2017 Booker's Little Book Chapter 1 The Easy Blended Whiskey 750ml

2017 Booker's Little Book Chapter 1 'The Easy' is the inaugural release of the Little Book series from the James B. Beam Distilling Co. in Clermont, Kentucky - a blended straight whiskey bottled uncut and unfiltered at a hefty 128.2 proof (64.1% ABV). Released as a limited edition in 2017, it introduced Freddie Noe, eighth-generation Beam family distiller, as a blender in his own right, working in the cask-strength tradition of his late grandfather, Booker Noe.

The Easy is a four-component blend, and its architecture is the story: a thirteen-year-old straight corn whiskey aged in used barrels supplies mellow, honeyed depth; a four-year-old Kentucky straight bourbon provides the classic caramel-and-oak backbone; and straight rye and straight malt whiskeys, each aged roughly six years in new charred oak, contribute spice and cereal richness. Though the blended whiskey category legally permits neutral spirit, coloring and flavoring, Freddie Noe used none of them - every drop in the bottle is fully aged straight whiskey.

The name Little Book is Freddie's own childhood nickname, given by his grandfather Booker Noe, the legendary sixth-generation master distiller who created Booker's Bourbon and pioneered the small batch category. Bottling at natural barrel strength without chill filtration deliberately mirrors Booker's uncompromising house style, while the subtitle 'The Easy' nods to how approachably the blend drinks despite its proof - corn-whiskey sweetness up front, rye spice and toasted grain behind it, and a long, warming finish.

Chapter 1 launched what became one of American whiskey's most respected annual series, with each subsequent chapter built on an entirely new blend that is never repeated. First chapters carry particular weight for collectors: this is the bottle that introduced Freddie Noe - now master distiller of the Fred B. Noe Distillery, home of Beam's small batch brands - to the whiskey world. As the origin point of the series and a one-time blend by definition, The Easy remains the cornerstone Little Book bottling.

• Size: 750ml
• Proof: 128.2 (64.1% ABV)
• Age: Blend of 4 to 13 year old whiskeys
• Origin: Kentucky, USA
• Distillery: James B. Beam Distilling Co., Clermont, KY
• Blender: Freddie Noe, 8th-generation Beam family distiller
• Composition: 13yr corn whiskey, 4yr straight bourbon, ~6yr straight rye, ~6yr straight malt
• Presentation: Uncut, non-chill filtered
• Release: 2017, Chapter 1 of the Little Book series