Jim Beam Black

Bourbon
Purchase Price: $26
Place of Purchase: Warehouse - New York, NY
Rating: 7.9

Like any red-blooded American, I've consumed my share of white-label Jim Beam over the years, but the older I get, the more I avoid it. Let's just say it does the job, but in this new era where a veritable explosion of single-barrel, small-batch whiskeys have raised the bar for American bourbon, "regular" Jim Beam has been relegated to where it belongs: a commodity to mix with Coke at a tailgate or teenage pool party. Jim Beam Black, however, is supposedly a cut above its fairer-labeled brother, a more refined, complex affair more suited to sipping neat on the front porch of your McMansion. Well, after sampling a bottle, I remain unconvinced. There's nothing "wrong" with Jim Beam Black but I can think of half a dozen bourbons at this price point I'd rather sit back and relax with. I'm truly sorry, that's just the way it is.