Booker's Rye "Big Time Batch" Kentucky Straight Rye — 13 Year, 136.2 Proof

Price

$2,749.95

✔ Sourced as an authentic, sealed product
✔ Inspected before it ships
✔ Packed with padded, glass-rated handling

Age: 13 years, 1 month, 12 days | Region: Kentucky | Proof: 136.2

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Adult signature (21+) at delivery

136.2

Proof

68.1%

ABV

13yr

1 mo · 12 days

2003

Barrels laid down

750mL

Bottle

2016

Released

Booker's Rye, the 2016-LE “Big Time Batch,” was the first rye ever released under the Booker's name: a Kentucky straight rye aged 13 years, 1 month and 12 days, uncut, unfiltered and 136.2 proof (68.1% ABV). Booker Noe laid the barrels down in 2003 from a rye mash bill Beam had never released, and Fred Noe watched over them until their release in May 2016.

Nº 01

The Elemental Distinction

The first Booker's rye. Beam introduced it in May 2016 as the first rye whiskey ever offered from Booker's, a one-time release.

Laid down in 2003. The rye went into barrel in 2003, in Booker Noe's last years; he died in 2004.

An unreleased recipe. Beam describes the grain recipe as a rye mash bill it had never released before.

Thirteen years and change. Beam reckoned it roughly double a regular Booker's batch in age, and the strip label dates it to the day.

136.2 proof. Bottled at 68.1% alcohol by volume, as it came from the barrels, with no water added.

Big Time Batch. The strip label names it the “Big Time Batch,” code 2016-LE, with a bottle number; the bottle is sealed in green wax, and its green front label carries Fred Noe's handwriting.

Nº 02

Thinking Big

Booker Noe's rye

Fred Noe writes on this bottle's label that his father always liked the challenge of rye grains. Booker Noe, the family's sixth-generation master distiller and founder of the Small Batch Bourbon Collection, “went big” in 2003, as Fred tells it, laying down rye whiskey in a rackhouse he favored, and Fred remembers him saying, “if you ain't thinking big, you ain't thinking.” Fred watched over the barrels for thirteen years and released the rye in his father's honor in May 2016.

Nº 03

Sensory Profile & Strategy

Distiller notes & position

Sensory Profile

Beam's release gives Booker's Rye a deep amber color and an aroma carrying spice from the rye in the mash bill. On the palate it finds intense wood and oak notes, drawn out and kept in balance by the long aging, in a spicy, robust whiskey that stops short of overpowering. Beam suggests it neat or on the rocks.

Strategic Position

For ten years this was the only rye in Booker's history; the second, Freddie Noe's cinnamon-infused Reserves rye at 125.1 proof, arrived in September 2026 at six years old and finished in apple brandy barrels. Beam measured the 2016 rye against the 2014 anniversary bourbon from among Booker Noe's last barrels: the rye's supply was about half of it.

Nº 04

Collector Note & Index

Vault provenance

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Release

It reached shelves nationwide on May 18, 2016, in time for Father's Day, beside a Knob Creek 2001 edition that Beam also made from Booker Noe's barrels; both were offered once only.

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The last 276 bottles

In September 2017 the Noe family released 276 bottles held back from the run, with the company's proceeds going to Feeding America food banks and Operation BBQ Relief after that year's hurricanes.

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The barrels

Whisky Advocate reported that the rye came from 100 barrels aged in Jim Beam warehouses D and E.

Collector IndexMW VAULT

Batch: 2016-LE · Big Time Batch
Class: Kentucky straight rye whiskey
Age: 13 years, 1 month, 12 days
Strength: 136.2 proof (68.1% ABV), uncut & unfiltered
Barrels laid down: 2003, by Booker Noe
Released: May 2016

It sits with the straight ryes in our vault, Kentucky's barrel-strength bottlings among them.

Nº 05

Technical Specifications

Specification	Detail
Brand	Booker's · Booker's Rye, Big Time Batch
Batch	2016-LE
Class	Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey
Age statement	13 years, 1 month, 12 days
Proof	136.2
ABV	68.1%
Bottling	Uncut and unfiltered, at natural proof
Mash bill	A rye mash bill not released before 2016
Barrels	Laid down in 2003 by Booker Noe in his favorite rackhouse
Selection	Fred Noe
Bottle	Numbered; green wax
Release	May 2016, one-time release
Region	Kentucky
Format	750 mL

Nº 06

Records & Assurance

Production Methodology

Thirteen years under Fred Noe's watch took the 2003 rye to 136.2 proof, its natural strength at bottling. Booker's is neither cut with water nor filtered, only screened for bits of barrel char.

Authentication & Vault Preservation

Every bottle sold through Midnight Whiskey is sourced as an authentic, sealed product and inspected before it ships. Orders are packed with padded, glass-rated handling and require an adult signature (21+) on delivery; we do not ship to anyone unable to verify legal drinking age. For our full sourcing and handling protocols, see our editorial and authentication standards.

Frequently Asked Questions

How old is Booker's Rye Big Time Batch?

Booker's Rye, the 2016-LE Big Time Batch, is aged 13 years, 1 month and 12 days, as its strip label states. Its barrels date from 2003, when Booker Noe laid them down, and Beam released the rye in May 2016 at about twice the age of a standard Booker's batch.

What proof is Booker's Rye 2016?

Booker's Rye 2016 carries 136.2 proof, 68.1% alcohol by volume, its natural strength after thirteen years in the barrel. Like the rest of Booker's, it was bottled without water or filtering.

Will Booker's Rye be released again?

Beam released Booker's Rye in May 2016 as a one-time offering. The next rye from Booker's was a different whiskey: The Reserves 2026, a six-year-old Kentucky straight rye given an apple brandy barrel finish and a cinnamon infusion, released in September 2026.

Midnight Whiskey · The Vault Big Time

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Booker's Rye "Big Time Batch" Kentucky Straight Rye — 13 Year, 136.2 Proof

Booker's Rye

The Elemental Distinction

Thinking Big