If you’ve ever been curious about ‘what if Jim Bean made a 50 dollar whiskey’? Look no further. Then turn back, and run. Run far away. This whiskey is meant for a whiskey sour as it’s got some teeth, but if you are looking for a sipping whiskey, something higher-tier maybe you add a bit of ice? NOPE.
It’s quite sad really, what with all the apparent secrets they’ve stored in the bottle. Secrets probably like ‘oh god how do we sell this’ or ‘what if we made a ragged whiskey’. What really galls us though is the outright mention this being smooth and to put it over ice, when that should ultimately be the last thing you ever do.
What they Say: “My bourbon follows our Beam family tradition of putting our best secrets inside the bottle, not here on the label. I’ve distilled six generations of bourbon skill into this bottle. (That’s a lot of secrets!) Please savor its smooth flavor over ice, with a splash of water, or however you take your bourbon.”
Taste: 6.0 – It starts off a little sweet, but that’s coupled with the heat to give you something enjoyable.
Aftertaste: 6.5 – Whoa, hello Ms. Darcy. Again you can tell it’s been balanced and isn’t just pure hot-hot-hot. By that same token though because it lacks a rough edge it floods your tastebuds producing a very ‘wake up motherfucker’ taste.
Burn/Smooth: 6.0 – There’s a bit of warmth, but we’re burying the lead. The word smooth is not useful here in the same manner a shot of adrenaline isn’t considered smooth. However even with the higher proof this isn’t burning in the usual sense.
Aroma: 6.0 – That smells like it runs hot, but it’s not overwhelming. They obviously made sure to balance it out a little, but by the same virtue it lacks that great bourbon smell you want.
Honesty: 6.5 – The secrets bit seems a bit extra – as does the bottle design straight from a 90’s powerpoint or VHS video. The text is okay though, and the wax & cork is always welcome here. Add the running hot yet balance and this does fairly well manly wise.
Mixability: 5.33
W/ Rocks: 2.5 – ABORT. ABORT. Dear god they tell you to put this on ice or add water? It certainly opens the whiskey up into the spewing volcano of overproof that it is.
Whiskey and Coke: 6.0 – Thank whatever above this makes a halfway decent whiskey and coke. Because if this was as bad as rocks we’d have a real problem on our hands.
Whiskey Sour: 7.5 – That is a whiskey sour with bite, and to continue the Ms. Darcy bit from above – let’s say her whip’s bite isn’t half bad at all.
Editor’s Note: We’re deeply sorry about how this led to BDSM, but we’ve cut the graphic bits best we can.
Value: 2.0 – We bought this expecting a good high-tier bourbon. This would be a pretty good value at half the price it is now. At +50 dollars though? This is downright terrible value.
Google Shop Average: $52
Website: https://www.beamsuntory.com/brands/bakers
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 5.0
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Metric Score: 38.33/70 |+| Metric Average: 5.48 |+| Reviewer Average: 5.0
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Final Thoughts: Doom and gloom aside this ends up a middle of the road high-proof bourbon that costs exceedingly far too much. If not for the character this brings in a whiskey sour, or a heavily minted julep we’d write this off entirely, and that’s truly the only reason the review score is dead average.
