Booker’s Bourbon Releases Its Rare Apprentice Batch in Honor of the Brand's Visionary

Each year, Booker’s Bourbon releases a few “small batch” bourbons—a term actually coined by late master distiller, Booker Noe, himself. Small batch remains a relative term. It can be used to describe a product made from 30 to 40 barrels—as Maker’s Mark uses for its core range small batch—or no more than 300 barrels, like Evan Williams does for its 1783 Small Batch.

Either way, the overall idea is that the end product is more particular and defined. This is certainly the case with Booker’s most recent small batch offering—and the second in the Kentucky whiskey maker’s 2023 Collection, the Apprentice Batch.

Each batch released by Booker’s relates to a specific individual or important moment in that person’s life. In the case of Booker’s Apprentice Batch, homage is paid to the beginning of Noe’s distilling career when he first learned the art of making bourbon under the guidance of his cousin, Carl Beam, of the famed Jim Beam Distillery. Booker started working at Jim Beam in 1952, and shortly after, Carl became his mentor.

Eventually, Jim Beam purchased a distillery in Boston, KY, and Carl and Booker worked together to get it up and running before the reins were handed to Booker. There, he mastered bourbon making, and in due course the location was renamed the Booker Noe Distillery. It’s with thanks to the path Carl cut out for Booker that this latest batch is dubbed the Apprentice Batch.

This batch was selected by seventh generation master distiller Fred Noe and has been aged for (precisely) 7 years, 1 month, and 2 days. It’s made up of barrels aged in six different warehouses: 7 percent came from the 7th floor of 9-story warehouse H; 9 percent from the 4th floor of 7-story warehouse W; 11 percent from the 4th floor of 7-story warehouse 1; 18 percent from the 4th floor of 7-story warehouse O … You get the picture. A very meticulous, multi-floor-and-warehouse amalgam is behind this standout bottle.

The whiskey has a medium amber color with oak-forward aromas, all balanced with vanilla and toasted nuts. The palate is warm with a long, subtle finish that opens up further with a small touch of water.

Booker’s Apprentice Batch is available nationwide in limited quantities.

[$90; nestorliquor.com]