Jim Beam’s Latest Whiskey Took Three Generations to Make

Even if you don’t know whiskey, you know James B. Beam, aka Jim — the name behind one of the world’s best-selling bourbon brands, not to mention Knob Creek, Basil Hayden and Booker’s.

But if you do, you know that the James B. Beam Distilling Co. (despite being owned by Suntory) maintains the hallmarks a family-run operation. Eight generations of master distillers have overseen the whiskey making over the years.

Though the distillery might tell you that every family member has played a role in making its various whiskeys what they are, it really means it when referring to the latest concoction.

That’s because The Infinite, a new offshoot series from the Little Book brand started by eighth-generation master distiller Freddie Noe (the great-great grandson of Jim Beam), uses bourbon from barrels laid down by three generations, going back to the early 2000s.

Expanding the Little Book brand

The Little Book brand is named after the nickname given to Freddie by his grandfather and sixth-generation master distiller Booker Noe. It started in 2012 as an annual release of one-of-kind whiskeys.

Bottles under the label sit toward the upper end of James B. Beam Distilling Co.’s offerings, and are rarer and more limited in nature than Jim Beam and even Booker’s.

James B. Beam Distilling Co.