Table Of Contents
The Details
| Rating | 88 |
| Style |
Bourbon American Whiskey Whiskey |
| Produced In |
Kentucky United States |
| ABV | 62.85% |
| Availability | Limited |
| Price | $100.00 |
| Reviewed By | |
| Reviewed | 2025-05-20 |
Booker's Bourbon ‘Barry’s Batch’ 2025-01 Review
Distilling behemoth Jim Beam generally releases four batches of Booker’s Bourbon per year, though the first bottling often doesn’t hit shelves until April (or May in certain parts of the country). Frequently, these bourbons are named in honor of an important person, place, or even food important to the brand and the folks behind it. Today, we’re looking at Booker’s Bourbon “Barry’s Batch,” a release dedicated to former Beam Chairman and CEO Barry Berish.
Berish’s tenure spanned roughly 40 years and included a variety of roles with Beam. In 1995, he oversaw the 200th anniversary celebration of the Beam family’s distilling heritage. In a company press release, seventh generation master distiller Fred Noe remembered Berish as “a real good guy, and truly one of a kind.”
Barry’s Batch clocks in at 125.7 proof, right in the range we’ve come to expect from recent Booker’s releases. It carries an age statement of 7 years, 2 months, and 4 days, again right in the middle of the contemporary range.
As usual, Beam provides some specifics on the blend for this latest Booker’s batch:
- 41 percent came from the 5th floor of 7-story warehouse 3
- 14 percent came from the 5th floor of 7-story warehouse 1
- 4 percent came from the 7th floor of 9-story warehouse H
- 32 percent came from the 5th floor of 7-story warehouse X
- 9 percent came from the 4th floor of 7-story warehouse G
Let’s see how it tastes!
Booker's Bourbon Barry’s Batch: Stats and Availability
Barry’s Batch is a standard release of Booker’s Bourbon, a line that recently got an expansion with the 2024 introduction of The Reserves. Moving forward, The Reserves will be a limited, annual release, and the first iteration featured a bottle count of around 20,000 total. The “standard” Booker’s Bourbon batches are presumably much larger, and though we don’t know exact numbers, they’re generally quite findable on retail shelves in the weeks after release. Expect to see these within $10 of the suggested $99 retail price.
Booker's Bourbon Barry’s Batch Review
As with all of VinePair’s whiskey reviews, this was tasted in a Glencairn glass and rested for at least five minutes.
Nose
Bold spice kicks things off on the nose, with hallmark bourbon aromas of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and clove (each of those listed roughly in order of increasing intensity). Something I smell lots of here — though only semi-frequently with Booker’s Bourbon — is paprika, of the standard spice aisle variety (not smoked). That meshes with lots of white pepper and a tiny bit of pink peppercorn.
Oak builds a little later on and eventually bridges the gap between spice/pepper and the sweeter notes one expects from most Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. Deep under that spice — and truly, it comes after — is dark caramel, along with hot butterscotch. Even deeper under a layer of oak stave tannins lies classic Booker’s nuttiness, which smells halfway between burnt peanut butter and dried peanut skins; I get far less of the macadamia or hazelnut character I more closely associate with Booker’s batches.
Spiced baked apples and funky grape must round out a nose that’s plenty pronounced, but lacking a bit of the complexity we know this distillate is capable of achieving.
Taste
The early palate is a slight inversion of the nose: sweet, dark butterscotch leads before a quick turn toward baking spice. After the first few sips, I’m reminded of spicy pepper jelly, with capsaicin heat and sugary sweet joining in an unlikely — but not altogether unpleasant — union. By the midpalate, roasted peanuts and peanut butter march through with gusto; combined with a mild toast quality, we’ve shifted from pepper jelly to peanut butter and jalapeño sandwich. I can imagine some spice hounds in my life really enjoying this pour.
About four or five sips in, my palate has acclimated enough to compensate for the spice, and Barry’s Batch starts tasting more like the classic Booker’s profile. Oak meets cinnamon, with a gradual tannic buildup akin to honey-sweetened black tea. Sweet mesquite barbecue sauce, blackstrap molasses, and more black pepper build toward the back of the mouth, with a tiny bit of baked orchard fruit — apples, apricots — providing some welcome balance.
Finish
The long, lingering finish continues with that spiced barbeque sauce before imparting a mildly refreshing element of cooling menthol. It’s a slight twist on an ending that otherwise could have finished too peppery for my taste.
A few drops of dilution bring out green peppercorn and cashews on the palate, but overall, I generally preferred Barry’s Batch at uncut strength.
Booker's Bourbon Barry’s Batch Rating
88/100
Recap
The year’s first Booker’s Bourbon is a solid addition to the storied lineup, albeit one that didn’t entirely blow me away. It’s bold, spicy, and sweet — really table stakes for this expression — but compared to some recent and very good versions, just a little less effective when it comes to nuanced, complex flavors layered below the usual suspects. Fans of bold, spicy bourbons (and punchier Booker’s releases) will likely be the most drawn to Barry’s Batch. I’m excited to see how the year’s subsequent releases evolve — as they inevitably do!
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