Notes:  The Jim Beam line  has never gotten a lot of respect from whiskey snobs which is a pity, it is a decent, drinkable whiskey if not a great one. In an effort to polish their image and standing Jim Beam has  just released a Single Barrel Edition and recently also released their Signature Craft Series the Spanish Brandy and 12 Year Old Bourbon,  We have reviewed a number of their other more recent products in the past but decided to review a couple of their old standards for the sake of comparison. The following is s review of their White Label Whiskey , a review of another old standard of theirs, the Black Label can be found here.

Appearance: Clear light tan in color, on swirling leaves a light oily coat on the glass which starts to recede to form a thicker edge line before starting to develop some legs and large droplets

First Impression: Corn,rye and barley,grains, some vanilla, leather, dried apples and apricots. Slightly sweet

Taste: Very light in body, smooth I will give it that but not a lot to it initially. Slightly fruit and sweet at the start with nice hints of vanilla oak, leather and some spice to it. Nice bit of wood char at the end of a sip gives it a bit more depth and credibiltiy

Drinks: Works in many classic cocktails calling for a bourbon if a bit on the light side. Much better than and average well bourbon because while being a bit light bodied, at least it is distilled decently.  Jim Beam and Coke is probably the first cocktail for many an American whiskey drinker.

Bottle: Standard Jim Beam squarish clear glass bottle with the old style slightly raised lettering and script- only big difference is that the family portraits now include Fred Noe (latest distiller) in the group. White screw cap top/capsule imprinted with Jim Beam in black. Jim Beam is imprinted on th shoulder of the glass bottle on three sides

Other: Jim Beam in a Can (Jim Beam premixed with Coke)  is the way you keep the chill off when fishing – it’s a classic. You don’t have to mix it of fool with glassware, it just works.

Final Thoughts: Lets face it for $12.99 it is one helluva deal. There are very few bottles of whiskey I would touch in that price range. Yes, it is pretty simple and light, but at least it is quite drinkable for the money.

Website: http://www.jimbeam.com
The website has a lot of information on their other offerings and an interesting device to compare their bourbons ( in the Jim Beam line only- no mention of their other lines)