Booker’s Bourbon Noe Secret is the 6th and final roundtable bourbon in this year’s limited releases. it was selected by the committee listed below whose job was to taste a bunch of cherry picked barrels and decide which barrels (and the barrels around them) would go into making this batch of Booker’s. Doesn’t sound like too bad of an afternoon and maybe someday I’ll be lucky enough to be invited to one of those roundtables. Probably not, but at least we get to enjoy the fruits of their “labor”.
The roundtable responsible for the Noe Secret release:
- F. Paul Pacult – Editor of F. Paul Pacult’s Spirit Journal and Founder of Ultimate Beverage Challenge
- Geoff Kleinman – Founder and Managing Editor of DrinkSpirits.com
- Jack Robertiello – Spirits Writer and Spirits Competition Judge
- John McCarthy – Spirits Writer and Senior Managing Editor of Men’s Health Magazine
- Tony Sachs – Spirits Writer For Robb Vices and Serious Eats
- Guest Panelist: Kevin Sintumuang – Digital Director for The Wall Street Journal\
- Guest Panelist: G. Clay Whittaker – Freelance Writer for Men’s Journal and Forbes
Booker’s Bourbon Noe Secret Info
Region: Kentucky, USA
Distiller: Jim Beam
Mashbill: 77% Corn, 13% Rye, 10% Malted barley
Cask: New charred oak
Age: 6 years, 8 months and 7 days
ABV: 64.05%
Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Batch: 2015-06
Price: $65*
Booker’s Bourbon Noe Secret Review
EYE
Ruddy orangish carmel
NOSE
Expressive and full, the aroma alone is intoxicating with heavy notes of caramel corn, dark fruit, wood, vanilla, cinnamon heavy spice, brown sugar, molasses cookies and pie crust. That yeastiness I tend to find in Jim Beam glides through so lightly it could just be my imagination.
PALATE
Raspberry heavy dark fruit, wood, candied orange peels, toffee, cinnamon and nutmeg heavy baking spice, vanilla and a savory spiced – almost herbal – undertone. The raspberry dark fruit triggered a thought of old National Distillers OGD. I’m not saying it’s a 1:1 comparison, but there’s an essence to this that’s familiar and that’s what comes swimming up from the back of my mind.
FINISH
Long and filled with notes of caramel, wood, grain, spice and brown sugar.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Fantastic balance, full body and a rich oily mouthfeel.
OVERALL
Booker’s Bourbon Noe Secret is hands down the best Booker’s I’ve had in 7 or 8 years. The previous release of Booker’s I reviewed was from a bottle I picked up while living in Utah and sat on my shelf as a backup for a couple years before being boxed up and brought to CA with me in 2010. I opened it up in early 2014 and it’s been my yardstick for comparing other Booker’s releases ever since since. Which, to be honest, none of the Booker’s I’ve had between then and now have matched up… till now.
Obviously I haven’t had every batch of Booker’s released between 2008 and now, (I still want to try The Center Cut & 25th), but I’ve had a fair share of batches between friends and bars and until now I haven’t had one that made me sit up and take notice. If I were to have this one at the bar I definitely would have asked the bartender to see the bottle to know what to look for – it’s a seriously tasty whiskey.
SCORE: 93/100
*Disclosure: This bottle of Booker’s Bourbon Noe Secret was graciously sent to me by the company for the purposes of this review. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.