Jim Beam Original

It's about as straightforward a bourbon aroma as you can get. Dig in and mild oak, stale honey roasted peanut butter, and a bit of fruit leather are perceptible. Given some time to breathe, sweet vanilla emerges along with woodsmoke. At this point too the dried fruit notes take shape in the form of apple, cherry, and a little apricot. All of this swims in a shallow sea of melted candy corn, maple syrup, and fairly tame spice. Lastly, cocoa and tobacco. The palate is sweet with all the classic bourbon flavors, but lacking in depth. There is brown sugar, vanilla, pepper, citrus peel, cherry, peanut, oak and spice including cinnamon and caraway seed. Tasty yet weak, and overly sweet like Canadian whisky. Thin in the mouth neat, and it struggles to stand up to an ice ball for long. Legs develop slowly, but melt away in a hasty retreat. The finish is on the short side, with some oak, dusky corn, and cherry lozenge. Aroma: 8 Palate: 7 Body: 6 Finish: 7

Review #15 - Whisk(e)y #11 Nose - a pleasant sweetness with hints of vanilla and honey. Palate - very spicy and peppery, with a strong alcohol burn. Vanilla, honey, and oak notes are still present, but the spiciness and burn are dominant. There's also an intense, unpleasant medicinal flavor on the palate. Adding water seemed to reduce the spiciness and bring out more sweetness. Finish - very short. I would not purchase this, as there are numerous other whiskey options available for a slightly higher price, such as Black Bush, Tullamore Dew, or even Jack Daniels no. 7, which offer a significantly improved quality over this. Rating System: 5.0 - Perfect 4.5 - Exceptional 4.0 - Very Good 3.5 - Good 3.0 - Decent 2.5 - Average 2.0 - Below Average 1.5 - Barely Drinkable 1.0 - Undrinkable 0.5 - JB

It's the absolute basic of basics, I don't know if it was my best introduction to the world of bourbons! A sweet, somewhat smoky aroma, like condensed milk burning in a pan, or burnt milk skin/dulce de leche, some sweetness from burning. Both caramel and vanilla are quite present, very aromatic, with a little alcohol. The big problem is that the palate is a bit unpleasant. It's thin, not much flavor, it's indeed better in a drink because with ice it just gets lighter, but in a drink, damn, it's essential, it improves the liquid! 2.5/5, you know, so-so, the basic of basics, let's go Jim Beam 🍯🥃

This is a quite respectable go-to whiskey and an effortless sipper. It has notes of buttery popcorn, slightly creamy vanilla, bananas, peanuts, earthiness/vegetal qualities, fresh oak, a faint hint of cherry, and spiciness towards the end. It's thicker and more oily than anticipated, with a lengthy finish and aftertaste of corn, bananas, and oak, along with subtle bittersweet undertones. The flavors are mild initially but not unpleasant and extremely easy to sip, though there's a spicy burn at the very end. This evokes movie theater popcorn with yellow butter, minus the salt, and is reminiscent of mellow corn in its creamy, buttery texture and flavor.

Initially, the nose is just woody and charred. After some air, there's also a bit of vanilla and brown sugar or maple syrup, and maybe even a hint of fresh apple. The flavors are somewhat similar to the nose but more blended, with a mildly woody and charred, as well as vanilla and popcorn aftertaste. It loses all nuance with coke, tasting more like licking vanilla coke off a slightly charred piece of applewood. Not great, not terrible; a safe enough backup option.

78 (bottle from '81) Aroma: lots of barrel, slightly earthy with a bit of mold, caramel 20 Taste: pronounced, barrel, earthy, gently vanilla, a bit harsher notes, but the alcohol is hidden 20 Finish: shorter, caramel, barrel, grainy 19 Body: A 40-year-old bottle is a bit past its prime (half the contents are a few years old), I sense a slight earthy moldiness, but otherwise it's still quite pronounced, caramel-barrel, slightly warming 19