stag by Jim Beam

Small Batch Collections

Knob Creek, Basil Hayden, Booker’s, & Baker’s

Other Brands

Old Crow, Old Overholt, & Old Grand-Dad

The contents, statements, and thoughts expressed on this site are purely my own and do not officially represent the opinions of any supplier, brand, or distillery. All brand names are the official copy right of their respective parent company, and I do not own the right to any of the included brands on this website. Any mistakes made on this website are purely my own.

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