Jim Beam High Rye Harvest Bourbon can essentially be thought of as an 11-year-old Old Grand-Dad. I don’t believe that they’d include it in their experimental series if that’s all it was, so there has to be something different. The traditional Old Grand-Dad mashbill is 63% Corn, 27% Rye, 10% Malted Barley so I’m assuming the rye percentage in this has to be even higher. 30, 35… maybe even 40% – who knows.
Well, I’m sure someone there knows the details of the Jim Beam High Rye Harvest Bourbon, but they definitely aren’t telling and of all the whiskeys in this collection this is the one that knowing that mashbill would be, to me, the most fascinating. A shift in rye means a shift in corn, and possibly barley, and knowing what that shift was would make doing a side-by-side with some Old Grand-Dad even more informative. Maybe that was even the impetus behind this one; a new OGD mashbill. It would be great to know that kind of stuff.
Since JB is keeping a tight lip on the details behind these releases all we can really do is speculate and imagine the details. Though I don’t have to speculate or image anything about what’s in the glass and I can non-speculatively say that the Jim Beam High Rye Harvest Bourbon is awesome.
Jim Beam High Rye Harvest Bourbon Info
Region: Kentucky, USA
Distiller: Jim Beam
Mashbill: at least 51% Corn, assuming at least 30% rye and then some Malted Barley
Cask: New-Charred Oak
Age: 11 Years
ABV: 45%
Price: $47*
Jim Beam High Rye Harvest Bourbon Review
EYE
Dark amber
NOSE
Oak, fruit, spice (dilly rye), vanilla, lemon cake, caramel, brown sugar, leather and a light bit of cocoa.
PALATE
Caramel, oak, vanilla, complex dilly spice, dark fruit, toasted grain, leather, pepper and light notes of lemon cake, orange marmalade and cocoa.
FINISH
Long oaky fade with notes of caramel, vanilla, leather, dark fruit and cocoa
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Well balanced, full body and a rich oily feel.
OVERALL
Jim Beam High Rye Harvest Bourbon is awesome. It’s complex, rustic and comes across exactly like you’d imagine a well aged OGD would. THIS is what Basil Haydens should be, something closer to this would make it more worth its price. Setting aside that constant quibble of mine, this whiskey is something I wish would become a new addition to their lineup… especially if it was bottled in bond.
If the Jim Beam High Rye Harvest Bourbon were delivered at least at 50% it would likely have an ever richer and denser character with deeper layers of spice and sweets. Recreating this mash and making it a premium 11-year-old bonded would be fantastic – ah day dreams. Anyways, traveling back to today, at its current 45% this release is without a doubt my favorite of the Harvest Bourbon collection and along with the Triticale will be one I’m picking up a bottle of to put in my reserves.
SCORE: 90/100 (A-)
*Disclosure: This Jim Beam High Rye Harvest Bourbon was graciously sent to me by the company for the purposes of this review. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
