bourbonv wrote:I tried this on Monday and I was not impressed. I thought the Jim Beam Black had a better flavor. We were laughing about the fact that we were surprised Jim Beam did not call the 12yo "triple aged". I found it rather watery and weak in flavor.
I think you are exactly right about this one Mike, and Gary. It drinks weak. There are, in my opinion, $10 bourbons that are better. Beam seems to have succumbed to the 'what can we put out as a premium bourbon that is in fact cheap bourbon...... from the stocks that do not fit any of our profiles and are more or less useless to us'.
Sooo, to 'rectify' their mistake, I tries about 40% of Knob Creek Single Barrel at 120 proof and added about 60% of this 12 YO faux bourbon and achieved a 100 proofer that is quite good, but not exceptional...... it needs something else.........
Soooo, I takes 35% KCSB, 55% Beam 12 YO, 10% of what I call my acrid/tannin extender (2008 OF Birthday Bourbon), and a few drops of leavening Buffalo Trace (low rye recipe) and voila, c'est fini! It has sweetness, it has roundness, it has spice, and it has a mite of the lengthening from the 12 YO '08 Birthday Bourbon.
It is now a very good bourbon at around 98 proof. Getting there using the 'new' 12 YO Beam took some doing, and at its best it is still only a very good bourbon, with no serious faults? Out of curiosity, I throwed it in the ring agin Old Forester Signature (100 proof), and the OF floored it.
Beam, compared to the other distilleries (my opinion), has little to brag about over the last few years, and this 12 YO is definitely a dud.