Jim Beam Rye Review And Tasting Notes
The Jim Beam rye whiskey is a clean spirit, easy to approach, with the proper peppery and mentholated air. After a stormy and spicy start caresses you with a velvety note of caramel.
Let’s face it right away to avoid doubt: it is a basic Kentucky Straight rye whiskey, the entry-level product of the Jim Bean distillery, but it has a great personality. Drunk neat does not have a great character. Still, considering the very affordable price of 20 euros, it is excellent rye, especially if you use it to make classic cocktails like Manhattan, whiskey sour and Manhattan.
It is not particularly rough, but it has a good verticality. It does not go so much for the subtle and although it has a certain underlying softness, it does not give many compliments and is presented on the gritty and mentholated palate.
How is it made?
The mash bill is 51% rye, with the rest of the grains being corn, wheat and malt. Classic double distillation, aging in charred American white oak barrels for 4 years and then bottled at 40 degrees alcohol. Until 2016 the legendary yellow label existed, but then the graphics underwent a makeover and a more elegant and severe green dress was chosen. Still, the distillate is always the same, identical.
Organoleptic characteristics of Jim Beam rye whiskey
The bouquet is direct, cheeky, but very clean and attacks your nose with the classic triple beat of the rye with mint, cinnamon and nutmeg.
The fruit is warm and sumptuous based on cherries with caramel lumps that dot the aromatic profile like decadent comets of sweetness. Cereals, orange peel and tea in the finish slowly tighten around woody aromas. Overall it is well designed, not too varied or very deep, but it does its dirty job very well.
It takes a while to open on the palate. The wood dominates initially, but then the flavors emerge that we also find on the nose and here come the cherries in alcohol, citrus fruits and cinnamon. The sip is precise, with a good structure, with an excellent balance between heat, sweet parts, wood and spicy notes. Medium length finish with pepper and vanilla.
It is an impeccable distillate when you consider the meager price.
After all, the legendary Jim Murray for years has consecrated it as the best rye whiskey, even if, in the last ten years, the rye has changed gears and today, there are bottles of an entirely different thickness.
The fact remains that this whiskey is precise, well defined by a style that is not too heavy, but which, on the contrary, still manages to offer a distillate that focuses on the authentic flavors of rye without distorting them with too much wood.
Among all the whiskey rye bottles, it still manages to have its say, especially if you are looking for a drink that is not too complex, but in any case, with a good personality.
Price of Jim Beam rye whiskey
17-19 euros: ok, the price is right! It is discreet, not very mottled, but solid as a meditation distillate. The situation changes if you use it as a mixing: at this price, it is perfect for making great rye-based cocktails or for making liqueurs and homemade.
Food Pairings
Spoon desserts, trifle, chocolate, salmon terrines, brisket and pulled pork, chocolate salami, apple pie, tiramisu, creme brùlée.
Cocktail to do with the Jim Bean rye
It has the stuff and the proper determination to be a protagonist as a hard-working”mixology” whiskey. Use it without delay to make Manhattan, Old Fashioned, Sazerac.