James B. Beam Distilling’s Little Book label, which spotlights master distiller Freddie Noe’s blending techniques, is taking a different direction with a new release. Yesterday it unveiled the inaugural expression in a new spin-off series called The Infinite, which is separate from the chapters series of Little Book. The Infinite will focus on making blends from whiskeys made by different Beam master distillers. This first expression called The Infinite: Edition 1, is currently available across the U.S. in limited quantities, at a suggested retail price of $200.
Blended by Freddie Noe, The Infinite: Edition 1 is composed of four straight bourbons laid down by different members of the Noe family. The oldest component is a 20 year old which was made by Freddie’s grandfather, the legendary Booker Noe, who passed away in 2004. The next oldest is a 14 year old, and it comes from Freddie’s father Fred, master distiller at Beam. Freddie’s contribution is the youngest at 7 years old. The blend is rounded out by what’s called a “shared family component,” an 8 year old made by both Fred and Freddie. The final product is bottled at 59.65% ABV.
“My father and I are lucky enough to work together side by side, and I know he always dreamed of that with his own father, my granddaddy Booker,” said Freddie Noe. “This new series pays tribute to that dream.”
Going forward, each Infinite batch will use Edition 1 as a base into which additional whiskeys will be added. Though it sounds a lot like a solera-aged whiskey, Noe is quick to point out that it isn't quite part of an official solera system. The distillery has vatted and stored away some 30% of the liquid from Edition 1, and plans to blend in other whiskeys for each new Infinite expression going forward. As with this release, future blends are expected to contain whiskeys that also come from multiple generations of the Noe family.
Little Book’s main series comes out annually, and in May it launched Chapter 8. Typically, the label showcases Freddie Noe’s work blending multiple whisky styles together. Bourbon is often a prominent ingredient in these blends, which can also include malt, corn, rye, or Canadian whiskies.
Aside from Infinite Edition 1, the only other Little Book that exclusively uses bourbon is the 93-point Chapter 3—which blended bourbons across different Beam labels like Knob Creek, Basil Hayden, Booker’s, and Baker’s. The series has historically earned high scores from our tasting panel, and we’re looking forward to trying this one.
.png?resize=410x0)
