Johannes Reginald Beam immigrated to the United States from Germany after the American Revolutionary War ended, and he eventually made Kentucky County his home. John J. Bowman, a military governor, presided over Kentucky County, which was still regarded as a part of Virginia at the time. Beam started collecting corn after moving to Kentucky, and he started a family custom of turning the extra grains he collected into whiskey. Since then, the Beam family has been producing whiskey for the firm of the same name for seven generations (the company is named after James Beam, who saved it during Prohibition).

Booker’s Bluegill Creek Bourbon Whiskey is named in honor of Booker Noe, the grandson of Jim Beam, and his affection for fishing bluegills. “It was unseasonably warm even by Kentucky standards on the day that I selected the barrels for this batch,” said his son, 7th generation Master Distiller Fred Noe, “and it brought me back to the hot summers that my dad and I spent together fishing for bluegill.” It is the fourth release in Booker’s 2016 Batch Collection.

Bottles from four distinct rickhouses and five different production dates are used to painstakingly manufacture Bluegill Creek, which is made from a mash of mostly corn. The bourbon is aged for at least six years, five months, and twenty-eight days in virgin American oak barrels in Kentucky, where the humidity and temperature are ideal for whiskey maturation.

Consequently, like other batches in the Booker’s line, Bluegill Creek is anchored by vanilla throughout. A little less nutty than previous releases, it has a smoky-sweet aroma of light brown sugar, sweet corn, and baking spices, followed by a palate of popcorn, caramel, cinnamon, and traces of oak and peanut oil. It has a lengthy, warm, and mildly sweet finish.

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Notes on Tasting

Like other batches in the Booker’s line, vanilla serves as the foundation for Bluegill Creek. A little less nutty than previous releases, it has a smoky-sweet aroma of light brown sugar, sweet corn, and baking spices, followed by a palate of popcorn, caramel, cinnamon, and traces of oak and peanut oil. It has a lengthy, warm, and mildly sweet finish.