Little Book The Infinite: Edition 1 Review

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Jim Beam has been having a banner year in 2024. Their new releases are showing us that innovation and dedication to quality are out in full force. Nowhere is that more visible than the fact that three different Beam products landed on my Top 10 List of Whiskies released in 2024.

Out of all the new releases they’ve launched this year, there is one I haven’t been able to try until recently: Freddie Noe’s newest extension of the Little Book lineup – Little Book: The Infinite.

What is Little Book: The Infinite?

As many readers will already know, Freddie Noe has his own line of whiskey that he has complete creative control over. Wearing his own nickname, Little Book has featured some interesting blends over the last 8 years. Some have been fantastic (Chapters 3 and 8) while some have been downright disappointing (5 and 6). But the most important thing to remember about Little Book is that each year we’ll get something different. So if you didn’t like it this year, just wait a year. There’ll be a new batch ready for you to try.

For some reason, the powers-that-be at Jim Beam decided to take the concept of Little Book and make it do a 180. As I was reading the press release surrounding the creation of Little Book: The Infinite, my first question was “why are they doing this to the Little Book label?” The original concept of giving us something new each year was now being reimagined as a complimentary release centered on a base blend that will always contain previous batches. Confused? Let me explain.

To Infinite and Beyond

First, a rhetorical question. Imagine your favorite Little Book Chapter – let’s say it’s Chapter 3, the one with all of the yummy Beam bourbon blended into a single “super bourbon.” That was pretty awesome, right? Well how awesome would it still be if it had some leftover 2-year-old malt whiskey blended in it? How about adding a couple dozen barrels of 3-year-old 100% malted rye whiskey? Bourbon made with rice? It probably wouldn’t be your favorite release anymore, right?

Well that’s essentially the concept of The Infinite. This is the first release – so most enthusiasts are oblivious to this now – but a certain percentage of the blend will be held back so it can be blended into the next release. My fear is that Freddie is going to get a wild hair up his ass and start adding barrels of applewood smoked malt or bourbon finished in Worcestershire and Scotch barrels into the blend (this is a real thing, btw). And from my understanding, once it’s in the liquid, it’s going to be there pretty much forever (albeit in smaller and smaller amounts similar to a Solera).

So while I understand why Beam decided to pursue this concept, I would proceed with caution if you’re going to buy future editions. If Freddie starts getting crazy with the sauce, it could start spiraling into a product you don’t want to buy.

The first Little Book: The Infinite release

Edition 1 is the building block of future releases for this series, so let’s look at what it was made with. Of note, the bourbon was selected based on distillate made by each of the last 3 master distillers. A fourth batch was labeled as a “shared family component” which I’m not sure what that means. Did Booker, Fred and Freddie all put a hand on the hose that fed the mash into the still? Send me a message if you know! Anyway, here’s the four components and their stats:

20 year old bourbon distilled by Booker Noe

‍14 year old bourbon distilled by Fred Noe

7 year old bourbon distilled by Freddie Noe

8 year old bourbon distilled by… all of them?

One final question I got to thinking about while I was writing… what style of bourbon exactly is in this blend? It’s widely known that Beam uses a handful of mash bills and they even have different still proofs and barrel entry proofs depending on which bourbon they’re making. That begs the question – did they all use Booker’s? Knob Creek? Jim Beam? The story would have been amazing if all bourbon used in this blend was Booker’s. But I’m guessing that’s just wishful thinking.

The final blend comes out to 119.3 proof, which is pretty high! So how does it taste? Thanks to my friend Brad, I get to find out. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.

Tasting Notes

Nose: The nose on this is in my top 5 most oak-forward noses I’ve found in a Jim Beam product. This just smells special. It’s interesting that I can find so much vanilla side-by-side with the oak seeing as how it’s usually so much lighter. Honey and nougat fill in the blanks. A slight nuttiness lurks behind the sweetness. The nose drips with age and maturity. There’s not much in the way of fruit, but the nose still feels like a complete, polished product. It needs nothing more.

Palate: The oak note follows to the palate where it wraps everything in a beautiful varnish note. Antiqued and seasoned oak combine with loose leaf tobacco. Sweet molasses sweetness combines with a potent array of spice. Cinnamon and black pepper take control of my tongue and don’t let up. Fruit notes like dried fig, toasted orange zest and cherry offer little respite from the tannic onslaught. A hint of chocolate, black tea and coffee also begin to emerge as the session goes on. I cannot adequately express how powerful each sip is. I’ve tasted bourbons around 120 proof before, and very few are this “in your face.” That’s not saying it drinks hot, but every flavor hits harder than similar bourbons.

Finish: Antique oak and musty tobacco still rest powerfully on my tongue long after the sip is complete. Spiced honey, ash and a little bit more black pepper add character while toasted hazelnuts and vanilla offer a softer side. The lingering heat of the proof is felt in my jowls.

Score: 8.6/10

I came into this bourbon imagining I was going to be getting a “Knob Creek+.” What I got instead was more like a blend of Booker’s 25th and 30th Anniversaries (with slightly more age). The power behind each flavor and scent was much more than I was expecting. It truly was one of the more enjoyable bourbons from Beam I’ve had – and this is coming after I declared Hardin’s Creek Kentucky Series: Frankfort as my #1 “Most Memorable Whiskey.”

There’s no “but” that comes after that statement. This is just damn good bourbon that I didn’t have the highest expectations for before I came into it. But it delivered all of the notes a classic bourbon lover would want. There’s also no mistaking it for anything else, just a fantastic array of oak, sweets and spices. It’s hard to ask for much more.

Final Thoughts

I know what I said in my introduction about how I was worried that the concept of Little Book The Infinite runs the risk of evolving into a poor product the more it gets blended. I still have that worry, but seeing and experiencing the initial blend that Freddie and his team put together, it makes me slightly less anxious about its future. If nothing but straight bourbon get added to the blend in the coming years, this should be an elite-level annual purchase.

I have no issues recommending this bottle for the price it’s at (around $200). That might seem steep, but it delivers an experience that’s on par with the Hardin’s Creek releases, limited editions of Booker’s and even the slightly obscure hits like Jim Beam’s Bardstown Collection. Please Beam, I’m begging you, don’t mess this up.