Booker's 30th Anniversary Bourbon Review

The Origin of Booker’s Bourbon

Booker’s Small Batch Bourbon was launched in 1988 by Jim Beam. Booker Noe, the Master Distiller at Jim Beam, had an idea for a premium product that was uncut and unfiltered – “the way bourbon was supposed to be,” he would often say. The concept was originally hatched years earlier from gift bottles he would hand out to family and friends from the honey barrels he’d find in the rackhouses.

There wasn’t much else like Booker’s on the market back in the 80’s (or 90’s for that matter). It was basically in a league by itself. It came off the still at 125 proof, went into the barrel at that proof and when it was finished aging, it was bottled at barrel proof. The goal was to never add a drop of water throughout the entire process.

All of this might not seem revolutionary today, but this was big stuff back then. Booker was such a recognizable and authoritative figure that the Jim Beam corporation decided to recognize his legacy with anniversary editions of the brand he helped create. The first such anniversary edition was in 1998 when Booker’s 10th Anniversary was released. Unfortunately, Booker passed away in 2004 before he could see any more. There was a sort of unofficial anniversary release called Booker Noe Memorial Bourbon that some enthusiasts consider a “15 Year Anniversary Edition,” but it was never labeled as such.

In 2014, Beam decided to honor the 25th Anniversary of the first Booker’s release. Then they did it again in 2019 with a 30th Anniversary Edition. The former had the highest proof of any Booker’s bottling at that point (130.8) and the latter was designed to be the oldest age-stated batch of Booker’s ever created.

Fred Noe and Freddie Noe reject the initial batch of Booker’s 30th Anniversary

There is a story that was told by Fred Noe where he describes how the tasting panel at Beam brought him in to taste the batch that they whipped up for the 30th Anniversary release of Booker’s. The team had created it by using only 16-year-old barrels. Fred immediately thought the nose was funky and weird. He brought in his son, Freddie, to confirm what he thought. Freddie had the same reaction.

The two Noe’s decided to blend some 9-year-old barrels of Booker’s into the batch to try and balance out the nose. In the end, the ratio leaned heavily in favor of the 9-year-old barrels – 70/30 to be exact.

One oddity to this story was that the Beam tasting panel may have acted prematurely in their belief that the batch they created was good to go. I say this because there exists a handful of Booker’s 30th bottles that were sent out (to reviewers, I believe) with just the 16-year-old bourbon inside. They even had the custom box inscribed saying as much:

Booker’s 30th Anniversary is given the greenlight

The final composition of Booker’s 30th Anniversary ended up being:

48% – 5th floor of Warehouse E

12% – 3rd floor of Warehouse H

29% – 4th floor of Warehouse H

11% – 5th floor of Warehouse H

For reference, here’s where those warehouses are on a zoomed-in map of Clermont Campus

There was one final touch that the packaging needed. The design team at Beam learned that some of the floors in various rackhouses on the Clermont campus were deteriorating and needed replaced. These floorboards had seen so much history, that they were set aside for sentimental reasons. The team requested that these boards be used to construct the boxes for this release. Each box has a different appearance and is like holding a tiny piece of history. It’s the only Booker’s release to date that doesn’t have a transparent front cover.

So how does Booker’s 30th taste? Let’s find out. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Scents of rich oak are followed by layers of caramel. cinnamon and barrel char. The amount of vanilla is staggering – it’s the heaviest scented kind I’ve ever smelled in a bourbon. There is also notes of liquid brown sugar and a hint of stewed stone fruit.

Palate: cherry Keeping in line with the nose, I am finding notes of vanilla, caramel and crème brûlée. Tannins really step up their game with seasoned oak, antiqued oak (just a bit, though) and cigar box. Fruit notes come by way of sweetened stone fruit like cherries and apricots. There’s even a note like flat Ginger Ale. Spices are abundant and really show off, but never get too hot (this drinks a bit below proof) – they include cinnamon, red pepper flakes and white peppercorn.

Finish: As the sip subsides, I can find the tannins standing out more. Cigar box, bakers chocolate, strong oak and a touch of smoke show the power and depth of the bourbon. Of course there is more crème brûlée and white peppercorn. The fruit notes peter out but I can still catch passing flavors of sweetened apricots and cherries.

Score: 8.4/10

Booker’s 30th was an excellent bourbon from start to finish. The only fault I could think of was that its profile isn’t too far removed from a regular batch of Booker’s. Basically all of the same notes remain, only in different strengths. The exception is a couple oddities like the flat ginger ale or slightly antiqued oak. What I’m trying to say is that the experience didn’t feel wholly different or unique from regular Booker’s. It is my opinion that for the suggested retail price this carried back in the day ($200) and on the secondary market (eclipsing $1,000 at one point), this should have been better by leaps and bounds.

Fans of Booker’s won’t agree with me. They will cite that simply being a “Booker’s+” product is good enough for them. But where I think the Beam tasting team got it right was that they submitted an all-16-year-old batch because it was different enough to warrant the price and exclusivity. What Fred and Freddie did to adjust the blend was to effectively steer it back into the direction of traditional Booker’s. If that’s all the more 30th Anniversary was going to be, it should have carried a lower price tag – or at least had more bottles produced.

Final Thoughts

Booker’s Bourbon is one of those timeless bourbon profiles that satisfies a large target audience. Its fans know that there are other bourbons that challenge it in price and age, yet they keep coming back to it. I feel as if anniversary batches are supposed to be special – and for me – Booker’s 30th just didn’t do enough to justify the (still high) cost of obtaining one all these years later.

Booker Noe was a man who always stood out in a crowd. Every story portrayed a man who was “larger than life” – from the things he did to the bourbon he made. I think that a Booker’s release with a true 16-years-old age statement would have been the perfect tribute because it would have been different enough to stand out among the 100+ other batches. That’s not what we ended up getting, but I bet that Booker would still be proud to see his legacy live on with a brand that enthusiasts still enjoy.