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Jim Beam Signature Craft 12 Year Old Bourbon Review
Apr 14, 2025
Tasting and reviewing the 12 Year Old Signature Craft release from Jim Beam. A very big thank you to Bourbon TeraByte Patron Supporter, Patrick Starkey. Join the Bourbon Bytes Whiskey and Gaming Lounge at http://BourbonBytes.com Like Bourbon Bytes on Facebook for gaming streams and more: http://www.Facebook.com/BourbonBytes Become a Bourbon Bytes Patron at http://Patreon.com/BourbonBytes Here's some more info about other Signature Craft Releases: https://progressivegrocer.com/jim-beam-adds-signature-craft-line #WhiskeyTube #Bourbon #WhiskeyTube #Bourbon #RyeWhiskey
View Video Transcript
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What? A Gem Beam product I've never had before
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Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Bourbon Bites. I'm Clifton and today we're reviewing
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Gem Beam Signature Craft 12-Year. So this sample actually comes to us from my friend and patron of
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Bourbon Bites, Patrick Sarky. Thank you so much Patrick for sending me this. I've heard of this
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I know that there's a series of these Signature Craft releases. This bottle comes in at around
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$40 retail. It is 43% ABV. That's very similar price to the old Jim Beam single barrel, but that
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one is 94 proof and I'm not sure the age on that. It's definitely younger than 12 years, but I'm so
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excited to finally get it to it and maybe I've been missing out on something all along. I don't know. So on the nose, this really comes across as a dusty beam. It kind of has that like dusty funk
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a little bit, I guess I would say mustiness, but it's like a sweetness that goes along with that
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It's really, really nice on the nose. There is some oak but it almost it different than typical Knob Creek like level oakiness It more of like I guess more of like the musty kind of oak more of like your grandma pantry or something like that It very similar to that And it definitely a grain for it I don know the mash bill of this specifically but I imagine it a pretty high
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corn mash bill like most of their products are. Yeah, that's actually one of the most interesting
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no's I've ever had on a Gem Beam product that wasn't a dusty bottle. So I'm really curious to
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see how this tastes. Cheers, Patrick, and cheers to all my bourbon bites
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I would say it drinks pretty similar to the nose. The like vintage kind of note that I was getting
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on it is less prominent on the palate. It does drink like a low proof whiskey. However that
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doesn't mean that it's lacking any flavors that you typically associate with low proof whiskeys
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Even though it is 12 years old I feel like it's missing that really rich oaky flavor that you get
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on like a knob creek. Even the small batch knob creek. When I go back to the nose now that I've
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taste that I do get a bit more cinnamon than I typically do with Jim Beam products. Almost like
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a cereal that's like gone a little bit stale but like you still eat it because it's not bad
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I guess I get some similar notes to that but if you didn tell me this was a Jim Beam product I probably wouldn know other than the fact that it nosed just like a vintage Jim Beam which was really really cool Yeah it very light but not in a fruity way Normally like lightness I associate with like a fruity or
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like, a floral note, but it's not that. It's more of, like, a light cinnamon with some vanilla
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sweetness on it. Very, very drinkable, and I do feel like the finish does lack a bit. There's
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really not much going on there. Again, it's a 43% alcohol, 86 proof whiskey, so I'm not expecting
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too much, but I think what makes it interesting is it's like a completely off profile for a Gem
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Beam product, and I really like that. I like that this is kind of like an experimental release
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and I really dig it. It's not quite up my alley in terms of what I seek out in Gem Beam. I love
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that deep, dark, rich oakiness that you get on like a knob peak single barrel, and nuttiness
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of course. This, I mean, I don't get much nuttiness in general, which is so odd because that's such a
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signature Gem Beam thing. I mean, when I'm looking for it, there's like a little bit of peanutiness
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there, but it's really, really faint and again, I would not guess it's a Jim Beam product
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So in terms of recommendation I give this kind of a sideways thumbs up I don say that this is like you know a must have for a fan of Jim Beam However if you are a fan of Jim Beam and you want to try
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something a bit different, I think the Signature Craft Series is really worth exploring, especially
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if you have a chance to get a sample of it or try it at a bar. I guess I wouldn't say pick up a
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bottle of it if you hadn't tried it before and you didn't know what you were expecting. Again
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it's a nice whiskey and I think if you have a chance to try it, definitely do. So thank you
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again, Patrick, for sending me this sample. Always love trying a new product, especially when it's
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from Jim Beam, one of my absolute favorite distilleries. Let me know in a comment below
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if you've tried any of the Signature Craft series. I know they have a few different bottles. Some of
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them, I think, get really, really experimental, so I'll put a link down below where you can find
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more info on that, but thank you guys so much for watching. Check me out on Patreon if you want to
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support the show. I really appreciate it, and until next time, this has been Bourbon Bites
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whiskey reviews with a retro twist. I'm Clifton, and I'll see you guys next time
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Cheers
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