Booker's Big Easy Batch 2026-01 Bourbon

Price

$99.95

✔ Authenticated by the house — seal, fill level, and label inspected before release
✔ Documented provenance on every bottle
✔ Climate-safe, collector-grade packaging

Age: 7 Years, 2 Months, 15 Days | Region: Clermont, Kentucky | Proof: 129.1

Secure payments

Vault-to-door shipping

Adult signature (21+) at delivery

129.1

Proof

64.55%

ABV

7yr

2 mo · 15 days

Warehouses

2026

First batch

Booker's Bourbon Batch 2026-01, the “Big Easy Batch,” is the first U.S. release of Booker's 2026 Collection: a Kentucky straight bourbon aged 7 years, 2 months and 15 days and bottled uncut and unfiltered at 129.1 proof (64.55% ABV). Selected by seventh-generation Master Distiller Fred Noe from five production dates stored in five warehouses, it is named for New Orleans, one of Booker Noe's favorite cities.

Nº 01

The Elemental Distinction

The first U.S. release of Booker's 2026 Collection — batch code 2026-01, announced in March 2026.

Bottled uncut and unfiltered at barrel strength: 129.1 proof, 64.55% ABV, with nothing added and nothing taken away.

Carries a precise age statement of 7 years, 2 months and 15 days; Booker's states each batch's own age and proof, and both change from batch to batch.

Its age falls inside the six-to-eight-year window James B. Beam Distilling Co. gives for Booker's, and its 129.1 proof is the batch's natural strength straight from the barrel.

Built from five separate production dates stored across five warehouses — G, J, M, H and O — each sub-lot drawn from a named floor.

Named the “Big Easy Batch” for New Orleans, a city the late Booker Noe kept going back to, from his first trips as a young man to his honeymoon and long after.

Nº 02

The Big Easy

Why New Orleans

For a man who lived in Kentucky, Booker Noe found himself in New Orleans often — as his son, Master Distiller Fred Noe, tells it. Booker made his first trips there as a young man with friends, later honeymooned there, and on one visit saw Bourbon Street renamed “Jim Beam Bourbon Street” for a day. He could not get enough of the city's food — in Fred's words, “a fresh oyster here, a bowl of jambalaya there” — yet his favorite dish was on no fancy restaurant's menu: it came from the Lucky Dog street cart. Fred was sent to fetch the hot dogs, and his father ate his as if it were the best bite of his life. Fred presents the first batch of 2026 as one his father would appreciate: named for one of his favorite cities.

Nº 03

The Batch Composition

Five warehouses · five production dates

The principle

Where the barrel sits

Booker Noe paid close attention to a barrel's place in the rackhouse, and for his own barrels he favored the middle of the house, the fifth floor. James B. Beam Distilling Co. records this batch by warehouse and floor, in five sub-lots.

24% · Warehouse G

Sixth floor of nine

The largest share, from the sixth floor of a nine-story warehouse.

22% · Warehouse J

Third floor of nine

From the third floor of a nine-story warehouse.

22% · Warehouse M

Fourth floor of seven

From mid-height in a seven-story warehouse, on its fourth floor.

16% · Warehouse H

Third floor of nine

A second sub-lot from a third floor, here in nine-story warehouse H.

16% · Warehouse O

Fifth floor of seven

From the fifth floor of a seven-story warehouse, the upper middle of the house.

The floors

Heat rises

Upper rackhouse floors run hotter and drier than lower ones, which pushes proof up as the whiskey ages; this batch draws on floors three through six, in houses of seven and nine stories.

Nº 04

The Tasting Arc

The distillery's notes & serving

Sensory Profile

James B. Beam Distilling Co.'s notes for the batch: a deep amber color; aromas of vanilla and spice; a warm, robust palate, big and bold; and a long, lingering finish.

Serving & Position

The distillery recommends it neat or with a splash of water. At 129.1 proof, a few drops are the usual adjustment, and a single large cube suits a slower pour. As the first U.S. release of the 2026 Collection, it opens this year's run of named batches — a natural first bottle for a Booker's vertical.

Nº 05

Provenance & Collectibility

The collector's picture

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Selected by Fred Noe

Every Booker's batch is chosen by Fred Noe — Booker's son and the Beam family's seventh-generation Master Distiller — who tastes the barrels himself and calls each batch when it is ready; this one he introduces with his father's New Orleans stories.

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Booker Noe's own pour

Booker Noe first bottled his bourbon uncut, unfiltered and straight from the barrel as holiday gifts for family and friends in the late 1980s; it went on to become Jim Beam's first small-batch bourbon.

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The Small Batch Bourbon Collection

In 1992 Booker Noe built Jim Beam's Small Batch Bourbon Collection around it, adding Baker's, Basil Hayden's and Knob Creek. Booker's comes from James B. Beam Distilling Co. of Clermont, Kentucky.

→

One batch, one selection

Beam releases a few named Booker's batches a year — typically four — each with its own age and proof. One-off editions sit beside them, such as Booker's 2014-01 anniversary batch, released for the brand's 25th anniversary.

The brand set a suggested retail price of $99.99 per 750 mL bottle at release.

Collector indexBooker's · 2026-01

Batch: 2026-01 — first U.S. release of the 2026 Collection
Name: Big Easy Batch (New Orleans)
Age: 7 years, 2 months and 15 days
Proof: 129.1 (64.55% ABV), uncut & unfiltered
Selector: Fred Noe, 7th-generation Master Distiller
Composition: Five warehouses, five production dates

It joins the vault's bourbon collection as a full-strength Kentucky straight bourbon.

Nº 06

Technical Specifications

Specification	Detail
Whiskey	Booker's Bourbon Batch 2026-01 “Big Easy Batch”
Category	Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV / Proof	64.55% ABV (129.1 proof) — uncut and unfiltered, barrel strength
Age statement	7 years, 2 months, and 15 days
Batch	2026-01 — first U.S. release of the 2026 Collection
Composition	Five production dates across warehouses G, J, M, H, and O
Maturation	New charred oak barrels; uncut and unfiltered
Producer	James B. Beam Distilling Co., Clermont, Kentucky
Region	Kentucky, USA
Release	March 2026
Format	750 mL

Nº 07

Records & Assurance

Production Methodology

Booker's Bourbon is made by James B. Beam Distilling Co. of Clermont, Kentucky, and bottled uncut and unfiltered at its natural barrel strength. For Batch 2026-01, seventh-generation Master Distiller Fred Noe drew on five separate production dates: 24% from the sixth floor of nine-story warehouse G, 22% each from the third floor of nine-story warehouse J and the fourth floor of seven-story warehouse M, and 16% each from the third floor of nine-story warehouse H and the fifth floor of seven-story warehouse O. The whiskey was aged 7 years, 2 months and 15 days in new charred oak and bottled at 129.1 proof (64.55% ABV), with no chill filtration and no added water.

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 Big Easy Batch 2026-01?

Booker's Batch 2026-01, the “Big Easy Batch,” is aged 7 years, 2 months, and 15 days — its exact age at bottling. That places it inside the six-to-eight-year range James B. Beam Distilling Co. gives for Booker's Bourbon.

What proof is Booker's Big Easy Batch?

Booker's Big Easy Batch is bottled at 129.1 proof, which is 64.55% ABV, uncut and unfiltered at barrel strength. Booker's is bottled at each batch's natural proof, so the strength differs from one Booker's batch to the next.

Why is Booker's Batch 2026-01 called the Big Easy Batch?

The Big Easy Batch is named for New Orleans, one of Booker Noe's favorite cities. Master Distiller Fred Noe, Booker's son, recalls his father's trips there from his youth, his honeymoon in the city and his love of the city's Lucky Dog hot dog cart. It is the first U.S. release of the Booker's 2026 Collection.

What does Booker's Big Easy Batch taste like?

James B. Beam Distilling Co. describes Booker's Big Easy Batch as deep amber, with aromas of vanilla and spice, a warm and robust palate, and a long, lingering finish. The distillery suggests drinking the 129.1-proof bourbon neat or with a splash of water.

Midnight Whiskey · The Vault Booker's · Batch 2026-01 · Big Easy

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The

The Elemental Distinction

The Big Easy