Jim Beam Will Soon Release Its Oldest Whiskey Ever Bottled | Gear Patrol (2024)

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A bottle of rare, prestigious whiskey isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A collection of rare, prestigious whiskeys. Just ask anyone who’s ever tried the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection (Me. Ask me.) and they’ll tell you there’s something extra special about running through a series of extra-special bottles, comparing and contrasting the different expressions as you go.

And although the BTAC remains the Holy Grail of annual American whiskey collection releases, a new challenger arrived on the scene in recent years and has been making waves. That challenger is the Bardstown Collection, which unlike the BTAC, is made up of whiskeys from multiple distilleries rather than one single distillery, meaning imbibers can expect even greater variety between bottles.

The lineup for 2024 was recently announced, and it includes bourbons from seven distilleries —up one from last year —all located in Bardstown, Kentucky. And while they all offer something special, it’s the bottle from Jim Beam — or rather, its parent distillery James B. Beam — that excites me the most.

Bardstown

The Oldest Bottle of Beam Ever Released

There isn’t a ton of info out there yet about the Bardstown Collection releases, with only brief descriptions of the bottles provided by Bardstown Tourism, the organizer of both the collection and the town’s National Bourbon Week where the bottles’ release will take place.

But here’s what we do know: The Bardstown Collection James B. Beam Distilling 2024 Release will be the oldest release ever from the brand. It’s aged for “close to 20 years,” putting it in the rarefied air of super-aged bourbons like Buffalo Trace’s Eagle Rare 25, which debuted last year.

Bardstown has also released a smattering of tasting notes for the two-decade-old Beam, noting that it “delivers intense flavors of oak, vanilla and sweet smoke.” Finally, we have a supposed label from the bottle courtesy of prospective resellers such as Barbank. According to the label, the whiskey clocks in at 96 proof (48% ABV) and comes in a full-size 750mL bottle.

Barbank

Want a Bottle? Go to Bardstown

The James B. Beam Distilling Co. Bardstown Collection selection will be released alongside six other bourbons from Heaven Hill Distillery, Log Still Distillery, Bardstown Bourbon Company, Limestone Branch Distillery, Lux Row Distillers and Preservation Distillery, respectively.

All seven bottles will launch at varying points throughout the first-ever National Bourbon Week, which takes place in Bardstown from June 11 – 16. Fewer than 500 bottles from each distillery will be made available, and you’ll only be able to buy them in person at their respective distilleries. The James B. Beam bottle will be the last to release, acting as a sort of grand finale for the week and going on sale at the company’s distillery on June 14 at noon local time.

If you’re not looking to buy and are more interested in tasting the whiskeys in the 2024 Bardstown Collection, you can buy a ticket to either the launch party on June 11 or go on a VIP tour that visits each distillery. The latter gives you more flexibility, with dates in June, July and August of this year.

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