Review #53: Jim Beam Bourbon (White Label), 40% abv

in honor of yesterday's acquisition ...

This is the cheap stuff -- less than $20/liter. It sells about a gazillion (i.e., 6) million cases a year, I think. The world's most popular bourbon. It doesn't have an age statement, so I guess that makes it four years old. I haven't really thought about it much.

Nose: mostly wood and corn, and some chalky minerals, with tiny bits of honeysuckle, chamomile, and smoke. Spirity at first but then opens up a little over time. Does anyone wait for it?

Palate: light and little hot, with a lot of winey sourness and bitter wood. there's something else, too -- like a faint new-car-smell.

Finish: It stops abruptly. A moment of honey-vanilla and then bitter wood is the last thing left.

I don't know how to rate this. It sort of works for Old-fashioneds -- the intense floral/winey sourness stands up to everything else. But even then, it might be better to splurge on Green Label or Black Label for a little more flavor.

score: 62

(update: old review replaced when I realized that I my first pour was into a glass that previously had something much better in it. Amazing how much of an effect an apparently empty glass can have.)