Mixed nuts | Butter pie | Oak | Nutmeg | Caramel | Pie crust | Rich vanilla | Pleasing

Rich custard | Caramel | Vanilla cake | Rye spice | Charred oak | Brown sugar | Rich

Aged oak | Roasted nuts | Leather | Rye spice | Cinnamon stick | Lingering spice

After a 2 year break, the Jim Beam Distillery has brought back the Hardin’s Creek Series with a trio of new releases. A follow-up to the 2023 Hardin’s Creek Kentucky Series, which focused on the three literal places of Hardin’s Creek: specifically, the aging campuses that Beam uses, the Warehouse Series narrows the focus to the actual warehouse types that the company uses to age bourbon. The Warehouse series also employs a new type of packaging, one that Master Distiller Freddie Noe wanted people to take away less of what they initially saw, instead making consumers more curious about the elements that go into the whiskey.

The Warehouse Series is comprised of three bottles, showcasing warehouse R, warehouse W, and warehouse G, each with its own theme. While the proof and age stay the same, Noe stated to us that all whiskeys were aged within 1 month of each other; the changing variable is the number of floors in each warehouse. For Warehouse G, “The Owl,” the company focuses on a nine-story warehouse that is very atypical to find outside of Beam campuses. Noe stated that, due to insurance purposes, you can’t build a modern warehouse above seven stories nowadays.

Each of the bottles in the series contains a specific nickname and image. For Warehouse G “The Owl,” the company chose this image and name because “the owl expression comes from a towering nine-story structure, one of the few of its kind still standing.” Additionally, the bottles all contain a series of graphics that convey different meanings for the bourbon. The number in the top left corner represents the actual release in the series (in this case, 3), the leaf in the lower right stands for the season, the warehouse with a C in it on the upper left stands for Clermont, the powerbar represents ABV, while the hourglass stands for age. It’s a fun nod to fans of Easter eggs who will enjoy the subtle way the brand conveys this information.

The third release in the Hardin’s Creek Warehouse Series, Warehouse G “The Owl” is an example of a great Beam bourbon. Classic from start to finish, the sip starts with a pleasing aroma that highlights a quintessential Beam scent of mixed nuts, along with rich butter pie and vanilla notes. This continues onto the midpoint by highlighting rich custard, vanilla cake, and charred oak, all of which will make you linger before moving on. The finish highlights the bourbon's age, with a focus on aged oak, roasted nuts, leather, and rye spice.

Compared to the other two releases in the Warehouse Series, Warehouse G “The Owl” is a step up from “The Mushroom” and an ever-so-slight step up from “The Owl.” That’s also part of the problem with the Warehouse Series. Unless Beam decides to release a set of 200mL bottles of all three releases like they eventually did with the Kentucky Series, the majority of consumers most likely won’t have the opportunity to compare all three against each other. As a standalone bourbon, it’s a great-tasting sip that is full of fun and pleasing flavors. Whether you try it against the other or sip it alone, this bourbon is enjoyable from start to finish.