Little Book “The Easy” (2017)

Little Book is the first of a (relatively) new line from Jim Beam. It wears the clothes of Booker’s, but the force behind it is instead Freddie Noe, Booker’s namesake’s grandson. The concept is somewhat similar, being untouched whiskey, blended and bottled—something I can get behind. This is an interesting way to start the new line, and it makes a bit of a statement, since it’s not Bourbon but Blended Whiskey. Not that I know that, this is a blind series; and Freddie’s goal was to put something interesting together by blending together the components of bourbon in a kind of Canadian manner: using corn whiskey, rye whiskey, malt whiskey and bourbon. It’s a pretty interesting product, so lets see how it fares in a blind test.

This review was done blind in a set of 21 blind bourbon (and rye) reviews, tasted in sets of 3 (on different days). None of the whiskies were revealed until all 21 were drunk. More information about this setup in the first review of the series.

1. Old Forester 1920
2. Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch 2017
3. Four Roses Single Barrel OESK (Brookline Liquor Mart pick)
4. Kentucky Owl Rye (batch 1)
5. Weller Antique 107
6. Rowan's Creek
7. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof #12 (136 proof)
8. Old Forester Statesman
9. Michter's 10yo Bourbon
10. Henry McKenna 10yo BiB
11. Weller 12
12. Smooth Ambler Old Scout 7yo
13. Rhetoric 23
14. George T. Stagg 2017
15. Four Roses Single Barrel OBSV (Loch & Key Pick)
16. Maker's 46
17. Jack Daniels Single Barrel Bottled in Bond
18. Little Book “The Easy” (2017)

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Distiller: Jim Beam
ABV: 64.1%
Setting: Blind, in a trio with Maker's 46 (#133/2019-02-07) and Jack Daniels Single Barrel Bottled in Bond (#137/2019-02-08)

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Nose: Old furniture, sawdust, cinnamon & nutmeg wood funk, light acetic edge, pecan. A really wonderful wood-forward nose.
Palate: Nutmeg, brazil nuts, spice, mouth coating but restrained heat, some honey sweetness.
Finish: Icing sugar, golden syrup, sourdough, gooseberry. buttery.
Overall: This was just solidly good, a bourbon with a bit of time on wood, and bottled at a reasonable proof. Finish lasts for a great amount of time. I really enjoyed this.
Rank: 6
Guess: I get some peanut funk, maybe OGD 114?
Reveal: Well. That’s definitely not how I would have described this whiskey unblind. I suppose it was always power of suggestion, but I always found Little Book to be particularly corn forward. I will definitely be looking at this bottle in a new light from now on.