Fred Minnick reported on Friday that James B. Beam Distilling Co. dropped a new expression within its Little Book collection: Little Book Chapter 9 “None for Granted.” The whiskey is a blend of five different bourbons from 7 to 11 years old. Food & Wine reported that one of the whiskeys includes brown rice in its mashbill.
“Chapter 9 takes us back several decades, to an era when whiskey as we know it was just finding its feet,” Noe said in a statement. “As possibilities were explored and foundations were laid, a certain profile began to emerge: one built on brown sweets, the comforting warmth of vanilla, creamy caramel and big oak”
The release is uncut and unfiltered, and it has an MSRP of $160 according to the brand. It clocks in at 121.8 proof.
“The 7-year bourbon utilized in this blend comes from a liquid stream that we allowed to ferment for five days (compared to our usual three-day fermentation), which really adds to that apple note on the nose,” said Beam Global Brand Ambassador Tim Heuisler, according to Food & Wine. “This 8-year bourbon stream is our brown-rice bourbon mashbill, which I personally am a huge fan of. That was a mashbill that Booker had experimented with, and Freddie has brought back to our distillery.”
Little Book or Bookers? What’s the Difference?
Bourbon fans always keep their eyes out for releases from Booker’s Small Batch Bourbon and Little Book. But what’s the difference between these two brands? Sure, they both have a lot in common. Both are from the Beam and Noe families, and pay homage to the history behind both families.
According to The Bourbon Culture, Booker’s is Jim Beam’s brand that honors Master Distiller Booker Noe. Little Book is Freddie Noe’s tribute to his grandfather. Out of the two collections, the outlet reports that Little Book is the more experimental collection. Little Book releases often showcase innovative whiskeys, and the incorporation of brown rice within the mashbill is in alignment with the innovative nature of the brand.
Freddie Noe claimed utilizing brown rice within the mashbill was his way of “paying homage to the founding flavors that made modern American whiskey.”
As for the more traditional-leaning Booker’s brand, the first release of 2025 dropped in March, and the whiskey honored a close friend of the Noe family, Beam Chairman and CEO Barry Berish, who died in 2024. The bourbon was a blend of barrels from four production dates and had an age statement of 7 years, 2 months and 4 days. The proof clocked in at a slightly higher 125.7 proof.
No responses yet