Carmel corn | Toasted oak | Stewed apples

Caramel | Cinnamon | Dough | Dark fruits

Rye spice | Barrel char | Toast | Dark fruits | Long with lingering savory spice

Baker’s High Rye Bourbon is a new brand extension for Beam’s Baker’s line of bourbons. It features the brand standard 7 year age statement, but changes things up by offering “twice the standard amount of rye in Baker’s Bourbon” according to the company. Though Beam doesn’t disclose their mashbills, it is possible that it uses Old Grand-Dad’s high rye mashbill of 77% corn, 13% rye, and 10% malted barley.

The bourbon’s aroma opens fairly uneventful, with only a small number of scents fully standing out. The palate does taste in the vein of Old Grand-Dad with a good amount of caramel and cinnamon upfront. This is where the bourbon’s age begins to shine, with a layer of rich dark fruits peppered in. The finish pops with the expected amount of rye spice with barrel char offering some needed texture.

It is nice to see Beam give Baker’s some love in 2024, with this release and a 13 year old limited release. Providing a variation of the standard Baker’s Bourbon is interesting, but I’m not sure how well it’s connecting with fans. It appears to be readily available, and while this is a nice change of pace given the rapid demand that ramps up during the final months of the year, it's unusual. Perhaps bottling this as an 8 year old Old Grand-Dad might have had more of an impact. Being a single barrel, variations occur, and overall, Baker’s High Rye Bourbon is a solid pour. Unfortunately, it’s not one to get overly excited about.

The bottle in review is from warehouse CL-3.