The Baker’s  label is one of the original small batch Bourbons introduced by Jim Beam Distilleries in the 1990s. It is named for Baker Beam, who worked at the distillery at that time, but has since started his own trucking company. I have a fondness for Baker Beam as he was inducted into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame in 2006, the same year that Bill Freil and I were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Even before that, I always thought that the Baker’s small-batch was my favorite of the group that included, Basil Hayden, Knob Creek and Booker’s  small batch Bourbons.

This is the first new expression of the Baker’s label. It is bottled at 107 proof, just like the small-batch expression, and bottled at least seven years old. It is an attractive bottle and reasonably priced for a single barrel Bourbon. It may become one of my favorite Beam Bourbons.