Jim Beam - 1990s

Johannes ‘Jacob’ Beam was a German corn farmer who moved to Kentucky in the late 18th century, distilling his excess crop and selling his first commercial bourbon in 1795. Beam’s grandson David M. Beam oversaw the 1854 relocation of what was now known as the Old Tub distillery to Nelson County and introduced commercial bottling and distribution of Old Tub whiskey in 1880; David's son, James Beauregard “Jim” Beam, took over the family business in 1894.

The original Old Tub distillery closed during Prohibition, but Jim Beam rebuilt in Clermont, Kentucky after repeal, opening the new distillery in 1934, the year of his 70th birthday. The Old Tub distillery and brand were renamed Jim Beam in 1943, four years before Jim Beam’s death in 1947. Beam’s grandson Booker Noe was Master Distiller for Jim Beam for over 40 years and today has a premium bourbon named after him. 

The Beam distillery was acquired by American Brands in 1968; the business expanded rapidly in the 1980s with the acquisition of brands including Old Crow and Old Grand-Dad, before being sold in 2014 to Suntory after the dismantling of parent company Fortune Brands in 2011.

Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.

This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.