Where is the jim beam distillery located
Whiskey Distillery Tour: Jim Beam
welcome to whiskey comm we're fine
spirits meet and today I'm at the Jim
Beam distillery the Jim Beam the story
was founded by Jakob boom a German who
came to America and started making his
own whiskey here in the Bourbon County
distillery is actually not named after
Jakob boom which he renamed himself to
Jacob beam but the his grand grand
grandson in the fourth generation the
James beam and this is actually he was
called Jim so it's called the Jim Beam
distillery today the the stories in is
in the hands of Fred know who is the
seventh generation in the family and he
runs the distillery in the old tradition
with the old mash bill and let's find
out what this is all about I'm standing
right next to the mass shop where all
the grain is put in on the far right we
have the corn in the middle we have the
malted barley and on the Left we have
the right this is all being cooked at
about 215 to 220 degrees Fahrenheit this
is roughly let's say yeah 101 to 105
degrees Celsius add a bit of oil
pressure after it's been cooked so the
starch just split up for the sugar
it's being pumped up pumped over into
the fermentis the yeast is added and
fermentation takes place I'm standing
next to the big fermenters the Jim Beam
plant here has 19 fermentis with a
capacity of 45,000 gallons and all of
these 45,000 gallons we have 600 gallons
of yeast the whole mash during the
fermentation process is cooled down to
92 degrees Fahrenheit that is roughly
about 33 degrees Celsius and that lets
the least develop in a good way so we
get a nice 10 percent alcoholic beer
that is then pumped into the bol and
then ready for fermentation I'm signing
right next to the Jim Beam column still
this is the first still and the column
still is six stories tall and inside it
is copper the copper is very important
because their catalytic reactions going
on and making the Bourbon smoother after
the console you have a spirit at 125
proof that is 62.5 ABV after this first
destination the spirit goes down into
the basement where we have the doubler
and the doubler does the second
desolation again with copper and that
takes it up to 135 proof and that is
67.5 abb this is then called the high
wines
oh yeah and this these high wines is
white whiskey and this is ready to be
put into the barrels for maturation so
we got a good verb my lovin so now we're
at the Jim Beam warehouse this warehouse
here is nine stories tall it's one of
the many warehouses to beam owns they
have in total 1.8 million barrels in the
property of the Jim Beam company if you
look at one of these barrels they all
label the right way you have the company
James speed beam Distilling corporation
then you have berm whiskey in it this
here is a bit scribbled up it says that
it's been a bottle at the right strength
filled at the right strength the cask
then you have the distillery number
which is 230 and the last year is the
code for the date it reads like that you
have 14 stands for 2014 d is the 4th
letter in the alphabet so it's the 4th
months this means it's April and the
23rd so it's 23rd of April 2014 the
warehouse is not heated or not chilled
so they all mature in a very natural way
and you don't have any warehouse
rotation so the different whiskies in
different levels mature in a different
way because the the heat rises up in
your warehouse so the the Bourbon in
very top layers mature faster and there
is a so called sweet spot it's in the
fifth layer and there you get the best
burbs that are now being bottled in the
small batches and the super premium
Bourbons so that's that's the secret
behind the maturation in the warehouses
this is one really cool thing here this
is the 13th million cask that has been
filled at the Jim Beam distillery in
2014 it was signed by Fred know the
master distiller
by his son Freddie no who is already
working at the distillery and learning
from his father
and all the steps inside the distillery
then Baker beam is his cousin and Jim
Beam no is another cousin that works at
the distillery and this cask shows how
strong the bean brand actually is yeah
if you have 13 million casks filled with
your whiskey then you know you are a
global brand we're now at the dumping
floors where all the barrels come in
that are ready for bottling
these are here are not Creek four
barrels that about nine years old at
least nine years old what these guys
here do is they drill the bong hole out
put in the breathing straw and the
barrels are then put on top and the
whiskey runs out while the whiskey runs
out it's being filtered through a metal
plate with small holes in it and then
all the the charcoal that is loosened up
during the maturation process also comes
out and it's being kept into these trays
the whiskey now goes down to bottling
and it's being filled into the bottle so
this is your unfiltered whiskey for you
oh yeah bit strong but also very strong
with flavor this is where the empty
barrels ending up there I get a new bong
hole and then they're being rolled into
the truck start there and
internationally shipped the beam Suntory
group is pretty big so there are a lot
of takers like Laphroaig a Highland Park
they're really keen on the the fresh
barrels that just had the burb min and
they still have a lot of vanilla and oak
notes in them so I'm here at the Knob
Creek single barrel line and the cool
thing is every visitor can bottle their
own bottle so let's do this first step
is to rinse the bottle and you're
instead actually with whiskey with
bourbon so you don't dilute your whiskey
with anything you also got a new clean
bottle so I'm going to label this here
so we can see my bottle being filled and
labeled
thank you enjoy that last ball okay yeah
so that's now dipping with wax and you
can even have the own signature on the
bottle you can do your your fingerprint
on the top
and we Wetmore taken unprecedented for a
moment
and she'll be good
thank you very much so this is your Knob
Creek single barrel individually made
for me I'm going to take that home with
me very nice here I'm standing in front
of a quality storage house that stores
two bottles for every bottling they make
and that stores it for two years so the
Jim Beam distillery can prove yes
this batch was right and they can pull a
quality sample from every batch they
made two years ago this year is Fred no
he is the seventh generation of the
family and he is the master distiller
right now at the distillery and he will
talk us through the small batch Bourbons
and yeah
thank you for having us our pleasure
Benedict glad for you to be here in
Clermont with me today yeah I'm glad to
be here it's Kentucky is such a nice
country we've traveled up and down and
yeah so I have a few questions for you
our own question would be um I've talked
about that Jakub boom the your very very
old grandfather um was from Germany
called Jakob boom have you ever thought
about making a bottling for Germany
called Yakubu no we never have really
thought about that at this point but now
that you say that we may have to do a
commemorative bottle for oh wow that
will be cool and great-great-great
great-grandfather and take them boom we
do have roots in Germany we don't really
know exactly where but family did come
from Germany many many many years ago
tubing is pretty popular Joanie we sell
a lot of your stuff and yeah so so what
are we having today today we're going to
look at our small batch bourbon
collection which were developed by my
father
Booker know and the first we will look
at is basil Hayden this particular
bottle right here okay basil Hayden is
named for the distiller who started the
old granddad distillery back in the
1800s
okay that's where the name comes from
this bourbon we double the amount of rye
that we put into the mash bill so we
have corn rye and malted barley this one
has a much higher percentage of right
than the other three in the collection
so I'm looking at a say here eight years
old so I'm looking at a bit of more
spicy and more MORE I see a little drier
the dry okay you know this one is very
it's 40% ABV this one is very easy on
the palate mmm which we're seeing a lot
of folks who are just starting to
experiment with bourbon mmm enjoy the
flavor of basil Hayden because it is
such an easy to drink bourbon I think
you're going to see it's has nice aroma
a good body
a real click quick clean finish that
doesn't overpower your palate and people
who are just trying to experiment with
bourbon a little bit have enjoyed it
quite a bit I mean you see you've got
some nice good golden amber color to it
oh yeah that's what I like about the
bourbon it has no coloring and still you
have that great car yeah well all the
color gets comes from the charred white
oak barrel that we store the Bourbon in
when we distill it it's crystal clear
you saw on your tour yeah the white dog
I had a bit of white dog and I have to
say I think bourbon is all about
maturation I think the barrel the barrel
helps it quite a bit I mean this one
definitely has good aging when you knows
it you could pick up the spiciness oh
yeah the increased amount of rye please
not it's the spiciness but it's not as
as attacking like like any I had a few
others but all right that's why I say
it's a very easy to drink bourbon hmm
because it's easy on the senses the nose
to taste the finish so it's 80 proof 40
percent eighty proof 40 40
saying 80-proof okay you see the
spiciness oh no now that comes a
specialist and then when you swallow it
it's a bit glowing mm-hmm and then the
finish is very quick you know it doesn't
overpower your palate yeah oh there
comes a bit of dryness but I like it
LaRue hmm that's one that we're seeing
quite a bit of growth on here in the
United States okay people are
discovering basil Hayden and liking it
quite a unique design of bottle you have
that cup of band around it mm-hmm but I
like really like it that's a good Burma
I like the small Dutch burns a lot now
this one is doing very very well with
very little marketing support it's not
one we've advertised a lot this one has
really grown a lot from word of mouth Oh
mixology folks around the country have
discovered it and are using it in
cocktails and on the rocks neat you know
it's a very versatile bourbon that folks
really have grown to with increased
amount of females that are getting into
bourbon now women in bourbon are
becoming very popular here in the States
yes I saw Haven is a favorite of a lot
of the ladies who are discovering
bourbon and liking it okay
very nice very nice okay I have another
question for you okay um for the product
range we see a lot of increase like you
have you know have the small batch
Bourbons you have the courage both honey
and and other stuff so your your your
propane just growing
is there any reason behind that well I
think people who are discovering bourbon
Brook there's a couple reasons and
people are discovering you know how
versatile bourbon is and the people who
are into bourbon like new things okay
we're trying new things and exploring
new avenues you know with the in few
stuff as you say that occurs the honey
Bourbons the cherries you know this has
brought people to the Bourbon category
that maybe never looked at bourbon
before you know this is a totally new
segment in the bourbon category with the
infusions and then the old classic
cocktails are getting people looking at
bourbon more yeah I mean in the past
when people send whiskey the only
thought of scotch now when people say
whiskey they want to say what kind of
whiskey because bourbon is moving right
up there with them and you know I think
cocktails are helping education people
are discovering that there's a lot to
bourbon and not just a shot in a beer
like you know in a past yeah you know
when when I thought about burden before
I entered the whiskey business I always
thought about I don't know a cowboy
cowboy Belling under the bar yeah in a
tumbler and ya know only a drink drink
yeah what's called Dusty's throat and
engine down but that's I don't know the
the old-school bourbon if you there
still is it's still a lot of heritage
and I don't know this there's a lot of
to it so and I think education you know
consumers are learning more about what
they are drinking and they are learning
that bourbon has a lot to offer and so
they're giving it a try and like say the
popularity of cocktails whether it's the
old classics are the new ingredients
with fresh juices you know mingled with
the Bourbons and the balance is good you
see people really enjoying say a
Manhattan or an old-fashioned or a
whiskey sour where before a whiskey sire
was just sweet and sour mix now the
mixology folks are squeezing fresh
lemons and making simple syrup getting
the balance right and making a drink
really refreshing and tasty and you see
people drinking bourbon all year long
not just in the wintertime when it's
cold okay good we're going to look at
another one of the small batch Bourbons
which is the number one
selling super premium bourbon in the
world Knob Creek okay you know Knob
Creek is named for a little area here in
Kentucky where President Abraham Lincoln
was born you know this one is uh is very
very popular it is like I say the number
one selling super premium bourbon and it
is really grown by leaps and bounds this
one a lot of folks in the mixology world
prefer it with the Manhattan cocktail
because it stands up very well okay this
one is bottled at 50% for a be sent okay
so we're stepping up in strength more
kick behind that a little more age on
the whiskey its aged nine years nine
years so you know you see the color is a
little deeper and darker than the basil
Hayden that we looked at before this one
when you knows it you're going to see
more of the wood coming through totally
different nose feel on then the basil
Hayden got a little vanilla that came up
all right
that's coming from that white oak barrel
identities raged in okay yeah but
sweetness to come through there's some
sweetness also get the boot now know
when you taste it it's going to be
bigger and bolder on the palate than the
basil Hayden and the finish will linger
with you much longer than the first one
you taste okay longer fingers then
hmm oh yeah
opens up well in your mouth and oh yeah
okay the 50% give it little more body
yeah stands up it has more my uncle to
carry the flavors yeah yeah hmm it
releases it longer it stays longer in
your mouth like I say this one is a very
very good bourbon for the fan of the
Manhattan cocktail because with the
dilution and the remove you know you
need a bigger bolder bourbon to stand up
to the remove and then the dilution when
it's stirred and and served up mmm I
come I can't quite make out which ones I
don't know would say have you because
this one is spicier and this one has
more of an an oaky feel but I would say
it's even though it's as 50% it's I
don't know lighter than the other ones
just smooth got a great flavor I mean
that's the reason now I think it's done
so well is the balance the aging you
know they're just the right amount of
wood with the strength all those factors
come together to create this bourbon and
to make it so pleasing to the palate
okay nice nice so um on the way down
here I saw a plant called Booker no
plant do you have many plants around
here
yep to to stall the won the Booker no
plants name for my father after he
passed away that's the one that he
started he worked here at Clermont when
they purchased that facility he went
over there and started that plant and I
ran it until he passed away okay so they
named it after dad okay so right after
he passed away called the book used to
be called just a Boston plan
okay I'm Booker no plant Booker no plan
yeah I've seen senior your what's he
called heritage tree mmm-hmm visit the
center's alright great family members
were involved in the motivators nose
okay so great great so we're having the
bakers also bakers yeah
baker's it's named for my second cousin
Baker bean he actually was the last beam
to live in this house that we are in
right now okay Baker lived here and then
he moved he built a home and moved down
the road about a mile and he he was a
distillery manager here at the Clermont
plan and his bourbon is aged seven years
and bottled at fifty three and a half
percent our 107 fruit it's a little
bigger and bolder than the Knob Creek
and the basil Hayden you know this one
is a very tasty bourbon of the four it
really stands up you'll feel it has a
different mouthfeel totally
you'll feel it almost want to make you
pucker up don't draw your mouth okay
you'll get the big vanilla notes in the
nose I think fans of cigars
people who smoke big heavy cigars okay
they really like this bourbon that goes
well with a big heavy cigar because it
is there like anything like particularly
it goes well with cigars it's like the
vanilla oh I take the vanilla and in the
big taste in your mouth if you're going
to smoke being heavy cigars mm-hmm you
need to drink a big heavy whiskey they
tell me the guys at Cigar Aficionado
magazine okay so you're looking at a
strong whiskey to to go with the the
strong flavors right off the cigar if
you were going to smoke a lighter cigar
you might be more apt to pick basil
Hayden okay they say you know you kind
of pair your smoke with what you're
drinking or vice versa and this one
they've tell me you know job don't smoke
that many cigars on the money that
better yeah they tell me this one is
what if you're going to smoke a big
heavy cigar you need a big heavy bourbon
to stand up with it and that's it's
interesting you bring out a good product
and what people do with your product
right okay
not up to you but you realize that after
a few four years everything oh we sell
that a lot to that market why is that ah
because it pairs well with cigars the
building is an experience thing yeah you
know when you're drinking your bourbon
you're using with your friends hmm and
if you have your your big cigar maybe
you're with your friends celebrating or
enjoying and relaxing with a bourbon and
you know that's what they kind of touch
they go together so you're not going to
tell them they're wrong because you know
I like the Bourbon yeah it's just
another good reason to enjoy Baker's
bourbon hmm definitely give your now
feel definitely feel that is a bit more
alcohol in that mmm okay you feel though
your mouth come yeah makes you want to
[ __ ] her up a little bit almost I don't
know if it feels like but if it will be
so I don't know it's like a glowing or
something
okay it's quite at myself isn't it is it
effort I know when adding when Dad
developed these Bourbons some of our
competitors tried to say that it was the
same bourbon just different bottles
really and my dad would say they
obviously haven't tasted them first when
you've tasted three and you can see that
they're all three different the one that
stands out for me the most
up til now is the Basel hey Dryden
because of the strong ride but this one
I don't know it's still glowing a bit oh
yeah it's got a long going finish but I
mean you can really wear off you you
still feel that if you taste it and you
have that so I get later that's sweet
that's where I think the guys that are
you know you take a little sip of your
bourbon maybe take a draw off the cigar
mmm and the two you know the bakers are
still in your mouth and you exhale the
smoke you know they're still there it
doesn't go away like the basil Hayden it
goes the finish goes away real quickly
this one
angers much longer in your mouth as I'm
sure you you're seeing yeah
I think many people have already found
out about your small batch bourbon
I won't cost quite one question for my
father is will there be any I don't know
other bottlings of the basil Hayden
Baker's Booker's like with the the Knob
Creek you have the knob creek Ryu have
the small batch of the single barrel
single barrel there possibly could be
some line extensions down the road with
with these you know the things that we
you know right now we're experiencing
such a big demand for these that the
barrels we laid down for these products
if you're going to extend the line you
have to have extra barrels yeah the
demand is so great at this point we
don't have a lot of extra barrels laying
around to do line extensions so to do it
we would have to lay down more let it
age and then set it aside and say this
is going to be safe for a bookers single
barrel project or a basil Hayden's
single barrel project so I mean there's
you know there's the recent demand
influx has tied our hands quite a bit on
you know releasing a lot more products
in these same lines because these
barrels age you know seven eight nine
years yeah but all the years they're
written down here are not just the good
age but also your reaction time to to
demand increases so and there is a
reason you know the aging you know it
makes it what it is so we're looking at
things weird without the aging would
have the white dog and I have to say I'm
not quite a fan of for jock the barrel
helps the white dog a whole lot yeah
definitely it definitely needs to be
aged I mean it is a it's a raw of spirit
in that form but the barrel really tames
it and brings the character and color
and a lot of flavor to the bourbon yeah
that's what is great
about whiskey aging I'm amazed that you
have so much ages written on the bottles
because on the Indus in the Scotch
community we all experience now the NASS
bottles the edge that must a column or
the basil Hayden right now is actually
that age statement is gonna go away it's
gonna go away all and it's but the thing
is we're still using that all it does is
just loosens up inventory that's close
to eight years old okay you know if you
say eight years old every drop has to be
eight years old obviously where you can
find some barrels that are seven years
six months that still have the same
taste profile depending on whether it's
stored in the rock house so it opens up
more barrels to be bottled so that's
where the no age statement is it's it's
actually it's kind of tall ready come on
basil Hayden but we've experienced no
one complaining of ever seeing a
difference because we're still mingling
the barrels together okay you're getting
a good balance and flavor is still as
long as the people who get a good
product I think they will appreciate it
right I mean it just unties our hands
quite a bit okay
taking the age statement off as long as
you keep the product profile taste
profile the same you're still you're
still looking people who enjoy it you
change it they will know and they will
let you know about it real quickly
definitely for sure yeah
okay so last but certainly not least we
have my father's bourbon Booker's
bourbon you know this one is bottled
uncut unfiltered straight from the
barrel straight from the barrel mm-hmm
okay this one has no water added at any
point it gets distilled at 125 proof or
sixty two and a half percent that way
when it goes into the barrel there's no
water added we cannot put any of the
Bourbons in the barrel it higher than
sixty two and a half percent okay so
anything gets to still higher you have
to take demineralized water and bring it
down to the stats strength so
it's nothing added it on at the at the
filling in the cost you have no water
learning I'm still okay um when you take
it out it had water added either all
about his interest I select little
barrel dad selected the barrels up until
he passed away okay day I select the
barrels that goes into each batch of
Booker's bourbon and it's something I
take a lot of pride in because it is my
father's bourbon that is his handwriting
the original batch he hand wrote the
labels nice that's why they picked up on
the handwriting okay very nice and it
was something that we did as an
experiment we gave the first batch of
bottles most of them away to our
distributor friends to see if there was
a market for high-end Bourbons this was
back in 1987 1987 okay that was before
any of these super premiums were ever
created and so doing this dad opened the
door to a whole new category of bourbon
a super premium Bourbons he went with a
small batch style of making where you
mingle the barrels together for
consistency he's a good friend Elmer T
Lee went the single barrel route with
Blanton's oh yeah that was all in the
same time frame so how big is a small
batch how many barrels are we looking at
today we're dumping right at 500 barrels
500 barrels to a batch in the early days
200 200 okay so we're looking at say
thousands that's like 2,000 bowls or
probably yeah it depends on how much
angels share okay no you're losing 4% a
year so you know that comes into play
what's left in the barrel with Booker's
whatever's in the barrel that's what you
get okay with the others we add a little
water to bring them down to the bottling
strength so your number of bottles will
increase but with this one whatever
comes out of the barrels is what go
into the bottles and that's what we get
so we're looking at a bit even darker
color them because I don't add water
these barrels get stored in the sweet
spot of the rock house the center cut
the center cut which is the 5th and 6th
floors of these 9 storey buildings ok so
you get the color is a good balance you
don't get barrels that are stored up
high you get a lot more color comes from
that barrel hmm
barrels stout started stored down low
don't get as much you'll see the
strength on the upper stored barrels
will go up the strength on the lower
tiered barrels will go down this goes in
and stays relatively the same
ok now you got your big vanilla notes
just like we've been talking about yeah
oh yeah
this is a bit stronger I can already
smell that you know and dad's theory on
this bourbon was to allow you the
consumer to reduce it to the strength
they want to drink it you can take just
a little splash of water put it in there
and open it up little bust up the
molecules and really change the whole
experience or maybe a cube of ice put it
in there
swirl it as the ice melts it releases
the water mmm
it will open it up a little bit but
dad's theory was for the consumer
because all these have had water added
to bring them down to these bottling
strengths this one he allows you to add
the water if you choose does that's nice
I think most of the people will taste
the first time they will taste it
straight away and you can always take a
taste and then add a little splash to
see what it does to it because it does
change the character of it definitely
hmm
it's sweet it and starting to nut I saw
old but now you you really paid take it
up when your saliva is in it but if you
take just a tiny drop okay just
experiment here you'll see that it
greatly changes it opens it up and makes
the bouquet change considering I'll
swirl it around a little bit and now if
you look smell the nose you'll see that
it's set it's opened up and it's even
more aromatic with just a little bit of
water yeah yeah like the high-strength
one's waiting that you can open up
because if you take go ahead say a
forty-percent one add water it opens it
up as well but the chance of diluting it
too much so you have very easy watery
substance right it's just a bit to it
and if you add any ice to it it keeps
getting diluted as the ice melts you
know this particular batch I have to
look I can't see without my glasses this
is one twenty eight point nine so it's
sixty four point four five percent so
this is always always varying from your
various that's the batch okay so that's
the thing you have to look at the little
sticker to see the can tells you tells
you the age of the youngest barrels in
the batch that's the age statement on
there classify that again okay youngest
barrels in this particular batch were
seven years seven months and 13 days old
okay so you actually allowed to write
the specific than age I'm gonna state
the age the youngest barrel in the batch
is the age of the entire batch yeah I
always thought that you had to round it
to the no no rounding no no
you don't have to okay on out see the
exact age of the youngest barrel would
be now you could call this
seven-year-old chemist cold seven we
can't call it a yeah yeah the rules for
Burma quite strict right yes sir but
very strict I like it that you keep the
rules for bourbon quite strict because
no know what you're getting in the
bottle definitely no today's you have
all these additives and stuff all right
no additives in here huh no and that's
the thing everybody has to play by those
rules
definitely so I mean if you see a bottle
of heads bourbon if it's made here in
the United States they follow the same
rules as I follow and you can compare
bottle to bottle by reading the labels
definitely so yeah I think we're we're
through thank you for having us great
whiskey's you have here Thank You
Ervin's thank you though I highly
recommend you you check out all the
Bourbons yourself and thank you for
watching thank you for having us and if
you like this video then please share it
with your friends um come visiting oh
yeah if you're ever in a state to come
visit still house yeah it's it's been
great being here all the visitors center
and all the distillery is great to see
tours and everything everybody gets a
true not just you yeah yeah thank you
for watching
