The makers of Jim Beam is adding a new Kentucky series of limited edition whiskies to its Hardin's Creek line, the first of which is a 17 Year Old bourbon bottled to highlight the effects of maturation in a selected Beam storehouse, reflecting what Beam calls the "Kentucky terroir".

If you hadn't heard of Hardin's Creek, you're not alone, the brand was only launched last year, and featured only a pair of whiskies - Jacob's Well, which is a blend of standard Beam and Old Grand Dad mashbills that is then aged for 84 months, and Colonel James B. Beam, a 2 Year Old bourbon.

For the new trio of Kentucky releases, Freddie Noe, the eighth-generation Master Distiller, has selected three whiskies each made with the same mashbill and aged for 17 years, but were all matured at different parts of the Jim Beam distillery. 

This would allow each Bourbon to express the unique flavors achieved from having been aged in different environments.

“The whole idea of what Hardin’s Creek is about is using traditional levers of whiskey-making to explore bourbon—where the flavors come from, how they develop, what the influence is,

If you were to sum up the Kentucky terroir, I think Clermont would be a good indication of a lot of what the state looks like. My dad says it’s one of the only places where you get a true four seasons… What you get is a balanced version of the state of Kentucky. This whiskey across these three releases was made across a 24-hour span here in Clermont. The most unique part is that the barrels from that same fermentation were dispersed among these facilities at infancy.”

“These were a great example to show the difference in terroir,

They tell three individual liquid stories, in my opinion.”

- Freddie Noe, Master Distiller

Hardin's Creek Clermont is now available with an MSRP of US$170.

Images courtesy of Hardin's Creek.

Kanpai!

88 Bamboo Editorial Team