A maximum of 10 points will be available for each distillery visit…with 2 points available for “presentation” (basically the first impression the place puts on based on the sites, sounds, friendliness, etc), 3 points for the “experience” (whatever tour or tasting we did…which can include just doing a flight at the bar), 3 points for the Gift Shop (this will encompass all the gift shop has to offer EXCEPT for the final category), and 2 points for bottles exclusive to the distillery.
Our last full day during the spring in Kentucky we ended up going to just one distillery, before driving up to Louisville to see the Louisville Slugger Baseball Bat Museum, a really fun side trip for a baseball fan like myself. For the distillery visit, we chose one that I had heard a lot about, but never actually been on: Jim Beam in Clermont.
PRESENTATION
The James B. Beam Distilling Company has a fairly magnificent campus with a barn painted with signage at the entrance, then a meandering drive through some rick houses and around some other properties before you arrive at the big white building with a raucous statue of the namesake of the distillery out front. Everything appeared to be in tip-top shape, with the exception of a rick house that was heavily damaged…turns out it was just old and they were in the process of tearing it down to replace it…not great to look at, but unavoidable. The inside was attractively decorated and efficiently run…we got our tickets and headed to the gift shop to see what there was going to be to buy at the end of the tour.
2/2
EXPERIENCE
We took the “Beam Made Bourbon Distillery Tour and Tasting,” which gave us a tour of the major part of the facility, which was definitely elevated in appearance for the sake of tours. Everyone on the tour got a mini-glencairn glass that we used for tastings along the way. At the first stop we got to taste White Label, the most popular bourbon in the world, and the newly reblended and repackaged Black Label, now a 7 year aged product. The 7 year Black is heads and shoulders above the White for just a few dollars more. As we progressed through the different parts of the factory we got to try a few different things, including having some choices of “this” or “that” to try. While I don’t recall all the details, I know we tried Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve, a 9 year old product bottled at 120 proof, and the Basil Hayden’s Malted Rye, a 100% malted rye mash bill that is delivered at an 80 proof to remain elegant and approachable. I found this to be an excellent tour experience that made me see the Beam product line in a new and better light. I also enjoyed the walk-and-sip aspect, although my wife had figured out by this time that she likes the “tasting at the end” format better.
3/3
GIFT SHOP
The gift shop had a great selection of non-whiskey products, but also a very, very good selection of all the Beam products, including some that are sometimes difficult to find on the outside. I bought a 3-pack of previous releases of Booker’s and picked up a Little Book for a friend of ours. We also got a bottle of that Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve that we were allowed to put our fingerprints into the warm wax to truly make it ours (part of the tour)…and when we got our bottle back to the gift shop they engraved it to make it a true keepsake.
3/3
EXCLUSIVES
I didn’t see any true distillery exclusives in the gift shop while we were there, but as mentioned, there were several “hard to find” bottles just there for the purchasing. Limits were in place as to how many you can buy in a day, but they obviously have a good amount on hand. I’m giving half-score for this because there was nothing truly exclusive.
1/2
I can honestly say that I walked away from the James B. Beam Distillery a much bigger fan of their products than I was when I walked in. They make a great quality product, highlighted by stellar picks like the 7 Year Black, Knob Creek lineup, Old Grand Dad, and Booker’s.
Total 9/10 – From the number of people that were there on a rainy day in April, this is very much a “Bourbon Mecca.” You really should go once, even if you’re not a big fan.
