Jim Beam Rye (“Pre-Prohibition Style”)

Maker: Jim Beam, Clermont, Kentucky, USA (Beam-Suntory)

Style: Kentucky style rye

Age: NAS (at least 4 y/o)

Proof: 90 (45% ABV)

Michigan State Minimum: $22

Appearance: Pale copper with thick legs.

Nose: Alcohol, oak, caramel, sourdough, tarragon.

Palate: Medium bodied. Rock candy, salted caramels, cocoa powder, strawberry bubble gum.

Finish: Spearmint, amaretto, oak, alcohol.

Mixed: Made a Sazerac, old fashioned, hot toddy and put it in ginger ale with some orange bitters. Did well in everything I tried, but didn’t particularly distinguish itself in anything.

Parting words: This new “Prohibition style” rye is a replacement for the old yellow label Jim Beam rye. In the dark days of rye in the 1980s and 1990s, Jim Beam rye was one of the only brands of rye widely available. I first tasted rye in the late 90s and I believe Jim Beam was the first one I tried. I came away with the impression that rye whiskey’s defining characteristic was its mild sweetness and thus stayed away for several years after that. It wasn’t until I started exploring bourbon that I rediscovered rye and learned that it’s actually supposed to be spicy.

This Jim Beam rye reboot is definitely an improvement on the old yellow label. The proof is higher, for one thing, and it has more going on than just sweetness. It has pleasantly rye-ish herbal notes in the nose and finish and doesn’t get as lost in cocktails as its predecessor. Beam has also solved its Old Overholt problem. No longer are Overholt and Beam Rye the Ford Pinto and Mercury Bobcat of the whiskey world. They are actually different products now. Old Overholt is 3 y/o and 80 proof, while this is at least 4 y/o (probably in the 4-6 range) and 90 proof. It is still too sweet for me, and the back label is an example of how not to fill up the back of a bottle.*

Bad copy aside, this rye whiskey does fine against its competition. It’s easier to find, more consistent and cheaper than the overrated Sazerac and Wild Turkey ryes. I don’t care for the current (DSP KY 1) Rittenhouse rye, but a lot of people do and it is 100 proof which means Rittenhouse is better able to stand up to mixers than Jim Beam Rye is, even at the new higher strength. I would have to give the edge to Rittenhouse as a mixer, but Beam is still recommended for that purpose. Not recommended as a sipper, though. For that, spring for a bottle of the excellent Knob Creek Rye.

*”Founded in 1795, Jim Beam Pre-Prohibition Style Rye is made with the same exacting standards that have governed Jim Beam for over 200 years.” Considering that Jim Beam the man was born in 1864 and the company that bears his name was founded after prohibition, that doesn’t seem possible without time travel being involved. What the 1795 date really refers to is when Beam patriarch Jacob Beam (aka Jakob Boehm) began commercial distilling in Kentucky. He did not found the company that bears his great-grandson’s name, let alone come up with the rye recipe used to make what’s in this bottle.