Little Book Chapter 08: Path Not Taken (59.1%)
If you are a bourbon lover, or even a casual fancier, you will probably be familiar with the name Booker Noe. A direct descendent of James B. ‘Jim’ Beam, via daughter Margaret’s marriage to F. Booker Noe and uncle T. Jeremiah’s tenure as head distiller, F. Booker Noe Jr. saw the Beam distillery through the doldrums of the 1970s and into the renaissance period of the middle 1990s.
Booker Jr. was eventually succeeded by his son, F. Booker ‘Fred’ Noe III, who welcomed in the bourbon boom period of the twenty-aughts and -teens, along the way making several of his father’s Small Batch Collection bourbons into international superstars, not least of which the Knob Creek line. And behind Fred? Well, that would be F. Booker ‘Freddie’ Noe, who his grandfather liked to call ‘Little Book.’
For the past several years, Freddie has been in charge of Beam’s experimental section, officially the Fred B. Noe Craft Distillery, and since 2017 he has also brought forth the Little Book series of blended whiskeys. Released once per year, each ‘chapter’ sees different whiskeys mixed and married, with even an appearance of the Beam Suntory-owned Alberta Distillers in Chapter 2.
This particular blend, according to the neck tag, contains the following: 18 year old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (High Rye); 11 year old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey; 7 year old Kentucky Straight Rye Malt Whiskey; 5 year old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey (KY Family-Style, Char 4); 5 year old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey (PA Family-Style, Char 1); 5 year old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey (PA Family-Style, Char 4); and 4 year old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey.
Pouring a quite beautiful coppery gold, the nose of this whiskey immediately confirms what the neck tag spells out, namely that it is all about the rye. There are notes of oak, for sure, and even the perception of layers of char – a sensory experience akin to nosing your way from toasted oak through to a heavy char – but the highlight is peppery spice, including black and white peppercorns and roasted allspice.
Add a bit of water and the nose grown more orange butterscotch, with the oakiness reduced to more of a woodsy character and the pepper softened.
Even at full strength, the palate entry is surprisingly mild, considering both the strength and rye content. I find notes of well-cooked caramel and raisin, hints of brown spice, charred oak and slightly burnt vanilla, and a fragrant suggestion of flamed orange zest. On the mid-palate, there is a more pronounced orange character alongside some crème brûlée, toffee, spice cake, a softer oak influence, and a steadily growing sweet black pepper. The finish is warming with lingering notes of orange pound cake and pepper.
Reduced in strength, it is certainly a more approachable whiskey, but also, I think, a slightly diminished one. The palate is arguable slightly more cohesive, but the flavour also becomes a bit more simple, with orange spice cake notes growing dominant, oak reduced in impact, and the peppery spice mostly reserved for the finish.
While I recognize that not everyone loves a 59% whiskey at full strength, like several others I have had the pleasure of drinking – looking at you Connemara Cask Strength! – I do think this is a whiskey best enjoyed as is, even if watering is its ultimate destiny. It is what I would describe as a contemplative spirit, something to be slowly sipped, considered, and savoured.
91 ($210 - $221)