Review #565 - Booker's 2025-01 'Barry's Batch'
The first release of Jim Beam's 'Booker's' series in 2025 - this is Barry's Batch, or 2025-01. It was named to celebrate Barry Berish, the former CEO of the Jim Beam company, who served for more than 40 years.
The youngest bourbon in this batch was aged for 7 years, 2 months, and 4 days; Jim Beam gives us a breakdown of the locations of the barrels that were used:
41% is from the 5th floor of 7 floor Warehouse 3
32% is from the 5th floor of 7 floor Warehouse X
14% is from the 5th floor of 7 floor Warehouse 1
9% is from the 4th floor of 7 floor Warehouse G
4% is from the 7th floor of 9 floor Warehouse H
After blending the components together, the resulting barrel proof strength is 62.85% ABV (125.7 proof), and this bourbon is left non-chill filtered.
Booker's 2025-01 'Barry's Batch'
USA - Bourbon
Price: USD 100 (2025)
Age Statement: 7 Years
Strength: 62.85% ABV
Details: Not chill filtered; batch 2025-01
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 1 time; bottle 70% fill level at time of review. Tasted in a nosing glass, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Brown sugar and buttery, but still a bit spirity, too; leather and spice announce the arrival of oak, which has a dark complexion. Nutty scents grow stronger over time - pecan, walnut - and there's a nice maple syrup note bringing more sweetness.
Palate: A thick mouthfeel, with a strong combination of brown sugar and molasses - quite sweet compared to other Booker's batches. Salted peanut shells, spicy oak, leather, and vanilla come next; at the end, there's just a hint of something savory.
Finish: Quite warming for a long time, with tons of brown sugar, caramel, even creme brulee. A bit syrupy, but we still get some oak tannins and walnut, which add balance; in the aftertaste, it's cinnamon and some spirity sharpness.
Final Note: Packed with dense flavor, and this batch stuck us as leaning toward the sweet end of the Booker's spectrum, though we did only have one session with it. Lots of brown sugar notes, but there is some oak spice to ensure that it isn't overly sugary; a solid batch, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Value is fine, about average - this does pack those rich, classic bourbon flavors, but it comes at a price. This could be a good pickup for those who like the typical Jim Beam nutty profile, but also a bit more sweetness in their bourbon.
Our Average Rating: 7.4 / 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: 6.38
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.
Check out our other reviews of Booker-related releases:
Review #539 - Booker's 2024-01 'Springfield Batch'
Review #507 - Little Book Chapter 7: 'In Retrospect'
