BOOKER’S BOURBON
Batch 2016-05 “Off Your Rocker”MASH BILL – 77% corn, 13% rye, 10% malted barley
PROOF – 129.7
AGE – 6 years 7 months 23 days
DISTILLERY – Jim Beam Distillery
PRICE – $72 (bought in 2017)
WORTH BUYING? – In 2017 at that price, and being able to sip it now, absolutely.
Nearly a decade ago I bought a bottle of Booker’s 2016-05 “Off Your Rocker,” loved it, went through it in some small number of weeks, then bought this back up. Of the first bottle my tasting notes were very simple: “Jesus! The toasted caramel!” Other than that, I designated it not only a fave but an extra fave.
Booker’s was the bourbon that made me love bourbon. The 2015-05 “Maw Maw’s Batch” was my first. I found it wild like an old wooden rollercoaster, the kind made back in the days when thrills took priority over safety.
Around 2017, Jim Beam announced the msrp would jump from $50 to $100. Fans balked quite loudly. Jim Beam backed off pretty fast, opting to phase in the price increase gradually over time. My tastes in bourbon were widening, and as the price of Booker’s climbed my interest in it declined.
I haven’t bought a bottle of Booker’s since 2022’s “Lumberyard Batch.” Since then I’ve opted instead to make my way slowly through my remaining stock, working my way backwards as I go. So this 2016-05 is the most recent bottle I currently have. After that it will be the 2015-05 (a nostalgic fave, having been my first), 2015-04, 2015-02, and 2015-01. And then my Booker’s journey will have come to its end.
Such ends of the road are playing out with a number of classic brands I started out loving. I recently uncorked the last of my bunkered Henry McKenna 10 Year SiBs, for example. And as I write this I have one last Weller Special Reserve tucked away, with which I’ll someday bid the Weller brand adieu. These brands are all good, and were worth it to me at their pre-unicorn prices. But in 2026 there are simply too many great whiskey options out there to justify paying a premium for brands that used to gather dust on bottom shelves.
So here we are, one week after uncorking this 2016 relic and three pours into the bottle. My fondness for 120+ proof whiskeys has waned in recent years, so I’m going to warm myself up to this scorcher by tasting it in three successive ways. First, in a Glencairn with some water added to tame the heat down to ~100 proof. Second, in a tumbler over a single ice rock. And third, at its natural barrel strength in a simple brandy glass. Here we go…!
IN A GLENCAIRN WITH WATER
COLOR – pale but glowing amber orange with a dusty tintNOSE – cinnamon and nutmeg, bright vanilla drenched in orange zest and pulp, oak, dark chocolate chunks
TASTE – a thin but syrupy texture, with cinnamon on an artisanal peanut butter cup made with dark chocolate, accented with the orange zest and confectionary sugar
FINISH – orange bitters and zest, oak, cinnamon and sugar, the chocolate now like a sauce meant for ice cream, roasted peanut
OVERALL – a bright but rich experience in the Baker’s / Knob Creek realm of Jim Beam bourbons
Watered down, this comes across like an excellent lower shelf Knob Creek or Baker’s sort of thing. The roasted nuts and baking spices, the orange notes. It’s satisfying as a neat pour and would also do well at this proof in a “dive bar” Old-Fashioned, like what I imagine that cocktail might taste like in a dive bar back when bottom shelf bourbons tasted like mid and top shelf bourbons do now. In any case, going forward I won’t hesitate to add water to this fiery whiskey. It means the nickname, “Off Your Rocker,” no longer quite fits. But it still makes me sit up and pay attention.
IN A TUMBLER ON ICE
COLOR – refracting through and around the ice with hazy oranges and sepia-yellowsNOSE – muted, everything subtle, with the cinnamon coming through most and a touch of oak
TASTE – there it is, like a cinnamon and vanilla cream sauce, silky and surprisingly thick given the dilution from the ice; eventually roasted peanut comes through, along with subtle oak and dark chocolate
FINISH – lingers like a fancy cinnamon hard candy dipped in thick fresh whole cream
OVERALL – an old-fashioned candy shoppe variation on the nutty Beam theme
Interesting. I only let the whiskey sit in the glass for about 4 minutes before tasting it, but in that time it already tasted more diluted than the watered-down sample in the Glencairn. Of course, the Rauk tumbler doesn’t make a point of focusing aromas like a Glencairn does. I also suspect the ice is slowing the aromas from their usual rise. The nose seems to have been chilled into submission by the ice. But then the taste unfurls across the palate in this really nice old-school candy shoppe sort of way, back when candy was made with real ingredients and no science added.
After several more minutes, the whiskey has already become very light, the flavors very watery. Outside of a cocktail with other ingredients to bolster the flavor punch, I don’t see myself pouring this Booker’s over ice often. It’s not bad this way. And maybe on a really hot day when I’m craving the cinnamon / peanut Beam vibe without the Booker’s heat, I’d serve it this way. But there are cheaper bourbons that could also scratch that itch.
IN A BRANDY GLASS UNADULTERATED
COLOR – medium but very vibrant orange, with reddish and brassy highlightsNOSE – cinnamon dashed across thick whole cream, subtle but refined oak, dense vanilla like in a fudge, faint roasted peanut
TASTE – a prickle from the ABV that sparkles on thick layers of caramel, cream, vanilla, confectionary and brown sugars, chocolate sauce
FINISH – caramel, vanilla, very subtle orange zest oils that gradually heighten as the finish lingers
OVERALL – a cozy Booker’s, dark, vibrant, prickly and warm
Without the warm up, maybe I would be knocked to the ground at first sip of this. But rather than knocking me off my rocker, this full-throttled pour of the 2016-05 release makes me want to lean back in that chair and rock slowly as I savor the thick layers of flavor at work. This is a decadent dessert pour, like some chocolate brownie adorned with roasted nuts and served à la mode. I’ll be reaching for this on chilly autumn and winter evenings. Of course, given San Francisco’s wackadoodle seasons, I might have occasion to use this Booker’s to warm a spring or summer night as well!
Though this bourbon didn’t make a substantial impression when poured over ice, I quite enjoyed it both with water added and in its natural undiluted state. Hell I’d happily pour it over a scoop of really good vanilla ice cream!
Booker’s might not wow me like it used to a decade ago. But this reacquaintance with the 2016-05 “Off Your Rocker” has me excited to continue my slow crawl back in time to the 2015-01, itself a legendary release among the 2000-teens Booker’s releases. Until then…
Cheers!
The Right Spirit 